With Summit Weekend approaching in less than two weeks, I hope most of you have your time requested off and are starting to get your gear together. It can be an exciting time as you plan your gear and try and balance comfort vs weight. That portable TV may afford some college football or that 5lb steak may be quite tasty, but three miles into it, those benefits may turn into a different story!
Well , back to what I was really posting about...
If your like me, when it comes to money, supply never equals demand. So my hope here is to show a few local resources for guys that may still need some quality gear and some plain jane wally world items that will keep you well fed and energized for just a few dollars.
GEAR:If you don't already have a pack for the hike, check out the rental fees at Southern Seminary's Recreation Center. If you are not a Seminary student, get with one in our church and they can help get you a rental. Here are the weekend fees for their gear:
Backpacks: $4.00 (Lowe Alpine, internal frame, 3000 cu/in)
Cook Set: $3.00
Ground Pad: $2.00
Sleeping Bag: $4.00Water Canteen: $1.00
Even it you needed everything listed above, you can get away with all this for $14.00.
FOOD:
Waly World is by far the best place to get some grub for the same price you would normally eat home cooked meals. In fact, you should be able to just buy food you would regularly buy and just divide it up into ziplocs with the amount that you need for the trip. Here are some el-cheapo favorites of mine.
Breakfast - Bagels, Country Crock butter, honey (the butter spread has days before it goes rancid). Granola, honey & Water (if you can find powdered milk you can make some seriously good cereal). Packet of White Gravy (only require boiling water) and bread. Oatmeal, honey/ sugar. Instant grits pack. Poptarts. Fruit Bars.
I usually mix up two of these for a morning breakfast. Breakfast needs to be something full of carbs and sugar. After a day of hiking and a cool nights sleep, you will want something to replenish your glycogen stores.
Lunch -
the sky is the limit when it comes to this, however, on that Friday we will be about mid trail if not near the end when we stop for some lunch. Fast and hearty always make a good combination. Usually you want it to be something you can scarf down in ten minutes or less. You can really save some dough here, yet still eat great. Here are some starter ideas: pita bread with peanut butter and honey...ooh its good. Albacore pack with biscuits (cook some plain ole drop biscuits like
this the night before). Cheese is always a great salty addition to a meal, infact, cheese has some of the longest trail life of any food and can last for almost a week in a pack. If the trail affords time or we are to camp by lunch time, being able to boil water opens the menu up. Easy Mac, soups,
Ramen... go down waly worlds isles and you will find a plethora of stuff for boiling.
Supper - Picture this: you, sitting by a fire with a cool breeze coming off the lake, full belly, and sipping some instant coffee you brought with you. As you put your lips to that overused tin mug you rented and take another sip o' joe, you cant help but smile because you just finished the perfect meal in style and you didn't break the bank doing it... now thats a good time!
Here are some menu ideas that can really kick things up a notch: Stuffing (keep it dried till ready to eat), instant mashed potato pack (yeah get the loaded baked potato kind), some turkey gravy, prepackaged chicken (or you can grill your own the morn of and ziploc it). This is about as savory as it gets on trail. You can go more minimalist on the trail with items more like the lunch menu above, but what's the fun in that? Here is another good one: Prepackaged groundbeef, soft tortillas, Chile powder, and melted pepper jack cheese slices make a delicious Mexican dish. As you can see the options are unlimited. Look for things that don't take much more than water, and don't think you can just "go without that egg"...it doesn't work that way. Remember supper is to be a time where you pack your body full of carb, protein, and good taste.
Speaking of protein: Your body does most protein intake while your asleep. Yes, we are only doing five miles, but for most of us, thats five miles more than we normally do in a day. So protein at supper will help your body recoup from those minor stretches and muscle tears.
Snacks: Protein segways straight into snacks. Most trail worthy snacks are protein and fat centered. Nuts are always good, and Beef Jerkey is even better! It qualifies as"Man Candy" for sure...if you go hiking you have to get a bag of Beef Jerkey. It is an unwritten man law.
Don't under think your snacks. When you have eaten all your supper by 6:30 pm and the only other meal in your bag is breakfast for the next morn, snacks are the only thing that is going to keep you jabbering till midnight with the guys.
My go to snack has always been CLIF bars. They are amazingly good and full of sugar, protein, and carb. Beef Jerkey keeps you chewing and taste great. Peanuts with M&M's are awesome, and for a little more heartiness throw some granola in your pack. Rice Krispy Treats too. Those items should last the night.
Condiments: Now here is one real slick clue when it comes to condiments. The next time your at Chick-Fil-A select some items from their salt, pepper, hot sauce, mustard, mayo, ketchup, forks, spoons, etc. Now I am not talking about going in and stealing, but rather when you go and purchase your next meal as a courteous buyer, take a look at the variety of free items they offer to their buying customers and take what you might normally use on that No 1 sandwich and save it for the hiking trip. There is some really compact, lightweight, small dose items there.
Now some of you may be looking at the items I have listed and may be thinking "That kind of food will cost me a lot more because I have to buy more than I need for this trip." That may be true but if you put a little bit of planning into it, you can have food left over for the coming days. You can buy 4 pre packaged meals (eg. MRE's/ Dehydrated meals for breakfast, lunch, supper, breakfast) for this event, and pay $23-25 for those meals ($5-6 per meal). Or you can buy $35 of food at waly world that will last 12-15 meals ($2.90-3.10 per meal). In the long run you save. I would bet that you have 60% of what you need for this trip in your pantry right now...just ask your wife.
So that wraps it up for the Poor Man's Summit Weekend post. I can't wait to see you all 9am Friday morning September 18 at the church!
