There are likely to be many posts about food.
I have read that backpacking is the best calorie burning activity you can participate in, minute for minute. The part where you are walking with 40-80lbs. on your back. Clearly, my history of backpacking does not involve much in the way of light, or ultra-light. I have interests in that realm of backpacking, but I am not there right now. Even ultra lighters carry packs that weigh say, 30lbs.? So, it is still a high calorie burn situation.
I wouldn't say I eat whatever I want backpacking, but I would say that I eat more high calorie foods like nuts and cheese and am not careful about carb consumption. Also, this does not cause me to gain weight when I am on the trail like it does when I am not.
So, when someone, a friend, a guide, introduces me to a new food that I love, I want to eat it again. Probably when I get home. Not just because I enjoy the food, but also because as I described in my post: Food, gear, and poop, in any order. Repeat., it can transport me back to that hike, in a good way.
Sometimes though, it's more like I can't stop thinking about that food, I like it that much. I just can't shake it. So I do a mock fist shake in frustration while I say the person's name. But I think it's more consternation. I loved hiking with Dave Shaw, so it is surprising that when eating the mint flavored chocolate bar he introduced to me, i can also feel defeated. I mean, it's not like the chocolate won, but my waistline is also not winning.
So here are three chocolate bars that I learned to love, probably instantly on the trail:
2009 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Chocolove Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate.
In my comprehensive chocolate tasting endeavors I have come to know Chocolove as the best value chocolate, best bang for the buck. I love dried cherries and I am pretty sure almonds are my favorite dark chocolate covered nut. Their chocolate is smooth and makes the right sound when you break it. It is well tempered chocolate. At around three dollars for a big bar, it stands with chocolates that can cost 50-100% more and kicks Dandelion's ass every time. But who can eat that chocolate, it's like cacao flavored chalk. But I digress...
2013 Gates of the Arctic National Park
Green & Black's Organice Dark Chocolate infused with peppermint oil
Before I tasted this chocolate I would not have said I like mint flavored anything. Save for a really good mojito at the right time and place. However, I love this chocolate bar. It's just the right amount of mint flavor, never sharp, never overtaken by sweet. Almost refreshing, but not in any way that makes you think toothpaste. I have gone on to greater appreciation of York Peppermint Patties as well. The mint in that candy is sharper and the chocolate less smooth and present, but they will do in a pinch.
2014 Grand Gulch, Cedar Mesa, South East Utah
Equal Exchange Chocolates Organic & Fairly Traded Dark Chocolate Caramel Crunch with Sea Salt
Rebecca brought this on the NOLS alumni trip we participated in last year and I instantly had to keep myself from eating most of her chocolate on the spot. It has the right amount of salt, is silky smooth and the chocolate is rich. It is rich and not cloying like milk chocolate or overly chalky and bitter like the varieties with too much cacao percentage. The caramel is a little burnt, reminding me of Toscanini's Burnt Caramel Ice Cream, perhaps my favorite flavor. The caramel never pushes it over the edge, the chocolate always pulls you back.
Sometimes if it has been too long since I have been on the trail, I'll buy one of these bars of chocolate, make a hot cup of tea and sit in my backyard. I can feel the wind on my face and pierce through my clothes (it is almost always windy where I live) and have the tea help keep me warm. And then I let the chocolate melt in my mouth and the smell and flavor reminds me that I'll get back out, I just have to wait a little while.
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