[pct-l] Stoveless? Do Tell

[Janet Grossman]

I haven't thru-hiked the PCT, but did do a section of about 140 miles in 
southern CA without carrying my stove, and I did 535 miles this summer 
carrying but not using my stove after the first 5 days or so. When I 
learned of the fire at Belden, I just decided the fire risk was too 
great, and did not cook at all from the "A Tree" where I made my 
decision while boiling water for my one hot meal of the day to Ashland, 
OR where I ended my hike (hitched around from Buck's Lake to Hwy 36 
because of the fire). I continued carrying my alcohol stove, my pot, and 
about 2 oz of alcohol just in case I should end up soaking wet and cold, 
which didn't happen.  I'm a vegan Type 1 diabetic, so my choices 
wouldn't satisfy everyone. But I usually eat a Clif Bar or some other 
bar for breakfast while walking, and then do my cooking by boiling water 
to rehydrate home-dehydrated food at some time in the late morning or 
mid-afternoon whenever I come to a good water source. My favorite hot 
meal is homemade lentil soup with spinach, which I dehydrate and then 
grind to powder in the blender, and it rehydrates very quickly with 
either hot or cold water, along with a splash of olive oil. I've also 
rehydrated whole wheat couscous with dried Asian vegetables (cabbage 
shreds, mushrooms, seaweed) successfully with both hot and cold water. 
However, I found that when I dehydrated tiny little cubes of tofu, they 
remained rocklike whether soaked in boiling or cold water, so I won't be 
doing that again. I love eating and love variety, but on the trail I 
honestly can eat my lentil soup every day without getting sick of it, 
and eating it cold doesn't bother me at all either. I don't like my 
couscous mixtures nearly as well, though they're not bad. The rest of 
what I eat tends to be bars, trail mix, Jason's nut butter packets just 
squeezed into my mouth. It works for me, and my blood sugars are usually 
more stable on the trail than they are at home when I have more options 
available to me.
Janet