Thursday Night Hike

Last Thursday was perfect for an evening hike.  At 5:30 I left from the Cucumber Tree Trailhead on the Athens Trail.  The wildflowers on the Rockhouse Trail are near their peak. Especially good is a stretch beyond the Market on State and before the Blue Ash Cave.  Next Thursday should be even better!

Trillium

Dutchmans Breeches

Bluebells

Breeches by the yard

The Bluebells are just starting

Wonderfule evening light

Drying Food for wilderness trips

This time of year some of us are getting on the trail and others are still preparing.  We all have our own way of rigging and getting ready for multi staged wilderness trips.  I have developed a system over the years that involves drying my own backpacking food.  About 2 months before I start a trip I dry my own beans, tofu jerkey, stirfrys, pasta sauces and any reasonable meal leftovers.

My dryer is a top motor stack that air drys 4-6 trays.

It also has clear plastic sheets that are for leathers and drying liquid things

On the PCT a hiker introduced me to dried yogurt.  .Yogurt will dry into a chewy leather, and you know how you will sometimes miss that creamy dairy flavor. This stuff is nirvana after a few days out.

Sauce leather before processing to powder

A big item for us is sauce.  You can only eat so much Knorr noodles before they all taste like crap.  I dry red Pasta Sauces, Strogonoff sauce, and Alfredo Sauce.  You dry them into leathers, then chop them into powder.  I keep sauces in big plastic jars and put them and some dry beans in my bounce box.  To reconstitute the sauces you spoon or pour some hot pasta water into the ziplock and knead (in a high altitude windy camp this process is therapeutic) By the time the pasta is ready the sauce is ready to toss with the hot noodles.

Stroganoff

Marinara

I also dry a lot of beans to add protein to Knorr sides.  I like black beans, lentils and white beans.  You can be gourmet and cook the beans then dry them.  I buy canned, rinse them, then dry them.

Missing fresh veggies?  The trick to fresh veggies for me is to dry frozen peas, corn and various mixes.  Anything that dries bigger than a pea should be processed in  food processor until the bits are smaller or they will take too long to rehydrate.  You can dry spinach fresh from the farmers market -- just put it on the tray and dry it.  It tastes so good out there.

I know a lot of you are stoveless.  I have dried and reconstituted cream cheese, Yogurt, fruit smoothies and lots else.  I make my own tofu jerky.

The best thing about drying your own food is it makes your house smell fantastic.  And you get the benefit of healthy diverse food on those long trails.

Happy Trails
Mamamoab

Ultralight crosses sports

This summer the crazy Mattsons have decided to bike the New Mexico portion of the CDT instead of hiking it.  Using all frame packs we are hoping to keep our gear even more minimal than backpacking.  We have a trunk bag, two frame packs and a handlebar bag.  To experiment with all the new gear and packing it I did a solo trip to Ocala National Forest (Florida) in March.  On my bike I carried  my Marmot Helium in an OR silnylon UL dry bag, a 6.5 oz bivvie sac from Equinox, a tyvek tarp and the old footprint of a Sierra Designs tent, various string and tent stakes, an ultralight Thermarest.  In my triangle bag was a repair kit and my pataogonia down sweater, my handlebar bag carried my wallet and keys and the rest of my clothes, sunscreen and bug juice.  I went stoveless so 3 days of food and a MSR bladder of water was all the kitchen I needed.  My trunk has 

two fold out bags I put my raingear and a spare water bladder in one and half my food in the other.  There is one more small pack that sits on the stem.  My camera and mp3 player and a snack bar lived in that.  All in all it was alot like backpacking but faster.  Ocala has one short 22mile mountain bike Path which was a complete hoot, I was hoping to ride on some of the dirtroads that border some of the wilderness areas and looked nice but they were all too sandy.  I rode a big loop on paved roads the second day and then hiked a little on the Florida Trail the last day.   All in all it seemed that my UL gear was perfect for bike packing and translated very well.  Sure missed those hiking sticks for my tarp set up though. 

Camp 

All loaded up

The mountain Bike trail and the Florida Trail intersected

Sunrise in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness

Florida Scrub Jay

Alxander Springs River

How to Go Light presented by Vicky Mattson at the Buckeye Trailfest April 26th 2014

How to Go Light – Or How I Learned to Love Silnylon

Join veteran backpacker Vicky Mattson as she presents stories and lessons learned from a lifetime of heavy packs and reforming her gear into a 9-15 lb base weight for her Pacific Crest Trail hike and her Continental Divide Trail attempt.  In 2011 and 2012 Vicky and her family hiked the 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.  She is currently working on Section Hiking/biking The Continental Divide Trail (very large chunks) Last year we hiked the Colorado and Wyoming portion of the CDT, this year we will finish with the CDT in New Mexico and Montana.  She is planning to hike the AT alone next year, completing the Triple Crown of America’s long trails.  Along the way Vicky has learned many strategies regarding gear, food prep, and planning for these long hikes.   The program will include some photos of Vicky’s hikes as well as examples of gear and going light.  Vicky will also have some Gossamer Gear (https://gossamergear.com/  )products to share, and discount coupons.  If you are planning any long trail hiking or are just sick of heavy packs this workshop is for you.

9 AM Saturday April 26^th at the Buckeye Trailfest  http://www.buckeyetrailfest.org/