M E N U P O S S I B I L I T I E S

breakfasts:
Fi-bar or other breakfast bar
Quaker Instant Oatmeal
Quaker 100% Natural Cereal with milk (from powder premixed with cereal) or alone
Familia Muesli with milk (from powder premixed with cereal) or alone
pancakes (from dry mix) with syrup (from dry mix)
fried Spam (canned) with instant rice
Schat's bakery item (worth a trip to Mammoth or Bishop alone!)
Tang (from powder), hot tea, instant coffee, fresh brewed espresso

trailsnacks:
granola bars, fig bars, Clif/Odwalla/Power bars, nuts, trailmix, dried fruit, M&M's
cold filtered mountain water

lunches:
Italian dry salami with Delba German rye bread
jerky and crostini (or other cracker)
snack size cheese rounds (sealed in wax, Baby Bel?) and crackers
peanut butter and jelly sandwich (p&j prepacked in a tube)
canned sardines or deviled ham with pita bread
cold filtered mountain water, lemonade or iced tea (from powder)

dinners:
any dehydrated backpacking entree (large variety, lightweight, expensive, scary)
fried bread (from Bisquick with sesame seeds, paprika and dried parsely non-stick pan fried in olive oil)
falafel patties with Mission low-fat tortillas and hummus, baba ganoush, or tabouli
potato pancakes (1 part pancake mix, 3 parts potato flakes, onion flakes) with Nile Spice split pea soup
Bisquick dumplings with any number of soups from powder
dry German sausage with fresh broccoli or red bell peppers
risotto (variety of flavors to choose from) with extra dried parmesan cheese
powdered Minestrone soup with spinach rotelli (dry)
any Nile Spice (or similar) soup with pita bread
fresh trout (tackle, license, luck required) with instant Rice, fresh garlic and dried herbs
Lipton pasta (packaged in paper envelopes - olive oil instead of butter)
any dried pasta with dried herbs, fresh garlic, olive oil and dried Parmesan cheese
any canned entree (heavy!)
any retort packaged entree (not as heavy)
espresso, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, lemonade, cold-filtered mountain water
(bring any cooking oil, condiments and seasonings in small plastic containers)

dessert - M&M's, Toblerone or Scharfenberger chocolate, gummy bears

The emphasis here is on non-perishable (able to keep for a week to a month at wide range of temperatures with room temperature in the middle - look for distant expiration dates), compact (your bear canister is only so big), high calorie (hiking with a pack all day is lots of exercise), lightweight (save your breath and back), easily prepared (i.e. add to boiling water, or mix with water and fry), quick cooking (we've limited fuel), and tasty (of course!). Freeze/dried backpacking food from REI, etc. is expensive and comes with too much bulky packaging. I get most of my food from regular grocery stores.

Any bread items should be compact and have those scary preservatives to 'retard spoilage' (calcium propionate, etc.). Trader Joe's handmade flour tortillas (no preservatives) turned green on me after 2 days. Thomas' Sahara Pita bread has done well for 5 day trips. Mission low-fat tortillas did well on a 9 day trip. On the 2^nd resupply, I'm turning to crackers at dinner. On the otherhand Delba bread comes in a special 'Stay Fresh Box' that keeps it fresh for a long time (all the way from Germany, then on the shelf with distant expiration dates) without preservatives - you can get it at Dittmer in Mountain View, CA, and I likely at other German deli's.

R E S U P P L Y S C H E D U L E

All food and other items that may be found tasty by a bear (toothpaste, shampoo, anti-perspirant, medications, etc.) must be stored in your bear canister (except where noted).

Trailhead BBQ

Item to BBQ

assigned side-dish and/or supply tba

Purchase your your choice of BBQ item and assigned side dish and/or supply (tba) at Vons in Bishop enroute to Four Jeffrey Campground or at home as appropriate. These items will not be stored in your bear canister.

Next morning's breakfast

Schat's bakery item with OJ, coffee, or espresso, etc.

Next morning's breakfast can be purchased that morning at Schat's in Bishop enroute to the trailhead. These will not be carried onto the trail, and therefore will not be stored in your bear canister. Non-bakery breakfast items can be purchased from Vons.

SUPPLY - at start of trip

7 breakfasts

7 snacks

7 lunches

6 dinners, 1 of which may consist of well contained fresh food for day 1's dinner

Purchased, packed and brought from home. Fresh food items may be picked up in at Vons in Bishop enroute to the trailhead.

Day one's food for the trail (1 snack, 1 lunch, 1 dinner) can be carried in your pack outside of your bear canister.

FIRST RESUPPLY - at Reds Meadow Resort (store and diner)

1 breakfast, which will be eaten at Reds Meadow and/or purchased at the resort diner*

2 snacks

2 lunches

2 dinners, 1 of which will be eaten at Reds Meadow and/or purchased at the resort diner*

Purchase, pack and bring from home (except the Schat's - purchase in Bishop enroute to trailhead)

Stash at the Reds Meadow Resort Store:

On day 0 we will all put our individual caches in a larger sealed container: garbage bag in a cardboard box (14"x14"x24"max) taped shut, or in one or more 5 gallon buckets. On day 1 (August 1) when we take the shuttle bus down to our trailhead, Agnew Meadows, two of us will remain on the bus to deliver the container to the store at the end of the line and then return to Agnew Meadows on the next bus back up. Note - one could theoretically purchase ones entire 1^st resupply at the store, however on a recent visit to the store, most of the food is not appropriate for backpacking.

1 dinner and 1 breakfast (eaten at the resupply point will not be stored in your bear canister, but in the bear locker at our campsite. Note - this dinner and breakfast may also be purchased from the diner at the Red's Meadow Resort (opens 7am, closes 7pm). The breakfast (standard eggs, bacon, etc.) is served until 11am, lunch (burgers, BLT, etc.) is available until 7pm. If you want to eat what the Red's Meadow Resort crew is having that evening (the standard legend purports spaghetti and meatballs for $12.50), you must make reservations by the 3pm before.

SECOND RESUPPLY at Muir Trail Ranch

5 breakfasts, 1 of which will be eaten at the resupply point*

5 snacks

5 lunches

5 dinners, 1 of which will be eaten at the resupply point*

2^nd resupply cache must survive at least 1 month un-refrigerated in the mail, in storage, and on the trail. As much as possible, I am sending only food sold at room temperature and in their original factory sealed packaging with expiration dates well beyond our trip. You don't want to open your cache and find a thriving ecosystem. There is no food for sale at Muir Trail Ranch.

Figure on 2 persons per 5 gallon bucket: 5 gallons = 1155 cubic inches = just under 2 bear canisters.

Purchase and pack at home

Mail to Muir Trail Ranch by July 15, 2005, the sooner the better - do the recommended Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. Follow the directions diligentlyäthere is no food for sale at Muir Trail Ranch.

*since these meals will not be carried very far once retrieved, if you choose, these meals could be the heavier, ready to heat/eat entrees in retort packaging or from a can. A great variety of these are available from Trader Joe's and other supermarkets.

IT IS WISE TO PACK A LITTLE EXTRA FOOD INCASE OF AN EMERGENCY

OR AN EXTENDED STAY.

For an example of specifics, click here to see Owen's personal food supply lists