[El Puma]

After reading Rubberlegs' outstanding article in "Lighten Up" (and once again seeing I have a lot to learn ), a thought and a question: -Hiking in AK, often far away from civilization, we found it customary to carry a good 3 extra days of food along with clothing/bags a bit warmer than necessary. I've stuck to this habit as there is nothing that aggravates me more than reading, for example, about climbers on Rainier who had to spend the night due to weather and called Rangers on the cell phone to request assistance. IMHO, a hiker/climber should be self-sufficient enough to weather out a few days in relative comfort, without turning life into an emergency. -On the food subject: Any good ideas for simple/light trail recipes that are tasty as well? (This subject probably has been addressed here before - as I'm fairly new to the game, please feel free to refer me to the appropriate location if desired - no offense will be taken!) Cheers + Bon Appetit!

[rubberlegs]

To set the record straight, I didn't write any articles. Was just along for the ride. Not caring for the overly salty packaged foods and freeze-dried stuff, I make my own. Couscous, minute rice, corn pasta, bulgar wheat or taboulli, hummus, potato flakes with spices you prefer work well. Sprinkle some dried vegetable mix for texture and flavor variety. Some folks add dried meat too. One essential ingredient is parmesan cheese. Some of these work well using "canteen-cooking". In the morning, put hot water in a screw-mouth plastic bottle. Add, say, bulgar wheat and a bullion cube. By lunch time you have a quite satisfying lunch. In general, cooked foods are lighter than non-cooked. So you need a lightweight method to boil water. A subject for another thread though. Anyway, an extra few days of food should be simple, light, and easy to prepare in case of emergency.