TOTTlers. Temporarily Off The Trail :-(

We have had to temporarily get off of the trail due to some illness in our family.  We are planning to get back on the trail in the very near future but we have to attend to some things to support our family first.  We will update as soon as we're back out!  BIG Love, The APE Team

Sonora Pass to South Lake Tahoe: Mile 1018 - 1094

This is right before Sonora Pass and it was so beautiful.  The only problem that we had with it was that we were getting HAMMERED with wind.  We're no windologists but our calculations would put it at a very steady 50 mph.  BUT whenever the wind would stop we would wipe our very watery eyes (and noses) and soak in the views.  It was awesome!

So beautiful!  Did we tell you about the wind?

Most of the time the cairns tell you where the trail is and sometimes you just have to follow the pyramids.

Almost Awesome thinks she found Cheryl Strayed's missing boot!  Come on Cheryl, Leave No Trace!

South of Carson Pass and the landscape is changing a bit.  The mountains here are more volcanic basalt so there texture is much more rough but there seems to be more grasses and greenery.

AA on downhill side

Almost Awesome makes hiking look so easy

What can we say?  Sometimes it is best to just be still and not say anything.

We met a group of Eagle Scouts who were cycling from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.  We chatted with them and shared stories.   We were envious that they had vans and trailers full of moms following them that were loaded with food.  They were the cycling equivalent of Sherpas!  They were REALLY nice and shared their lunch with us and it was honestly like a buffet made for hikers!  Fresh fruit, chips, sandwiches, and calorie laden junk food.

One of the Eagle Scout's moms asked us if we wanted a bottle of wine to take with us and we said no because we didn't want to carry the big glass bottle.  She then said, "no problem, i have some empty plastic bottles!"  And viola!  We were feeling classy walking through beautiful meadows with our bottle of wine but we had no cheese to round out our bourgeois ways until our buddy, Crusher, rolled up to our camp.  We asked him to join us as we drank wine and he said to wait a second as he dug deep into his food canister.  To our delight he whipped out a pack of cheese on cheese crackers and moved the party to the next level!  Backpacker Magazine,  this is how you camp!

Us and our buddy, Crusher, enjoying the Eagle Scout vino!

Blue Skies and Johnny Rocket taking a "table break" at the Harrah's Casino buffet in Stateline, NV.  We felt like this was a wise choice monetarily and calorically!  We put quite a dent in the buffet but THE FOOD JUST KEPT COMING OUT!!  We were valiant but we were no match to the Harrah's juggernaut.

Possum on his table break.  He looked a little chilly so we covered him up.

Half a block from Harrah's and the gravitational pull on Possum's stomach was just too strong!  They should really have a shuttle service for hikers from the fancy buffets back to the cheap motels.

Aaaaaaahhhhh, relaxation on a zero day!  L-R: Potluck, Hyrobics, Wall E, and Knief enjoying a little World Cup action in South Lake Tahoe!  Possum is debating on whether or not to iron his tent……….that buffet really messed him up the night before!

900 - 1000 miles and a little ol' place called Yosemite

"Don't look at it !!!  It be from the Devil I tell ya!!!" This was on an alternate PCT route to the Devil's Post Pile.  Nature does some really cool stuff.

It was a little too cold to go swimming and we could have used it because we were quite filthy. 

Thousand Island Lake

Sometimes we thought that car headlights were shining into our tent but it was just the Moon.  When the Moon is bright Possum usually has to cover his eyes when he sleeps.

Almost Awesome at Donohue Pass as we head towards the valley into Yosemite National Park

Tadaaa!!!!  This is beautiful.  

In Yosemite our surroundings, as usual, changed.  There were broader canyons that had bigger meadows and the granite mountains were smooth and pillowy and were streaked with black.

Good morning world!

Yosemite is visually AMAZING but we were a little overwhelmed with all of the people we encountered.  It is weird to just see a handful of other thru-hikers for days and then be surrounded by fresh smelling people who only eat half of their snack because the other half fell on the ground.  We aren't complaining (we need people being active in nature because that increases the number of people who want to protect it) it's just weird!

Sometimes we just have to stop and smell the flowers in the beautiful garden………...

