Hikers

[teddy12b]

Where I try to challenge myself with food while backpacking especially with just an overnighter is attempting to cook a genuinely good meal and doing it over a fire. There's a lot more satisfaction to meal like that. When I talked my wife into an overnight backpacking trip on the Charles Deam Penninsula Trail I wanted to make sure she absolutely had to best meal possible to better my odds of ever getting her to go with me again. This is where I made steaks, green beans and Italian wine (in the smart water bottle). Doing this over a fire was not quick and easy, but she enjoyed the trip.

The other 3 pictures are from a big lunch we made while backpacking in Alaska. We cooked steaks and mushrooms over a fire, boiled potatoes with onions, and had an awesome meal next to a river while looking at a glacier. The food wasn't the most amazing, but the view and atmosphere made it a lunch I'll never forget.

Don't get me wrong, I love mountain house for some multi day trips and getting ultra light, but anymore part of the fun for me is trying to figure out a nutritious meal over a fire while out there.

 

[ditcherman]

Everything tastes better in the woods!

About as far as I’ve gone as home cooked is to take a Boboli or mama Mia’s crust, a tube of tomato paste, pepperoni and cheese, wrap it all in heavy duty aluminum foil and cook it on a bed of coals.

That, and when the chili is rehydrated it’s almost identical to at home.

 

[ditcherman]

Question concerning something we saw on the Tecumseh trail…
There are some ponds, on top of a couple (at least) hills, some were full and supporting life (dank as it was) and some were dry.
These obviously had a berm pushed up on half to 3/4’s of them but a part of the bank appeared original.

Are these spots where loggers with equipment found a spring and tried to conserve water? And maybe those before then goin back to the ancients?

The water was obviously lower than the high mark but it’s possible one we saw could hold water all year, but no evidence of a well defined spillway.

Any clues?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Question concerning something we saw on the Tecumseh trail…
There are some ponds, on top of a couple (at least) hills, some were full and supporting life (dank as it was) and some were dry.
These obviously had a berm pushed up on half to 3/4’s of them but a part of the bank appeared original.

Are these spots where loggers with equipment found a spring and tried to conserve water? And maybe those before then goin back to the ancients?

The water was obviously lower than the high mark but it’s possible one we saw could hold water all year, but no evidence of a well defined spillway.

Any clues?

DNR made a bunch of 'wild life ponds' decades ago as a means to encourage populations of game animals to grow. Like 1960's +/- 10 years IIRC. Probably that, but I can't tell you for sure on those specific ones.

 

[ditcherman]

DNR made a bunch of 'wild life ponds' decades ago as a means to encourage populations of game animals to grow. Like 1960's +/- 10 years IIRC. Probably that, but I can't tell you for sure on those specific ones.

Just odd to be on the very top of a large (for Indiana) hill, had to be spring fed. Could certainly be DNR though.

 

[cg21]

Family is leaving me today so seems like a nice wet hot day to have an extended hike.

 

[cg21]

Solomon outpulse water proof shoe…… no puddles just tall damp grass no water over the boot. 1 mile in sock was already soaked 2 miles in getting ready to pull over and ring them out….. trash. Back to REI they go. So if I get a new pair of boots every month it’s only $84 a year lol I sure wish I could find a pair I love.

 

[ditcherman]

Solomon outpulse water proof shoe…… no puddles just tall damp grass no water over the boot. 1 mile in sock was already soaked 2 miles in getting ready to pull over and ring them out….. trash. Back to REI they go. So if I get a new pair of boots every month it’s only $84 a year lol I sure wish I could find a pair I love.

I’d bought a lot of Solomons and keens, and the latest Kenna really went downhill so I took them back.
No other choices except for the Zamberlan, figured why not try them on, I’m here, it’s not like I’m going to buy a $350 boot.
Put them on and it felt like my feet went home. I love them, couldn’t go home without them and have a few miles and a few workdays on them now.

