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SavageLlama
10-21-2004, 18:45
I think we can all relate to this one... :D


A beer lover with a taste for wine discovers there's a flip side to pop tops. Wine wins - but not because of superior flavor

By Matt Sartwell
The Journal News (White Plains, NY)
October 17, 2004

Thoughtfully weighing wine

Stooping over the side of the trail, I slung my pack off my shoulders and onto the ground. My dog, The Bruce - 110 pounds of blonde, panting, trail-trotting canine - looked up from my side. As I untethered the top of my pack and undid his saddle bags, I said, "Sorry, boy." Then I took six cans of beer out of my pack and put it in his.

It was a traitorous thing to do, but that moment set me on the path from typical beer-guzzling outdoorsman to a more sensible wine-sampling backpacker.

The difference between wine and beer - no matter what you might have read so far - is how much it weighs. And when I say this, it comes from a lifelong appreciation of both beverages. I'm one of those guys who can drink PBR at trunk temperature and actually like it. Not too picky. Or tell you that merlot is great, but I'd rather have a French Hill Grand Reserve Barbera if I can find it on the wine list.

Know the expression "A pint's a pound the whole world round?" It means that16 ounces of beer or water weighs a pound. So a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans weighs roughly 9 pounds. Doesn't sound like all that much, until you place it on top of the 41 other pounds in your backpack.

In the past, this extra weight never fazed me. From the black folds of a freshly spooned Guinness to the ice-cold refreshment of a Budweiser on a scorching summer's afternoon, beer is the 365-day-a-year cure for what ails.

But recently I found a place where beer had no home: my backpack.

My Jansport, not your average rucksack, has been up and down some big Western mountains and in and out of some icy Eastern climbs. Slung down conveyor belts and chewed through by chipmunks the size of your arm.

But it wasn't until I started hiking up Anthony's Nose across from the Bear Mountain Bridge off the Appalachian Trail that I realized that the beer just had to go. At 31, I am just too damn practical - and my hindquarters possibly too rotund - to lug it. Gone are the days of have beer, take beer.

Anthony's Nose isn't the hardest hike I've ever done, but it begins at a fearsome pitch, nearly straight up off of Route 9D in Cortlandt. No warm up. As I sputtered to a stop that day, and unloaded some of the weight into The Bruce's red sack, I vowed that was it for my days of beer on the trail.

When the two-day trek was over, I was kicked back at the Acapulco in White Plains telling my woes to a co-worker over a pitcher of Sangria (for an interesting twist on this fruity wine-beverage replace the usual cognac with champagne), when she suggested boxed wine - sans box.

Malleable, way lighter, and without that burning, warm-liquor aftertaste often accompanying warm liquor. The perfect camping solution.

Off I went to my local liquor store.

I waffled between two boxes of wine: Franzia, the brand I'd seen most often in my days in the restaurant business; and a California brand called Delicato. Knowing that Franzia, although familiar, is the laughing stock of boxed wine (this was always what my college friends would run to after the keg was kicked), I went to the counter with the Delicato Bota box. I found out later that a bota is the traditional leather wineskin you see sheepherders pull out in old movies. Perfect.

And boy was it. It turns out that the Delicato Chardonnay I'd selected was a U.S. Wine Producer of the Year International Wine & Spirit medal winner in 2001 and 2002.

Crisp and convenient, with a flex tab spout, I couldn't believe how easy it was to make a cradle out of my 30-foot length of static line and sling the entire bag over a maple branch.

It was like having a bottle of wine attached to a tetherball pole. I sat on a stool and swung the bag over to my girlfriend in the hammock for refills.

Although I'll never be sure if The Bruce will forgive my traitorous actions, I can at least assure him that in the future I'll carry my own weight on the trail - as long as it's in a box.
- - - -

orangebug
10-21-2004, 20:21
Of course, there is Everclear, 190 proof grain alcohol. I prefer a fine single malt Scotch.

I've found that an Australian wine, Hardy's is pretty good. It comes bottled and boxed. The boxes are 3 liters, and can be encased in a gallon ziplock for a bit of reassurance. This is still only a reasonable thing for the first few nights of a section, or for that excellent first night meal with friends.

