[at-l] Meal times, etc.

[Phil.Heffington@oc.edu (Phil Heffington)]

Although the thread about eating at a different time and place from where y=
ou camp was started as a discussion of how to keep the critters away becaus=
e of food smell, I have not found that to be a problem, except maybe at she=
lter locations in New Jersey.

However, my own experimentation on when to cook and eat my "big meal" has h=
ad some good results.  My own preference is to get up and out of camp early=
 every morning, usually by 7:00 a.m.  I just seem to wake up about 6:00 and=
 find it easy to get away early.  I don't, however, like to spend time cook=
ing breakfast, so I snack all day until I decide to cook.  I like to stop f=
or a good rest, if not an actual nap, about noon, so cooking a meal at that=
 time often fits in with a good time to replenish my spirit, rest my feet, =
and enjoy a good view, or whatever.  Sometimes it works best to stop about =
5:30 when I am finding myself pushing my limits on a long hard day, and see=
m to be feeling that I just can't find the motivation to go on.  A good mea=
l seems to give me the energy and motivation to make the 3 or 4 more miles =
I had originally planned to make that day.

Knowing what time it gets dark on the trail makes it possible to plan for h=
iking after supper and still leave enough time to set up camp with daylight=
 remaining.  I can usually cruise for about an hour or two after eating and=
 then feel good about completing a long day being semi-refreshed when I fin=
ally decide to stop for the night.  YMMV