Scared of eating on trail

[Prettywoman0172]

I am a former fat chick. And I am scared of eating on the trail. Normal trail foods, staples, are things that I consider off-limits. Like Snickers bars, M&Ms and cheap noodles. Or things that are very high in calories – nuts, granola, dried fruit.

While I understand that I will be burning a lot of calories while hiking, there is still the mental aspect. I have tried to alleviate this somewhat by buying alternatives to the mainstream – Annie’s Mac & Cheese rather than Kraft; Newmans Fig bars rather than fig newtons; Organic powdered milk, rather than the stuff from Walmart. But I am still afraid.

Suggestions for good, wholesome, food that will not cost a million dollars for a possible thru-hike? I am aware of MaryJanes but each meal is close to $10. Ouch.

Ann

[Phreak]

Buy a dehydrator and make all your own meals. It's what I do for my hikes.

[Deadeye]

Eat whatever you like to eat now, you just may need to eat more of it. No need to resort to eating junk like Pop-tarts to get calories. If you like veggies and egg whites, you can still eat well on the trail. Might take a bit more effort, and you might need to carry a little more weight, but it's worth it.

You will need the calories, though, or you'll bonk halfway through the day.

[Prettywoman0172]

I am experienced with bonking :) Its not a nice feeling. I have done it twice on distance bike rides. Horrible!!!

How would I carry veggies and eggwhites? (Please dont laugh :)

And as far as the dehydrator ... is this hard to do? Storage after dehydration - does it need special packaging or refrigeration or anything?

Thanks!!

[Prettywoman0172]

I LOVE oatmeal and nut butters, meuseli, granola, cereal, trail mix and dried fruit :)

[mister krabs]

You're over analyzing it. Eat what you regularly eat and can buy at the grocery store that will keep for three or four days. Egg whites are not any better for you than whole eggs or very high in calories compared to cereal or granola and whole eggs come in a convenient package.

[Prettywoman0172]

How do you carry whole eggs without breaking them all over your pack and how do you keep them cold? Do they need to be cold? I read that boiled eggs can be kept for a couple of days without refrigeration.

[thomas533]

check out trailcooking.com and you will have all your answers!

[4eyedbuzzard]

Eggs don't really need to be kept cold. The US is one of the only countries in the world that refrigerates eggs. They'll keep fine for a week at room/outside temps. Just take them in the carton you buy them in (or half) and don't smush them or sit on them. The new plastic cartons for the free-range and organic eggs are really study.

[Mountain Wildman]

Satatistics I've heard indicate that a Thru-Hiker will burn 4000 to 6000 calories per day, There are still things you can get at the average convenience store that are fairly healthy, The Cumberland Farms here in Gorham typically has salads, Apples, Oranges, Canned vegetable etc... While the salads would not carry well, Apples certainly will and oranges should last a few days, You may have to eat the off limits food from time to time but you should be able to eat more to your liking at least part of the time.

[couscous]

check out trailcooking.com and you will have all your answers!
The home page is corrupted .. start at the Dehydrating 101 (http://www.trailcooking.com/dehydrating101) page.

[highfisher]

I LOVE oatmeal and nut butters, meuseli, granola, cereal, trail mix and dried fruit :)


Nothing wrong with these, now throw in some vegies, tuna, salmon, chicken. Also lots of SB along the way.

Welcome to WB.

[Prettywoman0172]

got another one for ya...how do you cook eggs if all you have is the pot from your Soloist set? ;)

[Prettywoman0172]

How long would you be able to keep Laughing Cow soft cheeses or Baby Bell mini cheeses? Or any cheeses in general.

Thanks again, all of your input is much appreciated.

A

[highfisher]

got another one for ya...how do you cook eggs if all you have is the pot from your Soloist set? ;)

Freezer Bag Cooking, Quick simple no mess


How long would you be able to keep Laughing Cow soft cheeses or Baby Bell mini cheeses? Or any cheeses in general.

