Paleo Baking in the Backcountry

The thought of backpacking trail food as I remember from my youth does not conjure up anything close to gourmet ... or even tasty to be honest.  Calories and fuel for the body were my main concern when I backpacked the Appalachian Trail back in my teens.  As an adult, my trips in the back-country usually have consisted of dried staples and products readily available from a local grocer - think ramen noodle, mac n' cheese or a hamburger helper.  Definitely nothing to write home about.

Sweets or a dessert item were usually never a part of my trail food aside from an occasional candy bar or stale tasty cake or cinnamon bun in a plastic wrapper from a convenience store - filled with loads of unknown and unpronounceable ingredients to preserve shelf life.

With my sights set on healthy eating and wanting to keep as much as possible to a Paleo diet, I have put quite a lot of time into thinking about how I can eat healthy on the trail.  I decided that I shouldn't limit myself to just one pot meals and wondered if including a healthy dessert would be possible?  Part of that effort has been to reach out to various companies that make healthy and great tasting products.

I had this idea - what about baking in the back-country??  No, I wouldn't be carrying a cast iron Dutch oven or a complete set of measuring cups and spoons.  Mixers, egg beaters and cake pans were out of the question.

I've had the opportunity and blessing to connect with the great folks at Paleo Baking Co.  Their delicious paleo cake and muffin mixes are gluten, grain, dairy, refined sugar and soy free and recipes include: Banana, Blueberry, Carrot Cake, Chocolate, Hazelnut, Lemon/Poppy Seed, and Spice Cake.  Working with them, I have been testing various flavors to see how I could get their mixes outside!

Testing started in my kitchen to determine how much mix was needed for a small cake that I could bake while out on the trail.  I did the math and figured out the best way was to split up a package.  Since most of the bags require 6 eggs, I split the mix into 6 smaller portion, so each bag will provide 6 small cakes.  This smaller batch fits nicely into the 4 inch baking round that I will be using on my AT Thru-hike.  I've tested several of the mixes at home with a toaster oven (to simulate uneven heat) and they all turned out great.  On the trail, I will either use coals and heat from a campfire, or steam cook the cake mix within my cookset on my camp stove.

Two weekends ago, I had the opportunity to get out for a short backpack along the Haw River in the Piedmont area of North central North Carolina and near the North Carolina Mountain to Sea Trail.  I took along the chocolate mix and was able to mix up and test out baking on the trail for the first time.  I build a nice campfire and used it as my heat source for baking.  The chocolate cake (1/6 of a bag) turned out fantastic and tasted great.  Most of the mixes need an egg, coconut oil, and honey and then fresh fruit depending on the mix.  Carrying a 1/2 dozen eggs should be easy enough and small containers with oil and honey will be planned additions to my 'camp' kitchen anyhow.

After dinner, I prepared the batter and set it on the campfire to 'bake'.  I found after 10 minutes or so that the top and center were 'baking' slower than the edges.

I placed the top from my cook-pot on top of the 4" baking round to trap the heat and help simulate an oven environment.  30 minutes later and a few turns to ensure even 'baking' and my trail-side dessert was ready.  As temperatures dipped into the low 40s, I ended the evening with a small chocolate cake and cup of hot tea.  It was absolutely delicious and a perfect way to end the day.

 
I have a feeling that evening cake will be a regular occurrence as I hike North on the AT next Spring.

"In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd." 
- Miguel de Cervantes

- The Other One

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.  It’s all in the details …

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Lao-tzu

Or 2190 miles, but then who’s counting!

A BIG part of planning for a six month thru-hike has NOTHING to do with hiking.  It has to do with my life before the adventure begins and how I plan to put everything in my life on hold, the details on how I accomplish this, and the logistics of which are a bit staggering.

So, I’ll start with a checklist, identifying everything that needs to be accomplished, and then one-by-one, work towards that last bite before the adventure begins.  I sure hope I have the stomach for it.  I’m sure after being on the trail for a month or so, eating an elephant will be no problem!

