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The Great Grand Canyon Excursion 2000 was fantastic for its panoramic

views, the challenge of backpacking for, four days, and the cuisine. The Ridge Walkers divided themselves into two cooking teams. "g" championed Cooking Team A's dinner fare.

RB, Jim and "g" agreed on the following:

They would each be responsible for their own breakfasts. This meant quick meals which required, at the most, boiling water.

Some lunches they would share. Others they would "solo." There would be no cooking.

"g" would be responsible for planning, providing and cooking dinners.

All the meals "g" prepared were tested on his family. There were two indicators used for a "thumbs-up" on a given recipe. First, at least one participant must escape digestive problems. Secondly, the food needed to be appealing to the eye.

Cured/smoked and vacuumed sealed meat and cheese were purchased from Oscar's Smoke House in Warrensburg, NY. They were refrigerated until the day the Ridge Walkers flew to Arizona. They were un-refrigerated for a total of 4 days.

All food (except the meat and cheese) was repackaged in Zip-locked bags and labeled with cooking directions. Shared dinners were packaged in gallon size, Zip-lock bags. "g" packaged his individual food for breakfast, lunch, snacks and Gatorade (powder) in separate Zip-lock bag for each day of hiking.

In the chart on the following page, "g" outlines his 4-Day Menu for The Great Grand Canyon Excursion 2000. The tips below are considerations for the next trip!

Tips from "g"

(1) Too much Gatorade seems to create a constipation problem. I use the powdered Gatorade which comes with its own scooper. I'd recommend 2 (not 3) scoops of powdered Gatorade per quart of water.

(2) Backpacking stores sell plastic squeeze tubes. One end has a screw- on cap for squeezing and dispensing the contents. The other end is open-ended. After filling the tube with its contents from this end, you fold the end and slip a plastic lock across the fold in the tube. The tube works great, but the plastic locks break easily. Carry a spare.

(3) Oatmeal. I love it. But… The instant, flavored seemed to give me digestive problems. I now stick to the instant, regular flavor and add a little brown sugar to the Zip-lock bag. Also, 2 packages of oat meal with some dried fruit cook well in my covered mug.

(4) All three dinners were enough for almost 4 hungry backpackers. Therefore, three of us ate more then we planned and pawned off some of our cooked meal onto Cooking Team B. I'd cut down the quantities a bit… But not by much!