Thanks again, all of your input is much appreciated.

A
Hard cheeese will last longer.

[Prettywoman0172]

I just looked up freezer bag cooking! AWESOME! THank you!!!!

[Luddite]

While I understand that I will be burning a lot of calories while hiking


A LOT of calories. You will lose weight.



Organic powdered milk


Organic milk is still milk.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I just looked up freezer bag cooking! AWESOME! THank you!!!!
Do an "advanced search" on threads written by "Sarbar". She wrote the book (literally) on FB cooking.

[Old Grouse]

How do you carry whole eggs without breaking them all over your pack and how do you keep them cold? Do they need to be cold? I read that boiled eggs can be kept for a couple of days without refrigeration.

Actually, raw eggs in the shell will keep for many days without refrigeration, particularly if they haven't been washed. (A newly laid egg has a coating called a "bloom" which washing removes.) Once you boil or otherwise cook them, they will deteriorate after only a day or two. This is because the raw egg white has several ways of killing off any germs which manage to get through the shell and outer membrane. That's a major part of the white's job. But those abilities are eliminated by the act of cooking.

[Slosteppin]

got another one for ya...how do you cook eggs if all you have is the pot from your Soloist set? ;)

I had the same question so I tried it at home. Boiling is easy - just put 1 or 2 eggs in the pot of water and boil.

I tried a different way. I filled my .75 L pot nearly full of water and set it on my alcohol stove. Then I broke 2 eggs in a Ziploc freezer bag, added some seasoning and olive oil, squished the eggs until they were scrambled. I put the Ziploc in the pot of water and lit the stove with 1.5 oz alcohol. When the fire went out the eggs were well cooked in one lump. I could have eaten out of the Ziploc. Instead I dumped them on a plate and chopped so it looked like scrambled eggs. Easier than a fry pan on the kitchen stove and no pan to wash.

Slosteppin

[LIhikers]

How long would you be able to keep Laughing Cow soft cheeses or Baby Bell mini cheeses? Or any cheeses in general.

Thanks again, all of your input is much appreciated.

A

Hard cheeses last pretty well if kept out of the sun.

[chiefiepoo]

Agree with all that's said previously. I'd add that getting protein to facilitate muscle repair is key on a LD hike. I carried a few pouches of protein mix from GNC and freely added to oat meal, water, or whatever struck me as acceptable for taste. As for cheeses, Vermont Cabot holds up well without refridge. Only cheese block in my supermarket without "keep refrigerated after opening " on the wrapper.

[Danielsen]

Agree with all that's said previously. I'd add that getting protein to facilitate muscle repair is key on a LD hike. I carried a few pouches of protein mix from GNC and freely added to oat meal, water, or whatever struck me as acceptable for taste. As for cheeses, Vermont Cabot holds up well without refridge. Only cheese block in my supermarket without "keep refrigerated after opening " on the wrapper.

A lot of things say "keep refrigerated after opening" that really, really don't need it... including most aged cheddar cheeses, cabot or not.

[IronGutsTommy]

if your oven goes down to 150 degrees, most newer ones do, you can dehydrate in there too, just roll up a sheet of aluminum foil into a snake to prop the door open a lil. Dehydrators rock, tho and are very useful even at home. There are lots of healthy traill snacks which wont open a pandoras box for when youre back home. granola bars, gorp, nuts and seeds. Olive oil is great for the hike, i put it in anything i cook on the trail.. of course ii use the term cook loosely. Im a chef by trade but by the time i get to camp im too tired to be very ambitious. oranges serve a dual purpose on zero days tho. u can bake lil cakes and muffins inside the peel, a trick i learned from backpacker.com

[IronGutsTommy]

ps load up on veggies while in towns

[J5man]

I just looked up freezer bag cooking! AWESOME! THank you!!!!

Check out Sarbar's posts and her book. She is the expert. When I cook while hiking, 99% of the time, I do freezer bag cooking, it is so easy.