Downsizing - eliminating the unnecessary, unneeded things from my life. I recently started taking pictures of items that will not be a part of my life: furniture, kitchen gadgets, books, etc.  I’ve posted many of these for sale on Craigslist. If come December they have not sold, I will be donating them to a local charity.  My goal here is to become mobile again - fitting everything I own into or onto my Honda Civic.  I did this once before when I left Florida in 2010, but things tend to breed and multiple - not sure how that happens?

 
Storage - Finding a place to store the stuff I do decide to keep.  And then finding a place to park my car where it will be safe and hopefully have it with someone who can drive it once in awhile.

A car sitting for six months cannot be good, right?  I do need it to start up when I get off the trail.


Managing Debt - paying monthly credit card bills, a cell phone bill, auto insurance, vehicle registration, etc. Where will I have my mail forwarded to?  Without an apartment or residence, does that then make me homeless?  

Most of the details here can be handled by just being well organized and having a way to complete tasks whilst on the trail … which leads to ...

Staying connected -  I currently own only a prepaid ‘dumb’ cell phone.  I’ve never gotten connected or even wanted to be tethered to the end of a cell phone, but now, having a way to call family and friends and connect to the internet for maps, reservations, ordering replacement gear, blogging, paying bills, etc. will be critical to my mental and physical wellbeing.  Also a little music and taking photographs could be incorporated here.  Researching cell phone models, brands, and service plans does not sound like fun, but will be another necessary item on my to-do list.

Travel - The logistics of getting to the trail-head start in Georgia and from its terminus in Maine back to wherever I stash my vehicle and belongings.  Not sure how I will handle this one.  Worst case - take a train or bus to the town nearest Amicalola Falls State Park and then either hitch or hire a shuttle service to get me to the trail.  Best case - have a family member or good friend available to get me from wherever to the trail-head and see me on my way.

Support & Resupply - I can imagine that hanging out in the woods will at some point get old … and lonely.  Hearing from family and friends will be important.  Planning when and where I can get mail will be like shooting at a moving target.  Hopefully like shooting an actual weapon, I will get better at this as time passes.  I can guess where I may be at any point in the near future, but weather, fatigue, miscalculation in mileage or other unforeseen factors may change the reality of my current location.  To help with getting mail, and mail-drops for food and equipment, and to add a little piece of mind for those that do care to know what is going on with me at any point,

I have recently purchased at SPOT Gen 3 satellite tracking/messaging/SOS beacon.  I’ll setup and activate an annual subscription in mid-October and begin testing it this fall.  It should update my location at a specified timed interval, allow me to send out an ‘I’m okay’ message, and give me the ability to send an SOS monitored signal for help in the event of an emergency.  I will make my current location via this beacon available on my blog under, “Where’s Kurt“.  I will also list here my planned USPS locations where I will be stopping to check for and receive mail and packages.

Eating an elephant is a BIG task.  The details are important.  

If you can think of anything I’ve forgotten, or have helpful ideas or input, I would very much like to hear from you.  Want to help out?  Let me know how you’d like to be involved, or just check-in or drop a note in the mail, or a comment on this blog whilst I’m on the trail.  It will take a village to get this middle-aged, adventure crazed man all the way from Georgia to Maine!

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

- Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

- The Other One

Delicious autumn!

I’ll start and end this post with quotes appropriate to this transition between seasons ...

"The season for enjoying the fullness of life ― partaking of the harvest, sharing the harvest with others, and reinvesting and saving portions of the harvest for yet another season of growth."
― Denis Waitley

Another season has past us by.  Summer is gone and the hint of fall is in the air.  Cooler evening temperatures and the beginnings of color in the leaves.  Light breaking the dawn a little later each day and the sun setting just a few minutes earlier each evening.

My 10 week fall CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) started this first day of autumn.  Red leaf lettuce, arugula, green beans, ripe golden and red tomatoes, and baby bok choy filled my basket.  Autumn is a time for harvest, for provisioning for the winter, for sharing the bounty of the summer season.

