I’ve totally neglected writing up the rest of our trip in Montana. Life since has been insane and I feel like I’ve been swept off my feet and am truly just along for the ride. Looking at the pictures though, I still can’t believe we were at Glacier, and how used to the surroundings you get, almost taking them for granted after a while. Our intended plans for Day 4 included an ambitious 8-hour hike to actually see the Glaciers. That was squashed when I woke up to my period that morning. Having endometriosis makes them highly unpredictable (let alone painful) and I didn’t want to have issues on such a long hike commonly evacuated because of bears. Remember that line in the movie Anchorman? I didn’t exactly want to test the myth.

So instead we decided to drive up Going-To-The-Sun road to do some short hikes and check out the scenery. First we started with another awesome breakfast. We had seen Anthony Bourdain eat Spam on his Hawaii episode. We both had never had it, but decided to give it a tray. Why not? It’s vacation, it’s not like we eat this stuff every day. Behold:

Yup, Spam and Eggs. It’s right out of Monty Python’s classic bit. It doesn’t taste too bad, and like in No Reservations, I could see how it would be good in sushi. But alone? It’s a salt block. Either way, it filled us up for our drive up the mountain.

I want to say that I did good most of the way up, at least until the vertigo hit. I have a nasty case of acrophobia (fear of heights). I’ve overcome it to a greater extent, at least I think so. We hiked Flat Top Mountain (over 11k feet) at RMNP on our honeymoon, but I still get super anxious around sheer drop-offs, and Going-To-The-Sun-Road has no shortage of them. It’s a really narrow road, in some areas a tight fit for two cars. It’s the only road that crosses through the park and over the Continental Divide, by way of  Logan’s pass.

I wish I could say we made it to the top, but I was sobbing  and a complete mess about 1 mile from the top so finally at one of the picture points, we turned around. I still feel terrible. Apparently it’s GORGEOUS at the top, but I become another person once acrophobia takes over, and I can’t control it. At all. I sob to the point of drooling, and there is snot all over my face. To say I’m whimpering would be an understatement, because I’m screaming in “what if” scenarios. I can’t even look out the window. On the way back down, once I composed myself and stopped white knuckling the seat, we stopped to see the river:

We also checked out Hidden Lake, a short trail off Going-To-The-Sun Road. Yes it really was this green, and all the Photoshop in the world couldn’t tone it down.

That night I taught Neil to play Cribbage over s’mores. Cribbage is my all-time favorite card game. It’s actually part of the curriculum in a lot of Minnesota Public Schools because it’s a great dynamic thinking and counting game, perfect for kids…and adults! I think he likes it, though probably not as obsessively as me. I even have it on my phone!

My cheapie Dollar Store board just for camping.

There is that point in any camping trip when you feel truly a part of the nature of things. Campfire and evergreens have permeated your clothing and hair, and you begin to feel like a “regular” around the campground. You’ve watched several overnight campers come and go, and people who are very obviously new to the game struggle with tents and where to get firewood. You don’t even mind anymore that you’re on day three without a shower. It’s an awesome feeling and the best part of camping for us. The feeling of belonging and mastery far from home. I’m craving it all over again!

Our fourth and final day in Montana coming up soon!

On our third day, we decided to give ourselves an open-ended day. A day we’d wouldn’t pursue scheduled hikes, or things that required any sort of planning. Instead, we decided to pander gift shops and kayak on McDonald Lake. We had fun perusing the local grocery, where we saw lots of local beer and food and candy that for whatever reason we don’t have in Missouri.

Big Hunk is an old-school candy. It’s honey sweetened nougat with roasted peanuts. Maybe something like a snickers? It does say it’s low-fat, but I wasn’t feeling it.

This one completely baffled me. Another old-school candy (first manufactured in 1918!), there’s not actually potato in it, but soft marshmallow with a dark chocolate coating sprinkled with coconut, so candy potato? It’s probably completely awesome (I love coconut) but I just couldn’t get over the name.

We opted to try Coconut M&M’s. They taste amazing, and look at the cute illustration on each one!

After our candy loitering expedition, we hit Lake McDonald for some kayaking. I’m embarrassed to admit that this was my first time. I’ve lived on the water my entire life and have never been kayaking.

I loved it. I could have spent all day in that kayak. It’s so peaceful! The kayak rental company gives you a three mile area to kayak in on Lake McDonald and we didn’t even go as far as we could have. It was amazing, but my skin hated it. My shoulders were somewhere between red delicious apple and tomato. All in all a laid back and fun start to the day.

