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Thursday, January 13, 2005
I am normally a man who very carefully and precisely plans for trips. I know what I need and in what order it needs to be packed. That doesn't mean I can't pack in a hurry when I need to. So when my friend Matt called on Sunday and asked if I wanted to go climbing, in Canada, for two days, I said I would be at his house in an hour. It's almost instinctual now, as I move through the house gathering clothing and gear. Big orange duffel bag, gloves, socks, fleece, long underwear, jackets. I already have most of my climbing gear packed from climbing in Stillwater, MN that morning. Double check crampons, ice screws, ropes, leashes, slings, helmet. I keep a Rubbermaid container with my spare carabiners, chemical handwarmers, and rock gear if I need it. Add tea bags, thermos, Nalgene bottles, Cytomax and Endurox. Toss everything in the back of the wagon, grab the snowshoes and a pillow for a little bit of luxury and I'm off. So you must know what's coming. I've done this short-notice-leave-for-a-week thing so many times I was due to forget something critical. Just south of Grand Marais as we were waiting for a semi to be pulled out of the ditch (weather and roads were terrible, perfect for ice climbing) I remembered my bag of Clif Bars and Gu; still sitting on the kitchen counter. Matt was out of energy gels too but since I usually bring more than needed thought he was covered. So into the Grand Marais SuperAmerica for some gas station power food it was. We've all bonked on a long ride and seen a 7-11 shining like an oasis in the distance. We buy a doughnut, some peanut M&M's and we can make it home. This was a little more serious than that however. I needed enough food and calories to keep me going for 12 hours of hard activity in seriously cold weather. The gas station had some Powerbars and some other sort-of energy foods like SlimFast Bars and Atkins Bars but I decided to skip the traditional nourishments for a strict diet of junk food. Nature Valley chewy granola bars, cheese and pretzel Combos (240 calories!), spicy beef and jalapeno cheese sticks (in hindsight this one was a poor choice), Corn Nuts, 8 cans of Red Bull, and Hostess Ding-Dongs to top it off. I had enough sugar and preservatives to put an eight year old into a coma. The trip went well, the climbing was good, and I thoroughly enjoyed pulling Ding-Dongs out of my pack in front of a couple miserably cold Canadians breaking off chunks of Clif Bar with their teeth at the base of a climb. Oh yeah, they were jealous. All the junk food worked well enough except the beef sticks and jalapeno cheese which it turned out I wasn't supposed to bring across the border anyway. In either direction. Silly mad cow scare... -Pierce Posted by Pierce : 3:54 PM 0 comments | permalink  |
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