The equinox happens when the equator passes the center of the sun. This is when the north and south poles of the Earth are not tilted towards or away from the sun, as at other times, but are aligned so as to give, theoretically, the same amount of daylight in both of the Earth's hemispheres.  The word equinox is derived from the Latin, meaning equal night.  The pagan festivities around this event were replaced on the Christian calendar with Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, which is celebrated on the 29th of September.

Plans for my thru-hike next year continue, but the pace has slowed.  This time of year is about celebration and festivals and the harvest.  

Last weekend I volunteered at the Hoppin John Bluegrass and Fiddler’s Convention, enjoying musicians young and old and sampling eleven Hoppin John recipes in this 9th annual fall tradition.  

This coming weekend I’ll volunteer and help with setup and preparations for the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, building dance floors, erecting the main stage, setting up large dance tents, and cleaning the outdoor kitchen.  Hard work, but more fun than anything - a spirit of community with others anticipating a great fall festival.

The first weekend in October I have a backpack planned to test out gear, new hiking boots, and trail recipes.  October 8-11th is a time of relaxing and enjoying the cooler fall days at the Shakori Hills farm with music, great food, community and friends.

Summer is gone, and autumn has just begun ...

“The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

― George Eliot

If I give up on the Appalachian Trail I will ...

This is another question that Zach Davis, in his book Appalachian Trials: A psychological and emotional guide to successfully thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail considers important for anyone considering thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

I've spent some time sitting with this question. It is a tough one, because, like most people, I hate failure! Sometimes I think we shy away from things in life because it is possible we might not succeed. All of the reasons against this planned thru-hike boil down to a simple four letter word that begins with an ‘F’ …

and all of the variations this can take including …

• fear that I am not physically or mentally strong enough to hike 2,184 miles
• fear of failure
• fear of injury
• fear of quitting my job
• fear of hunger and not having enough to eat
• fear of what I’ll do afterwards
• fear of ticks and lyme disease
• fear of bears, snakes, cougars, spiders or crazy people
• fear of sleeping in the woods alone
• fear of not being warm enough
• fear of boredom (awake, eat, hike, eat, hike, eat, setup camp, eat, sleep - repeat!)
• fear of the unknown
• fear of ______________ … you fill in the blank.  

Please let me know in the comment section what fears are stopping you from your next adventure?

 All of these are REAL fears. They are not all my fears, but ones I imagine someone contemplating this thru-hike could face. Some of them are my fears. Perhaps I'm afraid to say which ones.

I hope that facing some of these fears makes me a stronger person, a wiser person, a more humble person. I hope that I come out the other side of this adventure changed (and I am sure I will be). I hope you will join me on this adventure. Hearing from you will help me stay connected, brighten my spirits, and allow me to share with you!

Let's begin today! What fear are you willing to face?

'In order for one to learn the important lessons of life, one must first overcome a fear each day.' 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

- The Other One

In the Hunt for Paleo Foods

It has been about two weeks now since completely removing all traces of wheat and other gluten containing products from my kitchen.  Also gone are most of the starches and carbohydrates, including potatoes, rice, breads, and other 'food products', seed oils, and processed sugars.  In its place are fresh vegetables from the Saturday farmer's market, and locally sourced grass-fed and finished beef, pastured pork, and free-range chicken.  It is important that the animals eat well too during their lives.  GMO soy, corn, wheat and other genetically modified crops as well as antibiotics, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides have NO place in their food or ours.