[pafarmboy]

I am a former fat chick. And I am scared of eating on the trail. Ann


Don't worry about eating on the trail. Main problem might be the massive appetite you still have when you are done hiking and are back home. I seem to crave 4000+ calories for at least a week being back home. (I section hike for about 200 miles at a time) Put on 5 pounds in a week when I got home after last section.

[Jester2000]

Don't worry about eating on the trail. Main problem might be the massive appetite you still have when you are done hiking and are back home. I seem to crave 4000+ calories for at least a week being back home. (I section hike for about 200 miles at a time) Put on 5 pounds in a week when I got home after last section.

This is an excellent point. It's not so much what you eat while you're on the trail. Because frankly, you can eat anything you feel like eating. The problem would be not developing bad habits that you take back with you to the world.

And now, a moment of talk about cheese:

All of it. Every kind. As much as you want, and then some more. And then after that, a whole big block of it, just to reward yourself for only having some more earlier, instead of a whole lot. After your hike, you want to be able to describe it as "cheesetastic." Because you know what? As much as everyone wants to talk about how long it will last, ultimately it won't last at all. 'Cause you'll eat it. All of it. Every kind.

[Smile]

All of it. Every kind. As much as you want, and then some more. And then after that, a whole big block of it, just to reward yourself for only having some more earlier, instead of a whole lot. After your hike, you want to be able to describe it as "cheesetastic." Because you know what? As much as everyone wants to talk about how long it will last, ultimately it won't last at all. 'Cause you'll eat it. All of it. Every kind.

Melted Brie with a sliced apple swirled around inside a mug or pot is heavenly- let it cool for a few minutes after heat is off for maximum gooieness (sp?). Schmear the pot/mug clean with some bread or pita, soaks up the cheese oil and just rinse, easy clean up!

Jester, could you elaborate on your favorite cheese selections? You weren't really clear on that...... :)

[Tipi Walter]

How long would you be able to keep Laughing Cow soft cheeses or Baby Bell mini cheeses? Or any cheeses in general.

Thanks again, all of your input is much appreciated.

A

I always take out several pounds of cheese on my trips, usually goat cheeses that I order online, and on my last several trips it's been a furnace outside in the east Tennessee heat. My cheese stayed packaged and floated in it's own oil until I cut open the wrap and drained the oil into a meal I was preparing. Afterwards, I removed the block of cheese, wrapped it in two paper towels, and stowed it in a new ziploc(all this happened while out on the trip). Paper towels work well to keep cheese from getting too oily, and can be burned when the cheese is finished. Onto the next block!


Actually, raw eggs in the shell will keep for many days without refrigeration, particularly if they haven't been washed. (A newly laid egg has a coating called a "bloom" which washing removes.) Once you boil or otherwise cook them, they will deteriorate after only a day or two. This is because the raw egg white has several ways of killing off any germs which manage to get through the shell and outer membrane. That's a major part of the white's job. But those abilities are eliminated by the act of cooking.

My main problem with eggs is not their field-longevity, but the many hairline cracks that develop after 12 or 15 days of a trip's jostling inside one of those 12 egg plastic "suitcases". I haven't figured out a way to keep them completely protected.


This is an excellent point. It's not so much what you eat while you're on the trail. Because frankly, you can eat anything you feel like eating. The problem would be not developing bad habits that you take back with you to the world.

And now, a moment of talk about cheese:

All of it. Every kind. As much as you want, and then some more. And then after that, a whole big block of it, just to reward yourself for only having some more earlier, instead of a whole lot. After your hike, you want to be able to describe it as "cheesetastic." Because you know what? As much as everyone wants to talk about how long it will last, ultimately it won't last at all. 'Cause you'll eat it. All of it. Every kind.

I agree and I'm a cheese-head too. I just got a neat order of goat cheese from this place:

https://www.buygoatcheese.com/onlinestore.php

[Danielsen]

u can bake lil cakes and muffins inside the peel, a trick i learned from backpacker.com

Do you have a link to that? It sounds like a great little trick.