More to come, as I totally forgot to hit the upload button on Flickr last night!

I can’t think of a better way to nurse the jet lag of a crazy 24-hour road trip than a slow breakfast morning. Slow breakfast mornings are the best, and even better when you’re camping. The temperatures were cool, the sun was shining, and it was nice to cuddle up in chairs and take our time after our long trip. We unpacked the Jetboils and made coffee hot chocolate to sip as we prepped our eggs and bacon. Bacon is a Kohler camping staple. You may remember seeing Neil’s dad cooking some up during our last camping trip in June. We were fortunate to come across some local, organic bacon back in Columbia and Neil was practically salivating over the package.

Tired but hungry!

Tip: Many campgrounds at State and National Parks have no hot water. To properly clean your dishes, always take the time to heat water whether on a stove or over a fire.

View Glacier National Park, MT 2010 Hikes in a larger map

After cleaning up we decided to trek the first easy trail recommended by the ranger. Avalanche Creek is located 6 miles up the Going-To-The-Sun-Road, the main road through the mountains. It’s a relatively easy hike, 2 miles (4 total) with a 500ft. climb. The hike is one of the more beautiful we’ve done, and the picture opportunities were endless! (Note: Zoom in to get a closer look at our hikes. You can also hit the TER button to see the elevation terrain.)

Neil configured the GPS to track our hike

Neil carried the Camelbak. Check out the knife and bear spray mounted to the back. Bear Grylls better watch out!

Look who’s checking Neil out!

Here is our first shot once we made it to the Falls. Pictures don’t do it justice. It’s that feeling of entering a huge stadium, only BIGGER! It was so green too. When I was editing photos, I tried to even it out a bit, so it wouldn’t look unbalanced,  but this is the best I could do. We were hiking at high sun, and it was just intense. The cool breeze still smells of snow!

A bachelorette party. What a cool idea!

We hiked back and took a few more shots of the streams along the trail. You can never get enough of the sound of water moving through the mountains. When we got back to the car we decided to pick up more brew and head back to camp. Neil picked out this brand, and was accosted by the clerk asking if he was sure he wanted to be seen with it. We were dumbfounded, what could be wrong with this beer? So we looked it up. Canadian beer don’t ya’ know.

Is it pronounced like Cocaine?

For dinner we decided to make Teriyaki Chicken and Rice Wraps, an easy camp meal that will also transcend to backpacking as its reasonably lightweight to store in a pack. You’ll need:

• 1 cup dry instant rice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 2 pgk honey
• 2-3 pkg soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 can chicken (5 oz.)
• 2 whole-wheat tortillas

We cooked the rice in the Jetboil concurrently while churching up  the chicken a bit over the fire. Once the chicken started to boil and brown a bit, we added the rest of the ingredients and stirred together. I pre-made all the seasoning mixes at home and packed them in freezer bags. The liquid ingredients are condiment packets from our favorite restaurants that we saved for the trip. Nothing wrong with bringing a little gourmet to the backcountry right?

To see all of pictures check out our Flickr album here

Stay tuned for Day 3 of our trip tomorrow!

So we are freshly back from our one week whirlwind trip to Montana to celebrate our first anniversary. Can you believe it’s already been a year since we got married? Our trip to Montana was a whirlwind because even though we had 5 nights in Big Sky Country, it takes just over 24 hours to get there from Missouri. Not wanting to lose precious vacation time to two days driving each way, we decided to drive straight through.

No really, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, although I firmly believe Iowa and South Dakota were conspiring against us. Miles upon miles of unfinished construction, not to mention I covered most of South Dakota in the middle of the night and my night vision is poor, and when I say poor I mean I swear I see things that aren’t there. I kept psyching myself out thinking there was all sorts of hoopla happening on the side of the road. Like when I swerved because I thought there was a dead horse on the road. You get the picture. Needless to say we didn’t bother taking photos of any of that, so lets just skip to the good part shall we?

Behold Montana!

We were so goofy at this point because after a crazy night of hallucinating animals in the road and eating cold Shakespeare’s Pizza, we were positively giddy to not only see daylight but sunrise in Montana!

We also really had to pee. Yup I peed in nature too. In front of the sign no less. We like to keep it classy.

It’s impossible to really capture how huge everything is!

Now you might be thinking, we’ll you’re in Montana, let’s get to the backpacking – well, we’re still 12 hours from the park at this point. We still have to drive across Montana to get to Glacier. Here’s a map, our route is in red:

Needless to say, it was a long, but beautiful drive. Tons of rising mountains, lush valleys, and crystal blue lakes. Montana is remote, there really isn’t a whole lot as far as civilization goes. Here are a couple shots from the drive. They were all taken from the moving jeep so, forgive the quality.