The trick is that the wine nevers gets exposed to air or light in the bag. If you like it initially, you will like it to the very dregs.

TDale
10-21-2004, 20:55
With everclear, there's always the option of red wine powder and water.:-? Then again if you have ANY taste for wine, skip this idea!:eek:

steve hiker
10-21-2004, 21:18
Just remember that most "boxed wine" isn't even wine. It's a flavored alcoholic drink with perhaps 5% real wine added. :datz

Dances with Mice
10-21-2004, 21:36
I don't carry wine. But I do carry a 5 liter plastic liner. Makes a great in-camp water holder. Extra water carrier. Shower, even. And an air pillow.

But how dare he knock Franzia!

orangebug
10-21-2004, 22:04
Just remember that most "boxed wine" isn't even wine. It's a flavored alcoholic drink with perhaps 5% real wine added. :datz
Got an example? I've only seen wine, not wine coolers or wine flavored drinks.

Pencil Pusher
10-21-2004, 23:13
How about the Scandinavian drink, Glug? A spicey wine mix with a bit of alcohol thrown in for good measure, all warmed up over the stove and served hot. A little bit goes a long way. Of a little bit for a long way, geez I agree with the liquor is quicker folks... carrying a twelve pack or three liters of wine isn't worth the effort unless for sheer novelty. I've only done it once for a hut-to-hut ski trip and even then I didn't think it was worth the effort. On the other hand, on a day outing during that trip one of the gals passed down a water bottle of which I took a full slug expecting water... it was peppermint Schnapps. What a surprise, but that did turn out to be a fun day. For the most part though, I've really only carried a single beer for trips. We'll place them in the stream on the approach or share one on the peak. One beer is enough to enjoy the moment.

MadAussieInLondon
10-22-2004, 09:35
if one must hike with consumptionable alchohol, it must be single malt scotch from the islay part of scotland....

and if you carry up it the dang approach trail, thats like aging it another 10 years, it makes it taste so much better

:D :D

hmm speaking of which, i wonder if bono delivered my second bottle of Talisker to miss janet... wouldnt surprise me if he put it in his car to drive back down to erwin instead of petrol... now that I think of it, its probably why he took several days to get from VA to erwin... hmm....

MadAussieInLondon
10-22-2004, 09:42
Just remember that most "boxed wine" isn't even wine. It's a flavored alcoholic drink with perhaps 5% real wine added. :datz

must be different in the us. in australia (where wine in a bag/box was invented... ive only ever seen wine. never winecooler...

useless fact for the day, the bag the wine comes in was originally designed to carry battery acid! ;) just like the cheap nasty wine eh? :D

Rain Man
10-22-2004, 11:01
...and if you carry up it the dang approach trail, thats like aging it another 10 years, it makes it taste so much better....

Bloody Cactus,

I bet that gasoline-powered cooler you carried up the approach trail helped some, too!

:jump :jump :jump

Rain Man

.

cshir003
10-22-2004, 12:18
all I have to say is that the dog had it comming. One might immagine that a dog begins to look a lot like a mule on a steep incline!

Mr. Clean
10-23-2004, 17:04
All this talk of single malts, Talisker, and Islay malts is really making me thirsty. Guess I'd better go and have a wee dram...

U-BOLT
10-23-2004, 17:22
Just make sure and have a few glasses of decaffinated water with those wee drams. I had a few wee drams last night and am paying for it today.

TakeABreak
10-24-2004, 04:28
Now, I like a good cold beer or a fine glass of wine just like anyone else I know, but I think that alohol should be left at home.

Alcohol is a diaretic, which makes you urinate out water in your body, so you have to drink more water and carry more to stay hydrated.

Can cause problems like we are seeing now where hostels are closing or threatening to close, because of alcohol and drugs making it's way to the trail and trail towns.

It can also lead to confrontations by those who can not handle it.

Personally, while training for the A.T., I noticed that the day after a having a couple of beers watching the idiot box, I sweated a lot more, my sweat shall I say reeked (A Lot Worse) after after a good 8 - 10 miles. And I just generall felt dehydrated while hiking and had to stop several to rest and rehydrate.

Beside I as hinted to above, why are going out into the woods any ways, I thought it was to get away from these kind of things and enjoy what little peace and tranquility we have left.