I just finished the final chapters of Michael Pollan's, In Defense of Food.  He suggests several self-imposed rules which I have decided to adopt:

• Eat REAL foods
• Avoid food products that make health claims.
• Avoid food products that:
• are unfamiliar
• have unpronounceable ingredients
• have more than 5 ingredients
• include high fructose corn syrup

•  Get out of the Supermarket whenever possible ( and shop instead at Farmer's Markets, CSAs, or local farms ) 

and a few others that are probably worth considering:

• Do all your eating at a table
• Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does
• Try not to eat alone
• Consult your gut
• Serve smaller portions on smaller plates
• Eat slowly ( Slowfood )
• Cook ... and if you can, plant a garden

I found a local farmer, Jordan from Barking Dog Farms who is offering a Fall CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for 10 weeks from September 23rd until November 28th.  Each week I will receive a basket of freshly picked produce from their farm including tomatoes, green and red okra, muscadine grapes, lettuces, spinach, red Russian kale, smooth kale, Dino Kale, curly kale, Swiss chard, arugula, sweet potatoes, kohlrabi, cabbage, pac choi, broccoli and a few others items.  I'm very excited to add these wonderfully healthy and farm-to-table foods to my diet!  My Paleo hunt today included beet greens, green beans, and arugula.

The effects of this quite radical change in my diet have all been positive.  More energy, mental clarity, and the cessation of pain in my knees and shoulder all add to my determination to bring a healthier me to life!

Since finding food on the Appalachian Trail will consist of either general delivery mail drops or re-supplying at small convenient stores, quickie marts and dollar-store type chains, I have been working to find quality Paleo food companies that are interested in assisting me in consuming a healthy diet on the trail.  I have been quite successful to date and have mentioned a couple of these great companies in a previous post.  I will share more about the other ones soon.

One company that sells Paleo baking mixes, PaleoBakingCompany is excited to sponsor me.  Testing methods to produce these with only backpacking equipment is now on my to-do list.  Paleo Baking in the Back-country! - there's something I would not have thought about 6 months ago.

I plan to top these healthy treats with another sponsor's product,

Nikki's Coconut Butters.  Sitting on a mountaintop on a star-filled night 'baking' and then eating a warm fresh Paleo treat.  Yum! - Can it get any better than that?

"Watch what you eat, get off the couch and start being inconvenient. Eat real food, practice functional movement and stand up for environmental preservation, sustainable agriculture, peace and social justice."
 -Frank Forencich, Change Your Body, Change the World

- The Other One

Hands on Fire !!

Even though a majority of my 'free' time lately has been occupied with the details of planning for my thru-hike, I do have to continue to stay active and eat healthy.

As part of a Paleo diet, I consume some sort of probiotic food each day.  Some people choose to take supplements - my preference is to prepare my own lacto-fermented creations containing millions, if not billions of healthy bacteria that aid in digestion, produce vitamins and enzymes in the process of fermentation, and assist our bodies in the assimilation of nutrients.  

Lacto-fermentation is a microbial process using beneficial bacteria including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. and other lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (commonly known as probiotics), which thrive in an anaerobic fermenting environment.

If you looked in my refrigerator at present you'd find a plethora of fermented foods: sauerkraut, kim-chi, kombucha, kombucha-fermented spicy brown mustard, fermented carrots, beets, and kohlrabi, home-cured black and green olives, and sour garlic dill pickles.  Since I am down to my last quart of sauerkraut, I decided it was time to make another batch.
 
I spent this morning preparing another batch of a favorite recipe: Hot Pink Jalapeño Sauerkraut.  19 pounds of green and red cabbage, a couple of heads of garlic, two yellow onions, about a dozen jalapeño peppers, two Granny Smith apples, caraway seeds and Kosher salt.  Most of the effort is in chopping that much cabbage.  It was mixed in a 5 gallon food grade bucket.  That's where the 'hands on fire' comes in.  After salting the mixture it begins to form its own brine which having the peppers in it produces a fiery liquid.

This batch produced a full 10 liter Harsch Crock ( ~2.5 gallons ), and almost 2 additional quarts.

Eating healthy in the present is important.  Planning foods to eat while living outdoors for six months is another thing.  I continue to have success with locating progressive, health conscious companies interested in sponsoring my thru-hike.  Quality food to keep me fueled and healthy is a top priority as make a plan for food.  I have some sponsor products coming in the mail that I should be receiving soon and I'll be testing them out on weekend hikes in the coming months as cooler weather arrives in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.   I've received recent positive responses from Tiger Nuts, Pure Indian Foods, Bee Free Gluten Free, Nikki's Coconut Butter and Primal Pit Paste.  Okay the last one isn't food, but from all I've read about thru-hikers' stench, I want to do everything I can to be the sweetest smelling hiker on the trail.