[JAK]

I am a former fat chick. And I am scared of eating on the trail. Normal trail foods, staples, are things that I consider off-limits. Like Snickers bars, M&Ms and cheap noodles. Or things that are very high in calories – nuts, granola, dried fruit.

While I understand that I will be burning a lot of calories while hiking, there is still the mental aspect. I have tried to alleviate this somewhat by buying alternatives to the mainstream – Annie’s Mac & Cheese rather than Kraft; Newmans Fig bars rather than fig newtons; Organic powdered milk, rather than the stuff from Walmart. But I am still afraid.

Suggestions for good, wholesome, food that will not cost a million dollars for a possible thru-hike? I am aware of MaryJanes but each meal is close to $10. Ouch.

AnnEat real food. Avoid food-like substitutes.

I think you might do better if you do as I do which is to only buy simple basic one-ingredient type foods, and mix and match them at meal time. Instead of bringing granola bars, bring oats, raisins, almonds. That sort of thing. If you need more calories, bring more raisins and almonds and such to add to your oats. If you need less calories, then more oats and less of the extras. Similarly with soups at night, stuff like lentils and barley and dried vegetables tend to absorb alot of water and are very filling for their calories. Vegetable oil would be a way of boosting calories. Jerky can be added to soup, to give is something chewy. Jerky isn't high in calories unless you make it so with more fat. It can be very lean if you want it to be. You have the most control with homemade jerky. When doing resupply you have to be flexible.

So the other advantage you have when hiking, besides burning more calories, is that you have great control over what you will be eating because what you resupply with is, more or less, all that you will be eating until your next resupply. Sure, there is trail magic, and the occassional sharing of food, but generally alot less temptation than at home.

Oats and lentils make a great foundation for keeping calories low. The stuff you add to them allows you to make them more interesting and more dense in calories, as needed. So you are in control. Enjoy your hiking. No worries.

[Roots]

I just looked up freezer bag cooking! AWESOME! THank you!!!!

Freezer bag cooking is the way to go! Especially if you would like to keep eating healthy on the trail. Also...check out this website--http://www.justtomatoes.com/JV-P.html. They offer some GREAT freeze dried options that you can add to yo ur cooking or eat out of the package.

[JAK]

Herbs and spices and teas and coffee are another great way to keep food interesting without adding alot of calories. They are also a good way of getting you to eat more calories if that is what you need. Either way, herbs and spices and teas are always a good thing. Chai style tea is a great way to fill in some time and your tummy between meals. For the same calories, alot more intersting than just pounding back another sports drink, I think. I use regular tea, and skim milk, and add my own spices like cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, anise, black pepper, nutmeg, ginger. Not always the same way each time. Lots of those spices go well with oatmeal or soups also. For that matter, tea or coffee can add some flavour to oatmeal or soup also. A little spice like cardamon can give a different kick to your coffee as well as to your tea. Experiment.

Nothing wrong with bringing a little honey along either. I use a 500g tub of honey mostly as a condiment for my tea, but sometimes as a boost to my oatmeal also, or as a quick squirt of energy at night if I am cold and too tired to make tea. I would normally only use about 100g over my typical 3 day hikes. but the rest of it doubles as my emergency food. If I am out an extra day or even two then 300-400g of honey rationed with any remaining tea, or tea made from cedar or spruce leaves or whatever, should be more than enough to keep my body fat burning to get me home again, even in winter.

[Hikes in Rain]

Do you have a link to that? It sounds like a great little trick.

http://bread-and-honey.blogspot.com/2008/09/campfire-cakes.html

Here's one. It's pretty simple. Slice the top off the orange, maybe a quarter of the way down. Scoop the pulp out of the lower section to make a bowl, and pour in the batter. Leave the pulp in the upper section, so the juice drips down into the batter as it bakes. Wrap in foil, bake in the coals of a fire. First tried that back in the early 70's, from a popular camping book at the time whose name I don't remember. Gives me an excuse to poke around the library. :D

[JAK]

That is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time.
Definetly going to bring along some oranges next hike.

