The Gourmet Backpacking Trip

Backpacking has been something on my bucket list and my friends agreed to take me during the July 4 weekend. In preparation for it, we did a test run this weekend in the High Sierra. We began in the Mokelumne Wilderness on Saturday and made our way through Thornburg Canyon into the town of Markleeville on Sunday. My fitbit measured about 15 miles of hiking, but we hiked to an elevation of approximately 8500 feet. I don’t have an exact weight of my backpack, but I would estimate it to have been about 28-30 lbs.

 The highlights of the trip for me were the company, the breathtaking views, counting over 50 varieties of wildflowers, seeing a golden bear, having a gourmet picnic lunch, cooking over a campfire, and watching the bright stars shining at night.

 Since this was a short trip, we were able to eat a lot of fresh food. Since I was assigned to prepare one lunch, I thought it would be fun to make it gourmet. I planned a French themed lunch. I picked up a couple of quiche from Starter Bakery in Oakland and prepared ingredients for a niçoise salad.  

 After enduring multiple mosquito bites, my first ever bee sting, soreness, muscle ache, and some inflammation, I successfully made it through the test run. There were some lessons learned that will likely be applied to the July 4 weekend trip. One of which is that camp food probably won’t be as nice next time around.