Big Darren visited yesterday and upon entering the kitchen and seeing the table covered in backpacking food asked where I was planning to go.
You see, the thing is, this was just the food I had brought back from my adventures on the Southern Uplands last weekend... I had wondered why my pack was so heavy, at 30lbs. I had put it down to the extra coats I had taken for the cold weather (and I have to say I really was glad of them all as I do feel the cold!). But in reality it was carrying too much food.
I brought back home:
- 6 Granola Bars (282g)
- 2 x 100g bars of 'Hotel Chocolat' scrummy chocolate
- 5
MarathonSnickers bars (290g) - 72g of orange fizzy drink tablets in their container
- 1 x mightily large double-decker cheese and tomato roll (265g)
- 1 x 46g bag of expensive crisps (Pipers - yum)
- 1 x 78g pack of custard
- 1 x 182g Real Turmat meal
- 4 x packets of "Butter Buds" (hardly anything)
- 140g of sugar & coffee
- 93g of hot chocolate
- 95g of tuna
- 257g of honey roasted cashews
- 85g of cuppa-soups
- 170g of whisky(not including the flask)
That's a whopping 2255g or five whole proper pounds!
So, okay, we cut the walk short by a dinner and breakfast (taken at the Tibbie Shiel's Inn and a lunch not eaten. That would take care of 1 Real Turmat (182g), I cuppa-soup (29g), I custard (78g) [that's dinner] and 2 Granola bars (95g) and a few grams of coffee & sugar and orange tablet (20g?);[breakfast] and the cheese roll (265g) and 1 granola bar (48g) and I Marathon ((59g); [lunch]. That would have cut it down by 776g.
That still means I was carrying 1450g or 3lbs 3 ozs in real money too much grub!
I could have been carrying just 27lbs on setting out with two and a half days food and electric water for a winter trip.
I must do a menu plan for my next trip...
You might have wanted a midnight snack? Whisky always makes me peckish.
ReplyDeleteword: jalishot. Sounds heavy, good job you didn't pack that too!
How many nights was the whisky supposed to last?
ReplyDeleteFor me for dinner Real Turmat and a cup a soup
Breakfast is porridge and then nuts fruit cheese pringles ... for the day.
And coffee and tea and hot chocolate of course.
What are 'Butterbuds' Al? You mentioned them at Tibbie's but didn't get to hear what they are!
ReplyDeleteWord: fattyy (honest!!!)
HHTIID
Louise: "Jalishot" eh? That does sound heavy.
ReplyDeleteRoger: The whisky had already had a few nips taken from it on the 1st night. It should have just managed the second night. You see, I was 'carrying' for Lord Elpus - he never has enough as his runs out on the first night as we have to drink it first to lighten his load...
HHTIID: "fattyy" - that's enough of that! A man of the cloth..... Butterbuds - a revolution in "mouth feel" - it makes everything taste all wonderfully buttery without all the hassle of carrying butter. You can get them in "Lakeland" shops.
Hot chocolate and more hot chocolate get my vote. Food is always hard to judge on a long walk. Nothing worse than getting the munchies half way on a four day between resupply points walk, and all you have is freeze dried rice and e-numbers. So maybe some nice snacks are worth having sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThe food I had extra on my last trip in Salamajärvi was:
ReplyDelete- 2 x Ramen noodles
- 3 x Cereal bar
- Half a package of dates
Probably around 300 g max. I do think "Better too much than too little" though you took quite a bit extra with you, Alan. Maybe calculate better for the next trip, eg I take three cereal/ chocolate bars per day with me, (which is plenty for me), a meal + dessert for the evening and homemade breakfast cereal. The Ramen is with me as back-up in case I get hungry during the day or evening, one per day. They're light and tasty, maybe have a look at these?
Enjoy your meal!
Breakfast = Stoats porridge bars. Eat in the tent as the rain sluices down, or on the hoof if the midges are in attack mode and speedy evacuation is required. Also have each days grub in a labelled zipbag. The main problem is sticking to the days Laphroig ration.
ReplyDeleteHendrik: Thanks for the tip on the Ramen Noodles - I shall try and find some of those for a test.
ReplyDeleteJack: These Stoats bars - they have also been mentioned on the Chally Message Board but they don't seem to be a 'southern' thng as I can't find them down here. My substitute are the Maple Syrup Granola bars - very good for breakfast and for snacking on the hoof.
As to organising my food better - I susually have a detailed menu plan so I know exactly what is to be eaten when -0 this time though I just went to Cambridge and bought lots of food when I was hungry... Fatal!