You can see in that last one, the mountains are just starting to appear. Serene right? We were screaming in excitement in the car. Talk about oasis.

Once we entered the east side of the park, it was still another 50 miles or so across the National Forest before we entered the west side of Glacier National Park.

And finally…

We made it! It was so exciting to pull up to registration. We had reservations, so we didn’t have to worry about finding a spot, which was a good thing, because by the time we got there, the only areas with open spots were primitive camping. So in we went…

Awesome touring cars in the park, they run on propane!

We stopped in Apgar Village first, to get day hike information and buy firewood. We’d always heard that Glacier was all-around more primitive than Rocky Mountain National Park, but this was a village within the park! And there were tourists everywhere, people who were definitely not hiking or camping. I was shocked.

Lake McDonald sits off Apgar Village and it is breathtaking. Cleanest, clearest water you’ll see in your lifetime.

From Apgar Village we made our way to Fish Creek campground. Fish Creek sits on the SW corner of Lake McDonald, only a couple miles from Apgar. It’s carved carefully into the woods, and each site is thickly framed with a variety of firs and birch. The canopy is so incredibly thick it feels like a roof. The days were longer there, and it sometimes didn’t get dark till nearly ten o’clock. We set up our tent (see all our camping equipment here), and cuddled up to our first fire with some local brews and Neil’s Asian Spicy Chex Mix. Even though we’d been on the road for nearly 28 hours, were immediately in vacation mode and ready to hike!

To make Neil’s Asian twist on Chex Mix, make the famous recipe and add 1 tablespoon of ginger, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and a 1 tablespoon of sriracha sauce. You can increase any of these for a more intense flavor of your preference.

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming tomorrow!

We managed not to get eaten by any bears! However this attack in Yellowstone (be it across the state, but in the same state) leaves you a bit unnerved.

Expect a post on Monday with tons of pictures of our vacation in Glacier National Park, Montana!

Our Montana Trip is finally here! A few days and a 24-hour road trip is all that is standing between us and Glacier National Park in northern Montana. I’ve got ten different lists going and tons of stuff to do before we leave (including my final project for class, due two days after we return) but there are no words for the excitement and anticipation of a good long roadtrip. After honeymooning in Rocky Mountain National Park last year, we decided it would be awesome to spend our first anniversary doing what we love and exploring a new park and maybe possibly even sneaking into Canada. We’re also going to see a bit of Yellowstone and Bozeman, a city we’ve been told we’ll love. It’s a lot for a week, but we ain’t scurred. Check out some of our new equipment for the trip:

Air core inflatable pillows that pack super-tiny!

Bear Spray. For obvious scary reasons that I’m still quite anxious about. I’m really hoping we don’t see a single bear…

We also hope to debut a few new camp recipes we’ll be excited to share when we return, …or before. We’re in IT, you know we’ll still bring our gear and share all the best bits as they happen!

Just as there are different types of camping so too are there different ways to plan and pack your meals. It can be as easy as packing a cooler with hot dogs, drinks and marshmallows to as complex as fitting 4 days worth of food in a container the size of a milk carton. In any sense, the goal is to plan accordingly for the type of trip you’re embarking on to ensure adequate nutrition and plenty of energy.

Our trip this weekend was laid back. Purely park and camp, each group brought their own cooler and agreed beforehand on the types of food they were bringing. As we had electrical hookups and access to services, our food was easy to keep cold with coolers of ice. We had lovely breakfasts of bacon, eggs, bagels, and fruit and dinners of hot dogs, grilled cheese, trail mix and fruit. We also had plenty of energizing granola bars and yummy s’mores to munch on in between. It was a complete smorgasbord, with tons of food leftover.

But what if you aren’t camping with a group? How can you plan a reasonably concise menu if you don’t want to subside on the limited offerings of expensive packaged dehydrated meals or count ounces like a coke dealer? Luckily, there are now countless easy and user-friendly equipment options and resources available; whether you simply want to take less on the trip or are trying to maximize nutrition and lessen pack weight on a multi-day hike.

