I tend toward the elegant and unexpected "camping" fare...

[RockyMtnRay]

efelker wrote:

Thought he could survive eating tree bark and cooking rock soup -- French Pressed coffee, oven roasted asparagus, cherries jubilee, not exactly what I'd expect to find in a rucksack. Hey Ray -- those aren't Birkenstock sandals you're wearing when you are mountain climbing?

ROTFL...actually I greatly differentiate between backpack camping cooking and TM camping cooking.

Most of my 14er climbing is day-hiking using the TM as a base camp so I travel very light (food source just a couple of power bars). And so I can have the fancy food at the end of the day when I get back. My day pack is much higher tech than a rucksack though...it's basically a small internal-frame backpack with dozens of compartments. Inside it I always carry full emergency gear (water filter, 1st aid kit, all purpose tool, bug repellent & sunscreen, whistle, space blanket, extra glasses, toilet paper, etc.) And extra clothes and, most importantly, a 3/4 gallon Camelbak hydration bladder. Not much food...2 power bars to eat and one if caught in an emergency.

When I actually backpack camp (overnight away from the TM), then all food is the fancy freeze-dried stuff in foil pouches...and I carry a much larger 4000 cu in internal frame pack. Boil water over a tiny single burner stove, pour into pouch, wait 5 minutes, then eat. Mountain House brand foods are quite tasty!

Nope, no Birkenstocks on the trails. Too rocky, too dangerous so I use full fledged lightweight hiking boots. In camp though...out come my Earth Shoe sandals.

I'd love to have the finesse and stamina to be doing what you're doing.

Actually you could quite easily: just eat less and exercise a whole lot more. Age isn't the factor: I'm 54 and there are 60, 70 and even 80 year olds climbing these mountains.

P.S. "Rucksacks" have gone the way of the Dodo Bird. Everything today has frames and stays and suspension systems and bladder compartments.

Ray:

... wish I had your level of commitment.

Here is my "sort of" philosophy -- I belong to the group of folks that affirms the poem that starts out "When I grow old, I shall wear purple..." I believe Henry Ford invented the automobile assemby line so that I wouldn't have to walk. Running was designed for cature and escape, not recreation. Procrastiation makes for a keen lack of preparation.

"Eating for gratification" -- sign me up! You said you base your consumption on daily burn. I base my consumption on... well, consumption.

So, I hope some day I'll see you somewhere out there above the 10,000' line or above the tree line. You'll recognize me -- I'll be the puddgy, little old guy on the 4X4 ATV, Snickers in one hand and the smell of a Twinkie on my breath.

[RockyMtnRay]

... wish I had your level of commitment.

Well...it's partly self-discipline (I am pretty structured) and partly my environment. Both my city (Colorado Springs) and state have a very fitness focused culture. The local newspaper's lifestyle section every Thursday is entitled "Out There"...a total focus on hiking, mountain biking, backpacking, skiing, etc.. There's always a guide to some hiking trail (difficulty measured in little boot symbols...a "4 Booter" is a real challenge!). The paper also devotes much of Tuesday's lifestyle to a "Fitness Challenge" and is currently documenting the fitness progress of a guy and a gal who were willing to have their fitness improved publicly. Somedays it seems that a quarter of the cars & SUVs have bike racks on their roofs...of late I've been noticing a fair number with bike racks and ski racks year-round. Add in an Olympic Training Center (Olympians are everywhere) and 5 fitness oriented military bases and a populace that will vote tax increases for trails but not for anything else. As a retired USAF officer, I'm able to use the best-in-the-Air-Force $6.5M fitness facility at Peterson AFB (though try to avoid it at mid-day as it's an overflowing madhouse). General Eberhardt (Commander of Northern Command...the military's homeland defense command) just had a $400,000 lighting system (all solar) installed along the base's 3 mile jogging trail so that no-one could use the excuse of darkness to get out of running. It's very hard to live here without being constantly exhorted to get out and start hiking, running and biking.

Running was designed for cature and escape, not recreation.

Hoo boy...it would probably be best if you not say that out loud if you ever come to Colorado. The biggest sporting event in the state in terms of spectators (much less participants) is the "Bolder Boulder". It's a 10km race (not even a half marathon) that attracts a mind-boggling 40,000 runners and even more mind-boggling 100,000 spectators who fill UC's Soldier Field (the finish line) totally to overflowing.

So, I hope some day I'll see you somewhere out there above the 10,000' line or above the tree line. You'll recognize me -- I'll be the puddgy, little old guy on the 4X4 ATV, Snickers in one hand and the smell of a Twinkie on my breath.

And I would be equally honored to meet you in person as well. But it's rather unlikely you'd be astride an ATV in Colorado at the higher altitudes. ATVs are pretty much banned in most of the national forests (leastwise above 8000 feet) within the state (due to pressure from the outdoors crowd which hates the noisy things)...and, of course, they are totally banned in all designated wildnerness areas. And we're steadily adding new wilderness areas...IIRC, something like 2.3 million acres of new wilderness should be designated in the next couple of years. Utah is quite ATV friendly, Colorado is largely hostile to them.

The twinkie-breath I can handle though.

