[pct-l] Some dinner ideas

[panna_l@pacbell.net]

Hi -

I am new at this posting thing but I  thought I might be able to help a few people out.  I hiked the California section of the PCT in 97 and loved it!  I must say I am jealous of those of you setting off soon.

Many of our favorite foods came from the Asian stores.  Powdered coconut milk exists and would be an excellent source of calories for vegan through hikers.   Asian markets have an amazing variety of dried veggies and seafood.  Our favorite recipes were easy and fast to prepare on the trail.  We liked hearty soups the best.  Helps to mix the ingredients at home first.  Some recipes:

1)Tom Kha soup (Thai coconut lemon grass)-  Just get the Tom Kha paste at the Asian store ( I recommend Lobo brand) and the dried coconut milk and some dried mushrooms and other veggies and you are psyched.  We also added Minute Rice and dried shrimp. Takes no time to make, only one pot, and tastes great.
2)Japanese noodle soup -We also really liked a soup made with Ramen type noodles, seaweed, dried veggies and protein powder.
3)Curried potatoes - Another favorite meal was Barbaras dried mashed potatoes mixed with curry powder and Bacobits and dried Just Veggies.
4)Tortilla soup - this was very light and filling.  Mix some powdered tomato soup mix with dried veggies, cumin and hot peppers, and protein powder.  Then buy corn tortillas in town - (even Belden stocked those) - and as you are bringing the soup to a boil rip up the tortillas and add them to the pot stirring frequently. Its more filling and taster than it sounds.

One thing that we did made our dinners more fun.  About a week before we left we had a big party and invited our friends to help think up dinners.  On the invitation we sent out we explained that we needed help coming up with 5 months worth of dinners We bought a huge amount of random dried foods, pasta, minute rice and made a pile on the dining room table with ziploc bags, pen and paper.    The idea was for people to create a bag full of everything we needed for one nights dinner.  People had a great time and were very creative
and we ended up with most of our meals packed for us!  Some people even included personal notes with their meals - that was fun to find on the trail.  We never got bored with our dinners although some did have way too many habanero peppers in them...

To the person coming to South Lake Tahoe I would recommend skiing/snowshoing into Desolation Wilderness.  If you are a good backcountry telemarker Jake's peak is beautiful.  Echo Lakes is great for any level skier.  You might also consider skiing in to one of the Sierra club huts for a few nights.  Contact Clair Tappan Lodge in Soda Springs for reservations.  Also the part of the PCT near carson pass is close enough for a day trip from south lake and is gorgeous.

Hope you have a great trip.  When hiking the PCT, don't neglect your daily foot care - especially early on.
Panna


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