Packing light

With the start of school still a couple weeks off, we’re right at the peak of the Great American Road Trip season.

It was Lewis and Clark who pretty much invented the tradition when they set out from Missouri for the Pacific Northwest more than 200 years ago. Of course, it’s been the succeeding generations, though, that have put their picture postcard stamp on the practice. Ever see that vintage postcard of the Model T driving through the carved out section of the redwood in one of our national parks? How American is that!

And ever since the Discovery Expedition of 1804, the folks have fretted ’bout how to get everything squeezed into either the keelboat, mini-van or backpack. Gunpowder and whiskey were at the top of Meriwether’s list, while today if you’re taking the SUV and a cooler you can just about take any kind of food – and supplies – you want.

But there are those who simply don’t count car camping as a real excursion into the wild. I don’t ascribe to such uppity, but it sorta depends on where you’re headed and what kind of predators might be lurking in the dark. For instance, on an earlier road trip this summer to Manhattan – the Big Apple – it was, candidly, too risky to be roughing it in Central Park. An East Village apartment was all the excitement I needed.

Actually, right now I’m at the packing stage for a trip with Fox 4 photo journalist Jim Monteleone into the Boundary Waters between Minnesota and Ontario. Since I am something of a veteran of these kinds of excursions, I’ve got most of the equipment thing down – tent, compass, camp stove, polypropylene … MacBook Pro (just kidding).

And for the record, a water filter. Don’t ever drink directly out of a stream or lake – ever – ’cause it only looks pristine. Powdered drinks (a la Tang, etc.) are an option, but you have only three options for making the drinking water for it safe – water filter, iodine tablets or boiling all your water.

It’s the food that I always fuss over. Monte and I will – the fishing gods willing – feast on smallmouth much of the time, but there are only so many Fig Newtons you can stash in your pockets for energy. A trip of more than a couple days into bear country means you have to be creative when heading out.

Steve Jacobson, an outdoor educator at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Discovery Center and a veteran wild man, maintains that up to a half of what you pack in is going to be food. “I always take too much!” he laughs.
But better too much than too little, of course.

His partner on a lot of trips is Shea Bergman, also a DC outdoor guru, puts it this way: “Backpacking is work. So the energy that you bring along is very important. I always kinda keep a ratio in mind. I try to bring along about 60 percent carbohydrates … so noodles, pasta that kind of thing. But you gotta have the protein, too, because it’s a workout.”

Picking wisely means going light, but not when it comes to calories.

That’s why beef jerky, store bought and home made, are generally one of the first items you lay next to the big knife when you’re laying things out. Jerky is high octane.

And, of course, there is a whole specialty food market out there for dehydrated dishes. Like lasagna, beef teriyaki and Jamaican chicken. Dried stuff is good because anything with moisture – like real food – adds weight. But that doesn’t mean you have to buy expensive. You can mix up cheap, as Shea and Steve frequently do.

“I kinda like to check the Internet for special recipes or in some of the backpacking magazines,” recommends Jacobson. “A lot of those recipes are stuff you can put together at home in ziplock bags. They’re very simple so when you get to camp … just add some hot water to them and you’ve got your meal.”
Shea has a simple secret.

“Yeah, I think these dried packaged meals are good starting points,” Shea said. “But I do like to make my own mixtures and get rid of some of the wrappings before I head out so I don’t have to deal with the packaging. I put things in ziplocks that I make at home – like an oatmeal mixture with brown sugar and raisins. It’s kind of a hardy mixture with lots of nuts.”

My secret – hardy vegetables that will last for a week or more like carrot sticks, cabbage, even potatoes.

And, of course, Fig Newtons. I’ll pass on the whiskey.

(Next week a look at the growing outdoor gadget market).