 

[hooky]

@ditcherman
Beef Stroganoff

Brown 2 lbs lean hamburger or ground turkey. Set aside to be dehydrated.

Cook 1 large bag of egg noodles. Set aside to dehydrate.

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
2 chopped onions
1 can beef broth
1 tsp dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
6 baby bella mushrooms sliced
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
Melt the butter, add the flour to make roux, then add the broth, stir until smooth and add everything else. Cook on simmer until you reduce it by almost half and then dehydrate.

After you take it all out of the dehydrater, divvy up into freezer bags for individual meals.

I've also done the boxed Bear Creek brand stuff, but it's salty to my taste.

Lots of resources on the web that I've used. My favorite is http://www.backpackingchef.com/. Lots of great options and recipes, as well as how to advice.
Another good one is http://www.trailcooking.com/.

Once you realize that it's not black magic trickery, you can control the ingredients and you only need to use a little common sense, the options are endless.

Here's what a typical meal plan might look like after it's all done.

Top right and around the horn is shelf stable meat sticks/salami, a Wise foods vegetable pack & Idahoan mashed taters for shep pie meal. The baggies with the paper towels are a knorr noodle dish that I made and dehydrated with extra broccoli in it. The sharp edges of the noodles and broc can poke holes in the freezer bags. Hash browns and suasage for breakfast. Across the top is turkey, chicken & 2 pasta dishes with dehydrated sauce in them. The turkey and chicken get's used in the other evening meals. I usually throw a pack of small soft tortillas in and make the HB&Turkey a breakfast burrito.

 

[smokingman]

Solomon outpulse water proof shoe…… no puddles just tall damp grass no water over the boot. 1 mile in sock was already soaked 2 miles in getting ready to pull over and ring them out….. trash. Back to REI they go. So if I get a new pair of boots every month it’s only $84 a year lol I sure wish I could find a pair I love.

I just received my new MOAB 3 Merril's today. I did not get many miles on them,but I can already say the insole is a 200% improvement over the MOAB 2's. Also $84 from their Amazon store and arrived in 2 days. The ones I purchased are not water proof,but they do have those in a MOAB 3 as well.

I will post in a few days how they are doing for me.

 

[cg21]

I just received my new MOAB 3 Merril's today. I did not get many miles on them,but I can already say the insole is a 200% improvement over the MOAB 2's. Also $84 from their Amazon store and arrived in 2 days. The ones I purchased are not water proof,but they do have those in a MOAB 3 as well.

I will post in a few days how they are doing for me.

I found them. when I was buying all my boots I tried the vents and they were to narrow (or I thought apparently I got the wrong size)

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I just received my new MOAB 3 Merril's today. I did not get many miles on them,but I can already say the insole is a 200% improvement over the MOAB 2's. Also $84 from their Amazon store and arrived in 2 days. The ones I purchased are not water proof,but they do have those in a MOAB 3 as well.

I will post in a few days how they are doing for me.

I got my wife a pair of the 3s recently and she really likes them for both pavement and trail, but hasn't done anything over 7 miles or so and doesn't carry a pack.

 

[MidwestLife]

I just received my new MOAB 3 Merril's today. I did not get many miles on them,but I can already say the insole is a 200% improvement over the MOAB 2's. Also $84 from their Amazon store and arrived in 2 days. The ones I purchased are not water proof,but they do have those in a MOAB 3 as well.

I will post in a few days how they are doing for me.

For about a year I was wearing a pair of Merrill work boots with the Vibram sole. They were more comfortable than prior work boots I had, but a gel insert would be good for standing on pavement/concert for long periods of time.

Years ago my wife purchased a pair of Merrill Moab hiking shoes. She said they were the most comfortable shoe she has ever walked in. She never got into hiking, but she still has the shoes and still claims they are very comfortable. I needed to replace my everyday wear Skechers, one of their basic shoes with a decent lug pattern and a foam sole inside. I went with the current Merrill Moab 3 hiking shoes. They have the Vibram sole, good lug pattern, but they aren't as soft on the inside as the Skechers. They are still comfortable to walk in and since I found them for a great price at Amazon, I'm happy with them for now.