Equipment: We’ve invested in quite a few space-saving cooking tools over the past year in order to take and carry less on our trips. The biggest change has been the way we cook. Above you see my father-in-law cooking on a good ol’ Coleman Classic. Unfortunately, for all it’s awesomeness in making cooking portable and quick it weighs nearly 12 pounds. Two Christmas’s ago, Neil and I (on accident) bought each other matching Jetboil Gourmet’s. Although there are for sure other options that beat its size (26.3 ounces), you can’t beat the ease-of-use and utility. Another way we’ve saved money is not lugging tons of water with us, instead opting for a water filtration system and camelbaks built into our packs. Katadyn makes a great water filter that is easy to assemble, clean and use on the fly, weighing only 11 ounces and fitting in a super-small stuff sack. Compare that with the roughly 8 pounds a gallon of water weighs!

Ingredients: There’s a dated preconception that camp food is all hot dogs and GORP. While I enjoy both, the sky is really the limit when it comes to camp food. Everything from wraps to pasta to even dessert is possible!

Tips to Get You Started:

Try to keep your food items non-perishable. Although this isn’t a must, it’s best to consume any perishables you do bring within the first day or so.

Think compact. Try to use items that pack well and don’t take a lot of room.

Opt for items that aren’t easily damaged or repack them into containers that prevent damage. (Ex: eggs or soft, easily-bruised fruits.)

Keep it light. Although you may not be a stickler for weight, you don’t want to carry more weight than you absolutely have to.

Think about your trash. How much waste will your ingredients produce. Paper-based packaging is a lot easier to carry than empty cans and bottles.

With those things in mind, you can now let your imagination go wild. Where to begin? Well here are a few of Neil and my tried-and-true ingredient staples:

• Powdered milk: Not all that impressive by itself, and its usually in the forgotten corner of the grocery store, but it’s great to make camp dishes a little creamier.
• Oatmeal: Energizing and beyond simple in the Jetboil. Add a little dried fruit and you’ll forget you are roughing it.
• Instant Rice: Light to carry, fast to make, and a guaranteed “fill me up,” rice can make just about any meal feel a bit more gourmet.
• Dry Soup Mix: Erase images of powdered french onion soup from your mind. Now there are tons of dehydrated hearty soups on the market, full of flavor and not at all runny.
• Homemade or store-bought pancake and biscuit mixes: Just add water!

I could go on for hours, the options really are that limitless. The best thing you can do is experiment beforehand. Plan out each meal and the ingredients it uses and above all make sure you are getting the right nutrition. There are many great resources out there for ideas: Here are a few of our favorites:

Books:

• Basic Illustrated Cooking in the Outdoors (Basic Essentials Series) – by Cliff Jacobson (by my awesome former 8th grade science teacher. Covers cooking outdoors in a variety of environments)
• Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling – by Alan Kesselheim (a good primer if you’re new to dehydrating)
• SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea – by John “Lofty” Wiseman (not exclusively on cooking, but a handy little guide with a nice food section we keep with us on every trip)

Web:

• Wild Backpacker: Great food, tips and equipment recommendations.
• Backpacking Recipes: One of the few really great backpacking meal blogs we’ve found to date.
• Backpacking Light: Great backpacking community and place for info-share, especially when it comes to equipment and food!

We hope these tips at the very least give you some ideas on ways you can pack lighter and better meals that make any camping trip more fun and memorable. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail us, we’d be happy to help. Happy Trails!

So we are back from a whirlwind weekend camping trip with Neil’s family and I’ve just finally gotten all my ducks in a row at work and uploaded the pictures. We had such a blast, and although it rained, it was enough to keep the heat and humidity of Missouri summer at bay. We ate tons of great food, told stories and played musical chairs whenever one of the Kohler men (including Clive-o) farted. Clive even committed several acts of dutch-oven in the tent!

Clive’s big accomplishment however was conquering the lake for the first time. He’s no retriever, but he did get in the water, with and without the life jacket. He was such a little trooper. The first few times we carried him in he swam back to shore and ran to the jeep:

Eventually we coaxed him back in the water with his favorite tennis ball and a Nerf football. He enjoyed going in as long as he could touch the bottom and not have to doggie-paddle. He definitely loved camping. He ran constantly, dug in the dirt, rolled in leaves and snarfed up all the people food he could milk from Neil’s family. His nose was always to the ground smelling and searching out new things he thought might be edible. He ate sticks, leaves, bugs and tons of grass. By the end, he was completely worn out, and spent the ride home passed out on the floor of the jeep.

Camping with pets can be a great time, but its definitely not as easy as throwing some food and a leash in the car. There are definitely some preparations to make in advance to ensure your pet stays safe and happy:

Before you leave, know where you are going: Many state and national parks have rules that prohibit pets altogether or limit the areas you can bring them. Before leaving, research the park you’ll be staying in and the rules of the park regarding pets. For instance, Glacer National Park (where we’re headed in just over a month!) allows pets within the drive-in campgrounds, along roads and in picnic areas, but not on trails. A great place to start your search is the National Park Service.

