Re: [at-l] food and other stuff

[Owen <jrowen@ibm.net>]

Valerie Henderson wrote:
> 
> Hi all!
> 
> Slow day at work today, so figured I'd ask some more questions.
> 
> Been reading Ray Jardine's book about the PCT (doing a bit of dreaming,
> too), but he has some interesting ideas that I wanted to get feedback
> on.  First off, let me say that I don't want to start up an ultralight
> vs. "heavy" war on the list.  I'm just trying to get some input from all
> you guys out there.
> 
> First off: shoes.  Personally, I don't think that the running shoe thing will work for me because I've had a lot of ankle problems.  Basically, I have to play sports and hike in an air-cast.  But I was curious about the cost vs. wear of running shoes.  Sure, they're lighter, but how much faster do they wear out?  Could someone out there with some medical training (maybe our resident physical therapist) speak up about ankle problems?

Valerie - one thing to keep in mind about wearing running shoes is that
as Ray Jardine says, it should be part of the whole system.  You can
wear running shoes if, and it's a big if, you are not carrying much
weight.  Then it is just  like dayhiking.  Most of us started our hiking
with a light day pack and running shoes.  The problems come from trying
to carry a heavy pack (over 25 lbs.) with light shoes.  There has also
been some hot discussion on PCT-L a while back about trying to wear
running shoes in snow - they don't hold well on icy snow, and if wet, do
you have a greater risk of frostbite?  

The issue of wear is something else though. Jardine mentions needing to
replace your shoes before they lose their support in order to avoid
injury.  That would probably be after about 400 or so miles - so every
month you would need new shoes.  At $100+ per pair, that adds up to some
big money, plus the inconvenience of having them shipped out on the
trail every month on a six month hike. One problem is that you don't
always notice that your shoes have lost their support until you start
having problems - or until you replace them and wonder why the new ones
feel so confining.  My Vasques weigh about 3 lbs and last me 1500 miles.
Some running shoes weigh almost as much but don't last nearly as long. I
used running shoes for camp shoes for a while, and traded off when my
new boots were giving me trouble. It was so nice to hike in running
shoes,  you can really fly, but for a long hike, they have a down side.  
> Second: food (a common topic with me, huh?).  Jardine goes on about the wonders of "corn spaghetti"?  Any experience with this stuff.  I have a  small batch that I'm going to try out sometime to see if I like the stuff  and if it goes well with my style of cooking (you know, the throw everything into a pot and boil the heck out of it style <g>).  
This is second hand - but there have been some discussions on PCT-L
about it. A lot of hikers really hate the stuff.  Those that like it
say, 1. don't overcook it, and 2. It's all in the sauce.  A good sauce
covers a pretty bland base. But then, pasta and rice are pretty bland
too.  The nutritional stuff I'll leave to experts.

Ginny Owen


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