Actually, rucksacks are still around, carried by every single one of our US Army/Marine troops! They experimented with an internal "mountain" ruck with my unit in Hawaii.......it didn't hold up well, matter of fact, several of them blew out after being thrown a few feet out of a Blackhawk. Nice idea, but not made rugged enough. My typical combat load as a US Army Air Assault Infantry soldier was around 130+ lbs EVERYWHERE I went. Lol, think the rockies are tough Ray? Try moving for 2 days nonstop with that kinda load through the Quialoahs. (the contour map of the area is almost just one huge red splotch). Stopped only twice for 15 mins to eat some chow, and two hours for sleep......It is amazing what you can get used to. LOL But I degress, this is after all the recepies section, not the "PT" section.........(Physical Training for the civilian types reading).

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails.........[/glow]

[RockyMtnRay]

I stand corrected...guess I should have said that Rucks are as extinct as Dodos amongst civilian backpackers. Ultra light weight is now the mantra for backpacking...I just got a new super light backpacking tent...2 person but only 4.7 lb and that's with everything including the "footprint" (ground cloth) and rain fly. If I'm carrying over 50 lbs for a two or three day trip, then something's seriously wrong with my choice of gear.

I am impressed though with your loads...but wanna try now (at 35?)...or in 20 years (when you'll be my age)?

Actually the Rockies can be downright steep...Ft Carson has Blackhawks and their Air Assault guys do go out in the central Colorado Rockies for training.

And yeah, chuckle, this thread has certainly developed some strange twists and turns. (I take it as a measure of the increased level of interest and passion the board is now generating...this place is starting to get downright lively!)

Lol, do it now, at 35, hmm.....that was only two years ago for me Ray... ....chuckle.......I didn't even go in till I was 25! BUT, again, this convo really should be moved to the "off topic" area.........

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails........[/glow]

Sounds good Bill, I'll have to try that sometime........(BTW, it's a clove of garlic, and I believe it's a root/bulb). But at any rate, still sounds really good. I have something I do that's a bit unusual, but as it turns out, doesn't taste ANYTHING like it starts out, or like one would think. Whenever I make up a roast, for the broth, I use two cans of sunny delight to one can of beef broth. (Instead of using water like the label says on the broth can). This can be done both in a crock pot, as well as in a pan in the oven, though I prefer glass corning ware for roasts etc....... Toss in one teaspoon of cinnemin, and two teaspoons of sugar, and a simple "roast" spice pack (Mcormacks) from the grocery store, oh, and a few peppercorns. After a few hours at a low temp in the oven such as 275-300 degrees, or crock pot, the broth, and sunny delight merge into something VERY different tasting, but VERY good! Not to mention how nice the whole house smells as well! Also, I'll toss in a small box of raisins in with the baby carrots, baby red bud potatoes, and perl onions, it adds a different kind of "element" to the mixture, but is still VERY GOOD! And no, not at all like one would think does it taste at all like orange! I've had friends over that are VERY good cooks, taste it, and really love it, and yet can't for the life of them figure out what I used with the sunny delight. The big thing is it can be thrown together in just a few mins, 5-10 mins or so, and a few hours later, you have a very delicious roast that noone has ever tasted before, and the meat melts off of your fork! (In a crock pot, I can throw it all together the night before in the crock pot ready to go, keep it in the fridge overnight, and put it in the pot on low heat right before I leave for work, and it comes out PERFECT by the time I get home from work!) A word from the wise though, don't OVER cook it! If you do the 24hour thing with it, it will make the meat a bit on the bitter side, everything else will still be tasty, but the meat will be a bit "bitter". I also use almost the same recipe without the roast spice pack, and beef broth for hams, preferring honey glazed presliced ones where I can drip honey on it while it's cooking, and I add pinapple, and manderin orange slices. In this case, it does retain a bit of the orangy taste, but goes quite well with the ham, and white wine goes along with it well!

BTW Ray, I printed out your recipies, definately want to try them sometime, THANKS!

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails........[/glow]

Ray, you have whet my appetite and inspired me to bake a brie tomorrow. How do you make your "en croute"?
Rozz

[RockyMtnRay]

I cheat and use Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets .

Puff Pastry Sheets are available in in the frozen breads section of most larger supermarkets. Just thaw one sheet and roll flat, then wrap around the wheel of Brie with a few seasonings. Full recipe here: http://www.cooking.com/recipes/static/recipe5418.htm

Frozen puff pastry sheets and shells are extemely versatile ways to have quick, easy, yet downright elegant meals. Every once in a while during the winter I'll whip up a Lobster Bisque and serve it over puff pastry shells. Always gets lots of ooohs and ahhhs. Go here for lots of puff pastry ideas: http://www.puffpastry.com/index.asp?...YTkVhMJcS9W%2F

Thanks for the info. I make my crust from scratch but you are right the commercial puff pastry is good in a pinch. I prefer a sweet filling to compliment the salty brie. Roll out the crust to 1/8" thickness. cover the center with home made preserves center the brie in the crust. Shape it to look like a bag of money brush it with egg white and sprinkle blanched thinly sliced almonds on the top. Bake at 400* (top shelf) for about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven let set for 20-25 minutes. Serve with pippens or granny smiths that have been soaked in lemon juice and the crackers of your choice. Frozen seedless grapes are also delicious with it.
Jim and Rozz