Safety First: It may seem overly-paranoid, but plan for the worst. Know a veterinarian in the area, and have their contact info on hand (both on and off your cell phone). Make sure your pet is up-to-date on all vaccinations, especially rabies, and bring along a copy of their records in case it is needed. If you haven’t already, have an ID made with your name and phone number, and consider getting your pet chipped.

Pets vs. Wildlife: It’s important to know how your pet will adjust to nature. Research the local animals in the area and how your pet will affect their behavior. If barking attracts animals such as bears or coyotes, it is definitely best to leave them at home. Wild animals aside, make sure your pet is adequately protected from ticks, fleas, and other harmful pests. Also remember that pet food is no different than human food, and will attract animals. Therefore, store it as well as you do your own food.

While it might seem like a great idea to take your pet camping, some of their behaviors are often not conducive to the environment or the other campers around you. Excessive barking, aggression, or inclination to roam can quickly become nuisance, and most state and national parks have low tolerance for such behavior. Additionally, most if not all parks do not allow pets to be left unattended, hindering your own activities within the parks. If you’ve never taken your pet camping and are unsure of how they’ll do, visit local picnic areas, parks, or public areas. In the end, do what is best for your safety and the safety of those around you.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our family camping trip and more tips coming tomorrow!

Clive is going on his first camping trip this weekend. We’re headed to Truman Lake near Lake of the Ozarks for a weekend with the family. Since we haven’t seen him swim yet, we’re erring on the side of caution and making him wear a life jacket we picked up from our favorite pet haven Lizzi & Rocco’s. While we were snapping pics, Felix got curious and decided to check out his brother’s new wares. It took two months, but Felix is finally starting to warm up to Clive.

A. Kelty Coyote Backpack B. Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Microfilter C. 010-00622-45 Colorado ™ 400 Portable Gps System (colorado ™ 400t Wi D. Gerber 22-01629 LMF II Black Infantry Knife- 4.8 inch blade E. Coleman Taos Extreme-Weather Mummy Bag F. Princeton Tec Fuel Headlamp G. Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad H. Brunton Striker Fire Starter I. Jetboil Backcountry Gourmet Cooking Set J. Eureka Adventure Apex 2FG 7-Foot by 5-Foot 2-Person Tent *

*We are in no way experts or the pinnacle of camping wisdom. This is equipment we’ve been recommended by more experienced backpackers and have owned/used for the past year with excellent results. There is always better equipment and like so many things money can always buy you bigger and better things if you can spend it. For us, these were great buys at a price we could afford.

Neil’s Notes

• A: The Kelty is a good weekend pack. Anything over 3-4 nights and I think you may run out of room depending on how light or heavy you pack. Its a very rugged pack that takes abuse well!
• B: Used this filter for the first time this weekend and it was easy and straight forward to use and we filled 2 liters in just a couple minutes. Water tasted great!
• C: This GPS was just fun to use and allows you to do all sorts of things like tracking your mileage and route and you can export it to google maps! Check out our post: Trip Part Two, to see the google maps export.
• D: This knife is great value. Very sturdy and has a good weight to it that allows the knife to do most of the work for you when chopping, whittling, or sawing. I have a feeling this thing is going to last years and years and years.
• E: This is a very affordable bag that keeps you quite warm. We have used this thing into the 30’s and still were very toasty, even almost sweaty. The only downside is that this pack does not pack down really small. I would say it packs down to about the size of two 2 liters. But at the price you cannot beat it.
• F: Gotta have a head lamp. Keeping your hands free is a godsend during late nights in the tent or around the campsite. This performed great, but I think any headlamp would do okay here.
• G: Hands down the best thing in my pack. These take only minutes to blow up, but you will NEVER have to feel the ground again. 2.5 inches of air between you and the ground keeps you not only comfy, but also WARM. On a 6 night stay in Colorado we only had to re-inflate these one time, they hold air like a champ.
• H: The classic fire starter worked great, nuff said.
• I: Jetboils are awesome. So much utility in a little package it is insane. We have cooked many things in these guys and they are perfect for soups, coffee, and anything else hand held. With the pan you can make eggs or anything else. Only downside is the pan is non stick, but not the greatest non-stick surface.
• J: Great tent. Light, strong, simple to put up and take down, survives wind and rain very well and it actually FITS in its bag with ease. When was the last time you did not struggle for hours trying to pack and unpack a tent? Get this.