What Do You Do On A Blizzard Day?

The best thing to do on a snow day is to spend the day inside where it is warm packaging meals  for your upcoming spring hike. Who has time to do the driveway? That's what a good and faithful husband is for. 

This is Bruce and Barney. 

I went outside to check the depth, 16" and it's still coming down hard. I tromped to the end of the driveway following the path Barney, our 9 year old lab made as he bound through with unsuccessful leaps. He resembled a swimmer doing the breaststroke. After a few tiring springs without much gain he gave up and plowed his way slowly through the snow pool.

I captured pictures of the white out conditions and snow drifts. When I had my fill I retreated back to the safety of my den.

I will hunker down with some fresh lemon-ginger tea, music and spend the next few hours packing food drop boxes for my hike.

I packed these three last night. 

This morning I am making up rice bags with dehydrated veggies and seasonings.

My work space. 

Mixing up some custom spices, a little of this and a lot of that.

I am not a fan of prepackaged meals. I need to eat gluten free so my choices are limited and most packaged stuff it too salty. My food the last time was boring.  It won't be this time. 

A normal day of trail food rendered about 1800 calories for me in 2015. No wonder I lost so much weight. I packed what I could safely eat without being "glutenized". A Thru hiker's caloric needs can reach as high as 5,000-6,000 calories a day. I will be making some minor adjustments to my rice and pasta dishes to get the fuel I need.

For flavor I found a great source of dehydrated veggies from Harmony House. They are light, cook up easily added to any pasta or rice, and they taste great. They will add some nutritional value but not too many calories. To make up for the deficiency I experienced in 2015 I plan to add real butter, oils, and hard boiled eggs.

Hard cheeses, hot dogs, precooked bacon, pepperoni, and bologna are not found in my usual diet but out on the trail they are a must. They keep surprisingly well in a pack for several days and provide lots of calories. Any excess fat is burned away climbing the peaks.

Sample Menu:

First breakfast - oatmeal, raisins, walnuts, brown sugar

Second breakfast - snack bar

Snack - peanutbutter and dry cereal, pretzels, or crackers

Lunch - grilled cheese with a meat choice

Snack - nuts and or  a snack bar

Supper - rice or pasta concoction with a meat choice and sometimes I add a cheese sauce

Treats - any of the following: cookies, Snickers, jellybeans, tea, hot cocoa and my favorite hot apple cider with the Captain. The last treat was shared with me by my dear hiking friends Maps and Moxie.

I must get back to work and pack those boxes before the storm stops and I have to do something productive. Until then I can't think of a better way to wait out the blizzard than to plan for a sunny day.

Happy Hiking,

Emily