Chad Sebring is the news editor at The Times-Tribune. He has been a journalist for roughly 20 years, having joined The Scranton Times in 1999. He has won several state and national awards for headline writing, design and photography. Chad lives in Clarks Summit with his beautiful daughter, Sophie. Contact: csebring@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x3486; @chadsebring
For awhile now, I’ve had friends tell me I can eat well when I’m on backpacking trips. Invariably, those suggestions are filed in my “whatever” basket. It’s not that I don’t believe them, it’s that I don’t care. Sorry. That might even upset some foodies who stumble across this column hoping I was going to write about backpacking gourmet. I’m not.
My thoughts on backpacking food are simple. I understand I need to take food with me. That’s pretty much where the trail ends. As blasphemous as it might be these days when you can seemingly find a great meal anywhere, food doesn’t pop my tent. I mean, I like when it tastes great, and I can appreciate the art of someone who really understands how to prepare food. It’s just not my thing, never been my thing, and at this point, it’s probably never gonna be my thing.
To me, going out to dinner is nothing more than forced sitting with the added benefit of free bread and fancy butter.
So this weekend I’m headed into the woods to hike. Yes, I’m bringing food and yes, it’s probably going to turn your stomach.
Here’s a brief lineup of the cuisine I have planned.
1. Ramen, lots of ramen. If I feel adventurous, I’m going to sprinkle in a Slim Jim and maybe some instant potatoes.
2. Plain bagels. This is where I let my inner chef shine. I’m likely going to be making sandwiches out of either bagged pepperoni or salami. If I’m lucky, I’ll have some Slim Jims left over that I can mash and smear onto the bagel for added spice. It’s entirely possible I’ll be dipping said sandwiches in hot sauce.
3. Trail mix.
Let’s see … yep, that’s about it. The added bonus of this diet is I’m pretty sure when I find Bigfoot, not even he is going to want my food. That’s good, it will leave us more time to chat.
Do you have better recipes? I doubt it, but if you do, send them along and I’ll give them a whirl and publish them so others can bask in your culinary glory.
csebring@timesshamrock.com
Peace!