[Fiddleback]

Exchanging one's 'normal' diet for purpose-made food for the trail has always seemed awkward to me. Granted there is a possible higher calorie requirement on the trail but there's not much of a reason to change the main entrees from those at home...depending what you eat at home.:D

Dehydrating at home, with an oven or a dehydrator, allows you to stay close to your at-home diet. Soups and stews, chili, spaghetti, and myriad one pot meals all lend themselves to dehydration. Not only does that keep your meals familiar; home dehydration generally makes for fresher, tastier, more nutritious and healthier food than store bought. Reserving a portion of a dinner for dehydration and packaging for trail use can save a bunch of time, too.

Snacks can be one's downfall and, calorie wise, they are mine. But with a little attention they can at least be healthy. My trail snacks are now mostly mixed nuts and dried fruit. On occasion that make's up my lunch, too. Chocolate is saved for nighttime snacking...there's simply not much candy left if my trail kitchen and I'm pretty happy without it. I never did candy bars...they were just too messy for me and I don't think much of American chocolate or the bars made from it.:mad:

One control's his/her own menu on the trail just as at home and there's no need to go 'junk' on the trail as so many do. My first recommendation is to study freezer bag cooking. There are so many great contributers on this and other forums with so many fantastic recipes...

FB

[sbhikes]

Eggs are difficult to use backpacking. Even if you can carry them without breaking, they'll burn when you cook them on the typical thin pan on a typical backpacking stove. You could cook them nicely by dropping them into a soup, though.

I would carry veggies with me. A broccoli floret would last a couple of days. A large leaf of chard torn up and stored with a little sprinkling of water in a plastic bag lasted well. A really good dinner is cous-cous with curry, raisins, pecans, tuna, broccoli and a little olive oil.

Years ago I managed to lose a lot of weight and in the process I became pretty neurotic about food. I went on a trek in Nepal and I was afraid I was going to eat too much. It probalby helped that Nepal is not a place to go for fine dining, but something else happened on that trip to change things. I don't know what it was, but I just got over it. It may have been that since I wasn't having to decide what to eat and when to eat it I just stopped worrying about it. It may have just been that I was out there really living, doing something amazing and simply forgot to worry about food. Whatever the change, it seemed to stick.

[JAK]

I do freezer bag cooking, but in a pot or mug. I carry most all my stuff in bulk form, rather than preprepared into meals. Something stuff gets mixed together, like mixed nuts, or mixed dried fruit, or even cholocate chips with raisins to keep the chocolate chips apart, but never really as pre-prepared meals. Sometimes I buy soup mixes, or trail mixes, but again in some sort of bulk form, and I add stuff to it or use it to add to something else, like oatmeal porridge, or lentil soup, or oatcakes.

I like and follow the same general idea of freezer bag cooking though, which is to add the hot water to the dry ingredients, rather than to cook the meal directly on the stove.

[sbhikes]

A friend of mine is always dehydrating because he backpacks every few weeks. He does a lot of freezer bag cooking.

His basic cooked meal is a baggie full of mystery vegetables (he likes to be surprised and just mixes up all kinds of crazy combos) with some kind of soup base (pea soup, black beans, lentil). He makes this into not a consistency of soup but more like a stew. He sometimes only cooks it by mixing it up in the afternoon and carrying it so that the sun will warm it up. Other times he'll heat the water on the stove.

I've tasted it and sometimes it's really quite good. I'd probably add more spices and salt.

If you don't want to dehydrate yourself, you can buy freeze-dried fruits and veggies. Look up Just Tomatoes, Just Corn, Just whatevers and you'll find them. I think it's actually more economical cost-wise and the "Just" fruits and veggies are really very good and tasty.