………. and do a little yodeling.

So what are you eating?……. and may I have a bite?

    Food is something that we thru hikers think about ALOT!

We burn more calories than we can carry on a day to day basis and this makes us food conscious most of the time....... even when we're blogging.

A day of backpacker food averages about 2 pounds and comes in at 3500 to 4000 calories. This number is still less than what we are burning hiking and carrying those calories each day. The deficits are attempted to be made up in town and the cravings for town food usually consist in all the things not available on trail: salad and fresh produce, ice cream, fatty cooked meals, and hot/cold drinks!

Almost Awesome enjoying the West Coast phenomenon, in her vegetarian way, with a grilled cheese!

 We approach fueling our day with 3 meals, 2 snacks, and 1 to 2 calorie rich drinks.  Depending on the length of time out, we get more serious about each item's CGR or Calorie to Gram Ratio.  This way we get the largest calorie punch in the lightest form. For example an iced honey bun has 580 calories and weighs only 100 grams. That makes it's CGR a gross and delicious 5.8. 

Possum approves this honey bun!  His liver does not.

    The best CGR rating you can get is a pure fat (butter or oil) coming in at a 9.  Possum and other hikers sometimes just get it over with and just take swigs of olive oil.  It's not classy but it isn't that bad.

     On shorter amounts of days out on trail we have to include the "fun factor".  This skews the CGR but brings smiles to dirty faces.  Food that makes it in our pack that is heavy and/or can spoil quickly usually makes it in there due to the fun factor when we know that we only have to deal with it for a couple of days. Usually healthier items are added such as fresh fruit and vegetables for us to eat the first day out of town.

    Breakfast consists of soaked oatmeal with nuts, dried fruit, milk powder, and oil as our first but heavier choice and sometimes we add some type of pop tart, snack cake, fritter, or fried pie. This is accompanied with our private collection breakfast drink which consists of water, coffee, milk powder and sometimes a hot chocolate mix.  Imagine a frappuccino and you have our Green Tunnel Blend morning drink.  

    Lunch is a tortilla or bagel with some combination of the following: cheese, peanut butter, Nutella, avocado, trail mix, coconut, chips, and fruit. We usually have a side of chips that are typically crushed into crumbs and eaten with a spoon.  Deeeeeelicious!

    Dinner is still a stoveless affair. What started as an experiment and a fire prevention attempt has continued because we like it so much and we don't have to carry a stove and fuel.   Many of our hiking buddies have also dropped their stoves and are embracing the soak!  Dinner usually has one of the following as it's base: couscous, rice, dehydrated beans, ramen noodles, rice noodles, mashed potatoes, or stove top. Add in any of the following: cheese, avocado, dehydrated veg, olives, tuna, nuts or chips. Top it all off with lots of olive oil, maybe a flavor packet and usually hot sauce and you have yourself a delicious, whatever the temperature is outside, meal !!! When we can, we like to finish off our meal with a nice hot-chocolate mix drink.  Vintage is critical in regards to dinner drinks.  We have found that late 2013 and 2014 are good years and we prefer Chateux Swiss Miss which we believe is from the French Alps.

  We also eat a morning and afternoon snack that is some type of bar, pop tart, or trail mix and we sometimes carry what is called "the equalizer".  This usually consists of kettle chips or candy and is eaten when we might be dragging between meals and we need a boost.

Here our dehydrated black bean and couscous dinners are soaking in our peanut butter jars for dinner.              *P.S. We are not sponsored by The Trail Show even though we have their logo on our soak-jars. We are big fans of their long-distance hiking podcast and if they do want to sponsor us then they can have their legal team contact our sponsorship department.

On a final note, let us just add that we are very healthy eaters at home and our trail diet and food cravings out here on trail amaze us on a daily basis. Our long stretch out in the Sierra put us (especially Possum) into a whole new level of hunger. The other day while in town we found ourselves eating crushed tortilla chips with spray can cheese that we found in a hiker box (don't worry it was unopened) like it was delicious.  Imagine what old fashioned popcorn balls look like and you get the sad, sad picture of that delicacy.  That my friends is a new low.