Date: 2013-04-10
To: Food, Food, Food
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

People just can't wrap their heads around how we are going to carry bushels of sweet potatoes, cases of Clif Bars and most of a dead cow with us. The answer is - a few pounds at the time. The Appalachian Trail isn't remote. There isn't much remote left in the Eastern US. Every 40-100 miles or so we will pick up a box or two of supplies from a post office, hotel or hostel in a town near the trail and possibly visit an over priced convenience store or if we are lucky an honest to God supermarket. Post offices are not our first choice since they aren't available from noon Saturday until Monday morning. We foresee some an occasional very long day as we race towards a town trying to make it in time to get our box.These days most hikers don't even bother with mail drops, choosing to buy all their food along the way. Because Hush has to eat a gluten free diet we knew that wouldn't work for her. We bought a dehydrator and went to work - lots of work. Internet AT know-it-alls would have fits about the amount of work we've done. They wouldn't have a fit if they were hungry and wanted some of our food though. Instead of ramen noodles and instant mashed potatoes and ramen noodles and instant mashed potatoes ad nauseum, we'll be living high on the dietary hog.Our suppers are dehydrated sweet potatoes with peanuts and brown sugar, dehydrated rice and beans seasoned with all sorts of spices, dehydrated chili, a dehydrated soup with Quinoa vegetables and onions, and angel hair pasta with olive oil and pesto powder we made at home. Instead of the weak packets of oatmeal we made our own with quick oats, brown sugar and a variety of fruits. Don't think we will be totally junk food free though. I'll be eating many, many poptarts as well. Instead of a sit down lunch on our previous backpacking trips we snack while we walk. By snack I mean hundreds if not thousands of calories on energy bars, home made beef jerky, trail mix and candy bars.The problem with food is the weight. Hush and I spent way too much money to shave ounces off of our backpacks, our tent and our sleeping bags and pads. We use a single edged razor blade for a knife. We cut the handle of our spoon in half. Saving weight is an obsession. You take 5 million steps on a thru hike. An unneeded pound means you've lifted 5,000,000 extra pounds by the time you are finished. SO when it comes to food you just can't stuff everything you can fit into your pack. It doesn't work that way. You carry enough to keep you from starving and that's it. Most hikers lose weight and a lot of it. Getting enough calories is a challenge. Our food boxes also include bags of powdered Fritos and ground nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts and sunflower seeds) to mix in with other foods. Olive oil should be available most of the time as well. And then, there is town, AKA the land of food where restaurants love hikers since they tend to order one of everything on the menu. All you can eat places (AYCE's in hiker parlance) must all be fronts for the Russian Mafia if they are near the AT. It's not uncommon for hikers to stay in in one for hours consuming plate after plate of chop suey and crab rangoon.