Summer Food considerations

“Am flying out to Seattle June 29 for a monthlong solo hiking odyssey through, across and back the North Cascades N.P. and the Pasayten Wilderness. Plan to start hiking at Ross Lake, resupply by mail-cache probably at Loomis on the E. side, and then back again, alternating routes and frequently deviating while anticipating to log 15 mi. a day. Here's the food problem. I've got 25 f/d dinners, 48 Clif Bars (various) and fifty packets of oatmeal. Sometimes I buy a long-lasting Puerto-Rican sausage called "Sausichon." It's kinda strong on the nostrils, and I wonder if this would send too clearly an invitation to the neighboring Ursines. Any suggestions to fill-in the monotony of the aforementioned basic diet?”

“How about snake?

Watch out for snakes by Ross Lake and in the Pasayton Wilderness.

Dried fruit?”

“Thanks for the caveat re: snakes. Damn, thought that lightning, physical atrophy (I'm 44) and the possibility of camp raids were dangers enough. Say, I wouldn't expect to find snakes at the higher elevations along say the Boundary Trail. Okay, I can imagine a healthy timber rattler population along the slopes warmed by Ross Lake. Anyway, shouldn't I expect them to be a low-elevation phenomenon? Hiked for seven days in the Pasayten in '77 (outta Mazama) and never saw a snake between there and Hidden Lakes, etc.”

“Unforntunately, this is not a dehydrated food, but you can take hard cheeses.”

“Ooops, I confused Ross Lake with Lake Chelan. I've never gone to the Pasaytan Wilderness. I've always heard there are snakes on the eastside of WA.

I am not familiar with snakes, so I don't know anything about elevation or what kinds you may find, sorry.”

“Gotcha on that and the dried fruit. You're on target. Thanks a bunch! BTW,the unique thing about my itinerary is that it involves taking the #117 CITY BUS from Mt. Vernon to Newhalem at two bucks for 4 trips.Ain't that some stuff?”

“Chocolate”

“I read that some people take brownie mix and add water, no egg, and cook it in a pot until it get thick and then just eat it as a gooey dessert. You wouldn't eat a whole package at once of course, repackage it into ziplocks, maybe 3/4 cup dry mix each. You won't have chocolate melting in your pack in the heat.”

“Eat the chocolate before it melts! :^)”

“Eat the chocolate while planning the trip. Eat more while packing. Eat final morsels in the car on the way to the trailhead.”

“Instant pudding. Nuts. Melba toast. Skittles. Chex mix.”

“dehydrated watermelon... oh so good out there”

“MRE's. Heavy but a few no cook dinners might come in handy.”

“Thanks for all the advice, guys. One important aspect is to conserve stove fuel (Svea 123R stove. I figure if I boil a liter of water each a.m. and p.m., for coffee, oatmeal and a f/d dinner, a liter of fuel just might last me for a 24-day hike.

Went to the supermarket yesterday and got a dumpload of stuff to supplement my oatmeal/Clif bar/ f/d dinner diet. Got a whole lotta sun-dried tomatoes, dried pineapples and apricots, peanuts and banana chips. I like to be well-fed, but if I lose 20 lbs. on this trip, it's no disaster. My eighty-year-old mom will pinch my browned gaunt cheek and say, "Why Varmit, you oughta put some meat on your bones." Then she'll feed me a gigantic epicurean meal.”