I am now considering the hiking boot version as well. Not sure if I will go waterproof or not. I am replacing a well used pair of Timberland White Ledge shoes. The Timberlands really never let me down, but being they are complete leather wrap, I was considering a pair of breathable boots. I'm mostly a fair weather day hiker. Don't really do wide crossings of creeks and rivers, so I'm not sure if I really need waterproof boots. I'm heading down to the Smokys in the fall and hope to get a pair soon to break them in. Hopefully they will work out well and be just as comfortable and protective as the Timberlands.

 

[smokingman]

For about a year I was wearing a pair of Merrill work boots with the Vibram sole. They were more comfortable than prior work boots I had, but a gel insert would be good for standing on pavement/concert for long periods of time.

Years ago my wife purchased a pair of Merrill Moab hiking shoes. She said they were the most comfortable shoe she has ever walked in. She never got into hiking, but she still has the shoes and still claims they are very comfortable. I needed to replace my everyday wear Skechers, one of their basic shoes with a decent lug pattern and a foam sole inside. I went with the current Merrill Moab 3 hiking shoes. They have the Vibram sole, good lug pattern, but they aren't as soft on the inside as the Skechers. They are still comfortable to walk in and since I found them for a great price at Amazon, I'm happy with them for now.

I am now considering the hiking boot version as well. Not sure if I will go waterproof or not. I am replacing a well used pair of Timberland White Ledge shoes. The Timberlands really never let me down, but being they are complete leather wrap, I was considering a pair of breathable boots. I'm mostly a fair weather day hiker. Don't really do wide crossings of creeks and rivers, so I'm not sure if I really need waterproof boots. I'm heading down to the Smokys in the fall and hope to get a pair soon to break them in. Hopefully they will work out well and be just as comfortable and protective as the Timberlands.

I would go with the non waterproof. They not only let your feet breath(hiking=sweat),but in the event they do actually get wet they dry much faster than the waterproof version. Waterproof boots,wet on the inside is the only time I have had blisters in more than a decade.

 

[smokingman]

I found them. when I was buying all my boots I tried the vents and they were to narrow (or I thought apparently I got the wrong size)

They do have a wide as well in vents(MOAB3's).

I have put around 40 miles on my new ones and am happy with them so far. They are a much better boot than the MOAB 2's were.

 

[Talkinghalls]

Depends on the goal.

Trail running at potato creek state park with my Glock 19 in a hills people running bag: 9-10 minute miles.

Back packing NCT with lots of equipment + Glock= maybe 20 minutes per mile

Trail running at Johnson’s Shut In state park in the Ozark mountains (Missouri): first few miles 10 minute miles. Once the heat hit me 30 minute miles.

 

[caverjamie]

I recently got the waterproof version of the Moab 3 shoes and like them so far for on-trail stuff. Still have my older Salomon Quest (maybe 3 can’t remember) boots which have also been comfortable and durable for years - like them better for off trail since they are taller and keep debris out better.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Anybody hit German Ridge Trail? Curious as to the water situation for a late September outing. Topo maps show at least 3 creeks crossings, but would prefer a 1st hand account.

 

[cg21]

Well resurrecting an old thread. Back to my 4 mile a day rucks now that hunting season is over. I have decided I will do minimum 4 miles a day until sept 28th when deer season starts lol then I will take a break and start back up Jan 1st.

Funny how those few months off completely destroy all the work you have put in. No weight yet and my legs are sore just walking the 4 miles. Walking in pitch black is pretty terrible. Looking forward to the earlier sunrises.

Exo and darn tough have been made permanent…. Boots I am still trying to find one I like. Currently wearing Danners

 

[klausm]

Darn Tough