 “The greatest adventure is what lies ahead” - J.R.R Tolkien


The Other One

My 30 plus year love affair ...

After securing my morning caffeine fix and wandering through the rows of farm fresh produce, meats and crafts at the Greensboro Farmer's Curb Market, I spent the remainder of this past Saturday morning at my favorite place to shop.  Since I hate shopping in general that is saying a lot!  I have been a member and loyal customer at REI for over half of my life.  Originally and for a long time, this shopping was only through paper catalogs and then online orders.  I didn't live anywhere near an actual REI storefront until just recently.  Like a kid in a candy store, I LOVE walking into REI.

They have one of the best shopping experiences I could ever hope for - camping gear, paddling gear, climbing gear, backpacking equipment and the list goes on and on.  Every kind of outdoor product, gadget, clothing or footwear you could ever need ... or in my case want.

I continue to make lists and revise what gear is I will include for my upcoming thru-hike.  Part of the problem is one of cost vs. weight.  I already own quite a bit of existing equipment that would be adequate for this trip.  However some of the items are a lot heavier than new models.  Items in this category include stove, water filter, and shelter.  I'll tackle shelter in today's post.

About 2 months ago I purchased an Eno Double Deluxe hammock.  In June I received an Eno Profly Hammock Rain Tarp as a birthday gift.  I've had a chance to use these on several weekend camping trips this summer and both are great products.  Staff at REI are always very helpful, but never pushy.  I worked with Drew to examine the Hennessy Hammock Ultralite Backer Asym Zip. We had the whole thing laid out on the floor checking length, attachment points and quality of materials and zip up netting.  After more thought, I decided against it - it wasn't quite long enough for my height and the weight limit was less than my 1/8th of a ton. The asymmetric design of the tarp didn't seem like it would provide enough shelter in a storm.  The hammock I returned is heavier and wider than I'll need for just myself, so I got the Eno SingleNest Hammock in Khaki/Olive.  The tarp is smaller in size and about the same weight as the Eno HouseFly Rain Tarp that will provide more cover and hopefully keep me drier during strong thunderstorms.

Other recent purchases from REI include:  REI Convertible Sahara Pants ; REI Flash 62 Pack ; Therm-A-Rest Z-Seat Pad ; MSR Mini Ground Hog Stakes ; REI Carbon Power Lock Trekking Poles ; Sierra Ridge merino wool / synthetic shirt ; Snow Peak Trek 1400 Titanium Cookset ; Big Agnes Pack Cover and Sierra Designs Hurricane Rain Pants.

With a one year, 100% money back guarantee, I will continue loving REI for the second half of my life!  If something wears out, breaks or just doesn't live up to expectations - that's right, I'll ship it back in the next trail town and have a replacement waiting for me.

Don't have the time or money to go crazy shopping at REI like I did?  Not ready for an adventure of your own?  Check out others as they pursue their outdoor passions at REI Blogs.

With September almost here and the temperatures hopefully cooling a bit, I plan to get out on the weekends and test new and existing gear and work out food ideas and recipes for the trail. 

Stay tuned!

I think I can, I think I can ... ??

So, I'm back to the first of Zach Davis' questions from his book, Appalachian Trials, Why Am I hiking the Appalachian Trail? The questions Zach poses are what he believes are key to surviving the 6 month journey along the Appalachian Trail when your spirit is low, your mind is weak, and your body is screaming in pain. Knowing why you chose to venture into the woods and walk may well determine whether you choose to continue or instead drop off and head back to civilization and the comforts of home.

