FOOD
The true wilderness voyager is willing to endure some discomforts on
the trail, to work hard and submit to black flies and other pests, but
as a reward he usually demands satisfying meals. There is, indeed, no
reason for him to deny himself a variety and a plenty, unless his trip
is to extend into months. Weight on the portage trail is always the
consideration that cuts down the ration. Packing on one's back a ration
to be used two or three months hence is discouraging.
I have evolved a two-week food supply for two men, based upon the
United States army ration, varied as the result of my own experiences
have dictated. It offers not only great variety, but is an exceedingly
bountiful ration even for hungry men. Personal taste will suggest some
eliminations or substitutions that may be made without material loss
or change in weight. If there is certainty of catching fish or killing
game, or if opportunity offers for purchasing fresh supplies along
the trail, reductions in quantity may be made accordingly. For each
additional man, or for any period beyond two weeks, a proportionate
increase in quantity may be made.
Bacon, 6 pounds.
Salt fat pork, 2 pounds.
Ham or canned meats, 5 pounds.
"Truegg" (egg powder), 1 pound (equals 4 dozen eggs.)
"Trucream" (milk powder), 1-1/2 pounds.
"Crisco," 3 pounds, (2 cans).
Fresh bread, 2 pounds.
Flour, 12 pounds.
Corn meal (yellow), 1 pound.
Rolled oats, 1 pound.
Rice, 1 pound.
Baking powder, 1/2 pound.
Potatoes (Dehydrated) riced, 2 pounds (equals 14 lbs. fresh potatoes).
Potatoes (Dehydrated) sliced, 1 pound (equals 7 lbs. fresh potatoes).
Carrots (Dehydrated), 1/4 pound (equals 3 lbs. fresh carrots).
Onions (Dehydrated), 1/4 pound (equals 3-3/4 lbs. fresh onions).
Cranberries (Dehydrated), 1/4 pound (equals 2-1/2 qts. fresh fruit).
Beans, 2 pounds.
Green peas (Dehydrated), 1/4 pound (equals 1-1/4 lbs. fresh peas).
Coffee (ground), 2 pounds.
Tea, 1/2 pound.
Cocoa, 1/2 pound.
Sugar (granulated), 5 pounds.
Preserves, 1 pound.
Lemons, 1/2 dozen.
Lime tablets, 1/2 pound.
Prunes (stoned), 1 pound.
Raisins, 1 pound.
Salt, 1 pound.
Pepper, 1/4 ounce.
This gives each man a nominal ration of 14-1/2 pounds a week, or about
two pounds a day. In reality, however, it is more bountiful than the
summer garrison ration and far more liberal than the summer marching
ration of the army. This is brought about by the pretty general
elimination of water, largely through the substitution of dehydrated
vegetables and fruits for fresh and canned goods. The dehydrated
products designated are in every particular equal to fresh products and
far superior to canned goods. Dehydrated vegetables possess all the
qualities, in fact, of fresh vegetables, with only the large percentage
of water removed. Water is introduced restoring them to original form
usually by boiling. No chemical is used as a preservative as is the
case with all dried vegetables put up by foreign manufacturers.
It will be noticed that butter has been omitted and that "Crisco" has
been introduced in the place of lard and to be used in cooking instead
of butter. Crisco is a product of edible vegetable oils. It has the
appearance of lard but can be heated to a much higher temperature
without burning, is fully equal to butter when used as shortening, and
dough bread, fish or other articles of food fried in it will not absorb
it so readily as they will lard, nor will it transmit the flavor of
one food to another. For example, fish may be fried in Crisco, and
dough bread or anything else fried in the same Crisco will have not the
slightest flavor of fish. It will keep fresh and sweet under conditions
that turn lard and butter rancid. Butter quickly becomes strong, and
the heat of the sun keeps it in an oily, unpalatable condition, even
when packed in air-tight tins. The most lavish user of butter will
discover that it is no hardship to go without it when in camp. Crisco,
put up in handy, friction-top cans, can be purchased from nearly any
grocer.
Coffee should be carried in friction-top tins. On extended trips
coffee is too bulky to carry save as a special treat. A pound of tea
will go as far as many pounds of coffee; therefore on trips extending
beyond three or four weeks the proportion of tea should be increased
and that of coffee diminished. On short trips, however, such as we are
discussing, there is no reason and most Americans usually prefer it
even when in camp.
Each article of food should have its individual bag, to fit into one
of the larger waterproof canvas bags described, though the bacon and
fat pork, each piece wrapped in paraffin (waxed) paper, may be packed
in one bag. Paraffin paper will protect other packages in the bag from
grease. Several articles of small bulk and weight such as dehydrated
carrots, onions, cranberries and green peas each in its original
package or a small muslin bag suitable in size may be carried in a
single balloon silk bag. The small bags containing such articles as are
not in daily and frequent use should be stowed in the bottoms of the
canvas bags, while those in constant demand should be at the top where
they can be had without unpacking the entire bag. Every package or bag
should be plainly labeled with the nature of its contents. In labeling
them use ink, as pencil marks are too easily obliterated. Where a party
is composed of a sufficient number of people to make it worth while the
party ration for each day may be weighed out and packed in a separate
receptacle, thus making seven food packages for each week. This,
however, would be obviously unpractical where there are less than eight
or ten members of the party.
No glass or crockeryware should be used, not only because of its
liability to break, but because of its unnecessary weight.
A good way to carry the tin of baking powder is to sink it into the
sack of flour. The flour will protect it and preclude the possibility
of the cover coming off and the contents spilling out. Do not carry
prepared or self-raising flour on the trail. For many reasons it is
unpractical for trail use, though perhaps most excellent in the
kitchen at home.
Throughout I have accentuated the advisability of waterproof covers for
everything. Every ounce of water absorbed by tent, bags, or package
covers, adds to the tedium of the trail by so much unnecessary weight.
When flour carried in an ordinary sack Is exposed to rain a paste
will form next the cloth, and presently harden into a crust that will
protect the bulk of flour from injury. But the flour used up in the
process of crust forming is a decided waste, and the paste, retaining a
degree of moisture, increases weight.
I have suggested balloon silk for the small food bags to fit into the
larger waterproofed canvas bags, not only because it does not absorb
moisture, but because there will be no possibility of the contents
sifting through the cloth. If these or the cloth from which to make
them cannot be readily obtained, closely woven muslin will do.
Should the canoeist desire to make his own bags and should he not find
it convenient to purchase waterproofed canvas, the ordinary canvas
which he will use may be waterproofed by the following process:
In two gallons of boiling water dissolve three and one-half ounces of
alum. Rain water is best, though any soft water will do; but it _must
be soft water_ to obtain the best results. In another vessel dissolve
four ounces of sugar of lead in two gallons of soft water. Unite the
solutions when they have cleared by pouring into another vessel No. 1
first, then No. 2. Let the solution stand over night, decant it into
a tub, free of any sediment that may have settled, and it is ready
for the canvas. The cloth should be put into the solution, thoroughly
saturated with it and then lightly wrung out, and hung up to dry. This
treatment will render canvas to a considerable extent, though not
completely, waterproof.
Muslin for the smaller food bags may be waterproofed by painting it
with a saturate solution of turpentine and paraffin.
Canned goods should be packed snugly in canvas bags, with cans on end,
that the sides, not the corners or edges, will rest against the back in
portaging.
Camp chests in which to store food or other articles are carried by
some canoeists, but they add considerable weight to the outfit. The
best and most serviceable camp chest is one of indestructible fiber.
One with an inside measurement of 18 × 24 × 12 inches weighs twenty
pounds.