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| It's Christmas and I have other things on my mind as well. I've had a fun time getting ready for the trip. Let's just say I haven't been completely focused on that goal. I got my list started. I didn't achieve a very precision attack but I got the basics figured out. A place to sleep. Some things to drink. Clothes to stay warm. A place to put your poo, and trash, but food for 12 days that wouldn't bore me to tears or stop me up so I couldn't poo proved the hardest to figure out. Well, I guess dealing with the (unspeakable) opposite problem from being stopped up might be the most difficult situation I have ever dealt with on a long paddling trip. But that isn't the point of this article. The point here is food. Sorry, I got distracted by reminiscing about Nepal. I never plan food 12 days ahead, so to say that I procrastinated the food buy would represent a serious understatement. |
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| Enough food for 12 days, plus some extra. Add in all the camping gear and you have a ton of stuff. I had a few backpacker meals sitting around so I threw those in the pile. I had tried a Bear Creek insta meal from the grocery store and it turned out pretty good, but I know it's going to bore me to tears if I eat all that just the way it is so I added in a bunch of ingredients, some veggies, and extra pasta, some spices, and other stuff. I tried out a different style of cooking. The directions on the bag said to cook for 15-20 minutes but what I did was bring it to a boil and cook for 5 minutes and then set it aside for 20 minutes. It turned out well-cooked and it will use a lot less fuel. The bags make a gallon of soup so I am going to use most of it for dinners and then put the rest in a thermos, heat it in the morning, and have it with lunch the next day. We'll see if that actually works. |
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| I tried out the food... not bad with some supplementing of ingredients. |
I also tried out my new sleeping bag on a cold night to see if it might stand up to the cold temps of the Canyon in January. I froze my ass off. I think I am going to have to wear more clothes to bed.
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| Tried my new sleeping bag on a cold evening. Let's just say that other than big Agnes, I didn't have much on. |
I got it all into my dry bags.
The night before all my gear had to depart for the Canyon I hadn't started. I hadn't even tried to put anything in the bags. Fortunately it did fit. It took until 2 in the morning but it did fit. Now, I just hope it will all fit in the boat at the put in. Lee's Ferry: here I come. I will post a bunch of stories from our exploits in the Canyon.
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| Now the real trick: I have to get it all in my boat. |
Let's start 2012 in style.
12 days on the Canyon will be a good way to do it.
Cheers
Shane