Here is my list of reasons for thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail:

• Because I can (or at least I think I can)
• Why not? … more on that later …
• To get into the best shape of my life
• Because I will be 56 years old in 2016 - the same age that my grandmother died!
• If not now, when?
• Because I can afford it and I can choose to make the time for it.
• Because when I’m in nature, I feel the closest to God.
• Because I have family and friends to encourage and support me.
• To prepare for other exciting adventure that await just around the corner.
• To prove to myself that I can do it.
• Because I have only one wild & precious life to live. - From The Summer Day by Mary Oliver.
• Because experiences matter SO much more than things.
• Because computers, technology, and sitting all day in ‘the chair’ is slowing killing me.
• Because I don’t stop often enough to smell the flowers.
• To be an example to others on how to ‘just do it’ and follow your dreams.
• To prove the naysayers wrong and to stand up to all the reasons against doing it.

I hope to commit these reasons to memory and be able to draw upon them when: I get stuck in a rut; I am hopelessly lost; I have walked for days in the rain; I have barely survived a night of sub-freezing temperatures; I am running down from a bald to escape a lightning storm; I can't stand another day of oatmeal for breakfast; or for whatever other reason, I find myself questioning the purpose of this crazy adventure.

More on the other 2 questions, 

'When I thru-hike the Appalachian Trail I will ...' and

'If I give up on the Appalachian Trail I will ...' 

in future posts.

Who is The Other One?

I’m a 55 year old single dad with one daughter who is in college.  She is quite an independent (and amazing) Argonaut. She is leaving next week to study for a semester in Europe.

 ( photo of us in Iceland under the  Seljalandsfoss waterfall )

We have both traveled together quite a bit outside the U.S. and now she is heading out on her own educational and cultural adventure. I am SO happy for her ... and jealous!!

I am an IT professional working as a contractor, but I don’t expect my work contract to be renewed at the end of the year, so I am planning this hike regardless of my employment status in early 2016. I will sell everything except what I can fit into my Honda Civic, vacate my apartment and hopefully be able to drive South to spend some time with my father and brothers. Training will continue until Spring and include: bicycling, walking, hiking, Paleo/Primal fitness exercises, and backpacking. After I finish with work I'll have a chance to generally get my life downsized, organized and ready for the trail.

Moving forward, one step at a time …

My hobbies are varied and include: apiculture (beekeeping), aquapoincs (combining aquaculture and hydroponics), beer and wine making, making fermented foods (Kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, sour pickles, chutneys, and home-cured olives), canning and preserving food,  knitting, and gardening.

                              

 

Even though my career as been mostly in technology, my education is science-based and includes a B.S. in Earth & Environmental Science and a M.S. in Environmental Education.  In 2010 I completed my Permaculture Design certification.

My First Backpacking Trip ...

I thought I'd share more about what led me to a decision to thru-hike the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

It has been a lifetime of positive experiences in nature that has led me here.  Playing in the creek behind my house as a child, building tree forts in the woods.  Sleigh rides and tobogganing in the fields. Class II-V whitewater rafting on the Youghiogheny River near Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania.

The story begins back in my youngest years and earliest memories.  My parents loved the outdoors and would take my brothers and I camping.  This was car camping in an old station wagon.  Coleman gas stoves and lanterns, old heavy canvas tents, and a wooden camp kitchen box were the equipment of the day.  Later my parents owned a camper where we would spend weekends throughout the summer in a campground in North Central Pennsylvania.

In June 1976, I participated in my first backpacking trip with a regional church camp, Pine Springs Camp that I had attended since I was a few years younger.  The destination was a section of the Appalachian Trail somewhere in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia (sorry, but I don't remember the exact section we hiked - after all that was almost 40 years ago! ).  
This experience and others like it provided me with the foundation for a life long love of backpacking and the great outdoors.  You can just see my head and one leg ... I'm the tall one on the left side of the photo, black hat with feather.

Additional photos I took during the backpacking trip are below.  My brother helped me locate these images, which I took using a 35mm camera with real film and developed onto prints.  These old photos were scanned and digitized to share here.  Enjoy!!