I had to think for a moment about what day it was. The day went differently than expected.
I got up late. Plugged in the power bank again and spent a lot of time reading online — mostly trying to figure out the permit situation. Didn’t get very far. Then I went shopping.
Shopping out here follows four criteria: weight, cost, nutritional content, and taste. Taste makes the first cut easy — anything that doesn’t appeal gets ignored immediately. The rest takes more thought.
Beef jerky, for example. There were two sizes from two different brands. I checked the nutrition labels — specifically calories. Unlike Switzerland, where values are listed per 100g, Americans list per serving. I’m not sure why. My portion is usually bigger than most people’s anyway. The large pack had 3 servings, the small pack 1, and the serving sizes were different. The small pack weighed 10g less per serving but had nearly the same protein as the large. The small cost $2, the large $10. My conclusion: buying five small packs instead of one large gives me 5g more total content and more calories per gram of weight. I bought mostly smalls, plus one large since they’d run out of smalls.
Out here you start doing this kind of maths. I now know how many calories a gram of oil contains by heart — not that I’d eat it straight.
I found hiker food again but wasn’t convinced. The brands here had about the same calorie-to-weight ratio as my rice, but cost $15. Depending on what it was, some had 400-500 calories per pack — while the one I tried recently had 1300 in the same weight. You really have to check what you’re buying.
I still haven’t worked out how they fit 1300 calories into 130g of mac and cheese. As far as I know, oil has the most calories per gram — around 1000 per 100g — and hiker food isn’t made of oil. I read the ingredients and still couldn’t crack it. A mystery I’ll solve eventually.
No tortillas here. Hoping to find some tomorrow — they were sold out. After shopping I was ready to walk, but it was already 5:30pm. Got talking to someone and stayed longer. But on the upside: my tent stakes are back. Someone found them and brought them to me. Very kind. And while I was away during the day, the wind had shaken my tent quite a bit. Someone nearby saw it happening and stacked rocks on the guy lines to hold it down. Also very kind.
That person and I talked for a while. He’s out here with his father. The story goes: his father — around 50 — sent him a message out of nowhere saying he was probably the only one who’d be up for an adventure like this and asking if he wanted to come. The son said yes. And here they are. Not typical thru-hikers. My tent is already on the generous side by trail standards, but compared to theirs it’s ultralight. They bought a large two-person tent on Amazon. Both tents are smaller than mine, less weather-resistant, and heavier.
I bought enough food for about five days but decided to stay another night. With my stakes back I pitched the tent properly. The other reason to stay: there’s a place here that does a kind of Mexican sandwich. I ordered two — one for breakfast, one for lunch — pickup at 7am tomorrow. A welcome change, especially since there were no oats to be found. I bought instant mashed potato instead. Not as good as oats, but it’ll work.
One more new thing: canned chicken. I’ve noticed I’m probably not getting enough protein for what I’m doing. Apparently PCT hikers should be taking in around 200g of protein a day. I’m fairly sure I’m not. Mixing chicken into my meals is a way to add more. I haven’t found protein powder yet, which was my original idea.
I’ve also been thinking about solar panels. The ones I want — Sun Slice — are out of stock. Everything I can find here is too heavy, the kind you prop up rather than carry.
Talked to a lot of people today. Met some new faces, which was good. Now I’m in the tent, going to sleep soon. Up early tomorrow — 7am sandwiches. NoPlans is the motto, but I’ve been sitting around long enough. Time to move.