[at-l] The Cheap Hike

[beeskneesc at yahoo.com (Caroline Cook)]

It is good you are giving this some thought.  We
didn't pack enough of the right things for the hike
from Springer to Neels Gap.  Our last night before
coming into Neels, our stove wasn't working well and
we were out of things that would cook quickly. We had
hiked until it was almost dark because we couldn't
find a good tent spot.  We finally came to the top of
a ridge where two young men were camped and had a fire
going. I managed to make hot chocolate and we ate pop
tarts for supper.  The guys with the fire offered to
hang our bear bag with theirs.  The next morning they
left the bag outside our tent and when I looked
inside, there was one of those giant candy bars. I was
never so grateful for chocolate in my life.  That was
the first trail magic we experienced but certainly not
the last.  That candy bar gave us the energy to make
it into Neels Gap the next evening just after dusk.
  From then on, we made sure to pack some extra things
to eat that did not require cooking and held them in
reserve for times when it was too cold, we were too
tired, the stove wasn't working, or we were too short
of water to cook. We also found breakfast bars more to
our liking than the oatmeal in the mornings because we
just wanted to get moving and didn't want to mess with
the stove, water, pans, etc. This was particularly
true when it was wet or cold.

 Beesknees
 http://www.trailjournals.com/beesknees


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