[Tinker]

Eggs??
Break them into a Nalgene bottle (whatever size or shape you choose) and use them as you otherwise would at home. Remove the yolks if you wish.

[Tinker]

Oh, and wash your container VERY thoroughly as soon as it's empty.

[Danielsen]

http://bread-and-honey.blogspot.com/2008/09/campfire-cakes.html

Here's one. It's pretty simple. Slice the top off the orange, maybe a quarter of the way down. Scoop the pulp out of the lower section to make a bowl, and pour in the batter. Leave the pulp in the upper section, so the juice drips down into the batter as it bakes. Wrap in foil, bake in the coals of a fire. First tried that back in the early 70's, from a popular camping book at the time whose name I don't remember. Gives me an excuse to poke around the library. :D

Thanks! I'm going to have to give this a try sometime.

[Tinker]

Freezer bag cooking is the way to go! Especially if you would like to keep eating healthy on the trail. Also...check out this website--http://www.justtomatoes.com/JV-P.html. They offer some GREAT freeze dried options that you can add to yo ur cooking or eat out of the package.

I tried it. Ended up spending too much on bags and packing out dirty bags. Went back to ol' fashioned pot. It's easier to eat out of than hot bags, too. Since I carry bio suds for hand and body washing it isn't a big deal to wash the pot once a day (that's right, once). Mostly I'll just boil some water (or heat it if it's been filtered) and use it to scrape the crud off the inside of my pot. I use the water for a hot drink (don't notice the food scrapings), wipe the pot (mostly) clean and put it away, washing it only after dinner.

[sarbar]

The home page is corrupted .. start at the Dehydrating 101 (http://www.trailcooking.com/dehydrating101) page.

We were working on the site today. Sorry about that! Anyhow....it should be back up running now. If you hit any issues where it says "page not found" just hit refresh and it should work fine. Husband is still doing more work but put the site back online.

[sarbar]

On eggs and all...also consider taking a look at http://www.frontiercoop.com/ you can get quite a bit of organic items via them. They sell in bulk (usually 1 lb) but it is the SAME stuff sold in bulk bins at natural food stores. They offer free shipping and send 20% codes often as well. The eggs are good - in recipes especially.

[JAK]

Just wondering how coop is pronounced in this context?

[Luddite]

Co-op. A food co-op. Those grocery stores that sell Nag Champa soap.

[JAK]

Got it. When raising chickens and all that there is always some ambiguity.

[sarbar]

Hehheh! I prefer to say "where one sees lots of granola heads" :D

[DapperD]

I am a former fat chick. And I am scared of eating on the trail. Normal trail foods, staples, are things that I consider off-limits. Like Snickers bars, M&Ms and cheap noodles. Or things that are very high in calories – nuts, granola, dried fruit.

While I understand that I will be burning a lot of calories while hiking, there is still the mental aspect. I have tried to alleviate this somewhat by buying alternatives to the mainstream – Annie’s Mac & Cheese rather than Kraft; Newmans Fig bars rather than fig newtons; Organic powdered milk, rather than the stuff from Walmart. But I am still afraid.

Suggestions for good, wholesome, food that will not cost a million dollars for a possible thru-hike? I am aware of MaryJanes but each meal is close to $10. Ouch.

AnnAnn, I am a former overweight person myself who has learned, like you, to be careful of what I eat, how much, and the need for exercise to be incorporated into my life. The freezer bag cooking method espoused by many is one way to go. Healthful dehydrated meals can be premade and maildropped to yourself along the way. Heat boiling water, add, wait a while and you are good to go. This is a way to eat healthy on the trail, however there are some things then that one must deal with if this method is used. Most people will need to maildrop their dehydrated meals to themselves, to locations along the trail. This can become costly. You will need a support person to mail these to you, and then you will need to coordinate your hike to arrive at the destinations your food will be sent to. This can lock you into an unwanted schedule and tend to overly complicate your hike. I mean it can and is done, say by people with vegetarian needs/concerns, etc...who may find it hard to purchase the foods that they need to maintain their chosen eating behavior. If I was yourself, I would most likely not do the maildrop method, except for certain locations where possibly it can/is hard to obtain a decent selection of goods. What you can do is purchase your food as you travel up the trail at the many towns you will be passing through. From what I have learned, along the AT it is not really that difficult to do. There are usually plenty of stores, or at least enough, at most towns the trail will pass through, that usually obtaining healthful foods and being able to make healthful choices need not cause too much of a problem. There will be times when, as other's have mentioned, you may need to simply do with some unpreffered foods, but you will be hiking so much and burning such a significant number of calories that I don't think it will matter too significantely. Just remember, as has been mentioned, when you stop hiking you will eventually need to revert back to your current eating habits to avoid any unpleasant weight gain which will occur if calories are not reduced. And just to add, you can buy some Mountain House freeze dried meals or other similar dehydrated meals to at least get your hike underway and simplify things when you first set out.

[Hikes in Rain]

Thanks! I'm going to have to give this a try sometime.


Jak, Danielsen, thanks for the complements. (I really need to figure out this multi-quoting thing!) I really enjoy sharing this sort of lore. I think I'm becoming an ancient! :eek:

I got this from Roughing it Easy, (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=roughing+it+easy&sprefix=roughing+it+easy) by Dian Thomas. Lots of good, fun ways to cook, especially without pots, pans or utensils. Bacon and eggs in a paper bag, anyone?? My copy is a first edition, whatever that's worth. Probably just means everything in it is out of date. :sun

[Danielsen]

Jak, Danielsen, thanks for the complements. (I really need to figure out this multi-quoting thing!) I really enjoy sharing this sort of lore. I think I'm becoming an ancient! :eek:

I got this from Roughing it Easy, (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=roughing+it+easy&sprefix=roughing+it+easy) by Dian Thomas. Lots of good, fun ways to cook, especially without pots, pans or utensils. Bacon and eggs in a paper bag, anyone?? My copy is a first edition, whatever that's worth. Probably just means everything in it is out of date. :sun
Used copies from 98 cents! I'll have to grab one. Thanks for yet another useful heads-up. :D

[Hikes in Rain]

More than happy to help!

[sarbar]

For anyone interested in old trail cookbooks - including many which most have never heard about! - I have a perma page on our blog about my collection:
http://blog.trailcooking.com/trail-library/
Some of the finds I have found have been truly cool (Supermarket Backpacker for example!).

[JAK]

Thanks Sarbar.

[Hikes in Rain]

Wow! And I thought I had a collection! I'm impressed (and a trifle jealous).

[mweinstone]

best thread title in a while.

[mweinstone]

happyness has increased knowing that somewhere there is such a collection. ruth dyer mendenhal is a god. its my single best i got. i have a book and can lead you to it that tells how to eat your boots. bet?look in the book" survival with style"it may be by bradford angeir. the chapter title is"eat your boots? and exsplanes how and when and witch boots.

[sarbar]

Lol..yep!

I LOVE the old books. They are treasures! I have many more on my list and am constantly looking for my lengthy list of "wants". Some have been near impossible to find - it took me nearly a year to find even one copy of the wok cookbook for the trail.

The original version of Beyond Gorp - otherwise known as Gorp, Glop and Stew has the recipe for mouse hamburger. Eek :P

[Hikes in Rain]

At the risk of thread drift....eBay is my partner for finding those old books. I have a couple of dozen searches going at any given time. Really fills up my in-box!

[sarbar]

Yeah...my only real issue has been I buy under my real name and in my searches I have had two 3rd party book sellers on Amazon cancel orders on me - and then an hour later the book is relisted by them - for considerably more. Highly unethical for Amazon sellers - it can get a person banned from selling. At times I have considered buying under a fake name for this reason.