Now is the heart of winter. We are snowed in. The horses plow through three feet of snow, or remain confined to their trenches and packed trails. More and more time is spent within the comfort of their sheds. The days of running free and wild have been snowed over for a while. Their winter has begun; they slow down and retreat in turn, accepting the powerful confines of the season.With all this snow, it is challenging, perhaps unnatural, for me to turn my mind back to summer, back to warmer days, green grass, and open mountain passes. But reminiscence of summer and the ensuing pack trips is both a fond memory and a positive aspiration.
So, return with me, or look ahead, now to the high mountain, back country horse pack trip. We’re out there with our horses; the horses are hobbled or picketed and contentedly grazing. Camp is set, ready for a comfortable night stay. The saddles are covered, a small camp fire is built, and water is hauled from the creek. Now, we turn our attention to feeding ourselves, to the camp meals and menus.
I’d like to share some our simple menus that we’ve served for guests on pack trips, or made just for ourselves when out at camp.
My rule of thumb is to keep food as simple as possible, but make sure we have plenty of it. Balanced meals, nutrition, liquid intake, simplicity of preparation, storing foods, keeping foods fresh – all of these are taken into consideration. Most important, we want a meal that tastes good. The point of the meal is to nourish and satisfy both body and soul.
Our outfitting business has chosen not to cater to those requiring four-star, gourmet meals. We’re wilderness outfitters. We ride horses, sleep in tents, and get dirty. Save the fanciest meals for back home or in some resort where someone else is doing the dishes. As long it is just the three of us doing the work together as a team, there are some things for which I draw the line. Preparing a meal that would require me to stay back at camp, spend my day cooking instead of being out there riding, is not an option. Me, I’d rather ride. And even after a long hard day in the saddle, I can pretty well guarantee a good, hearty campfire cooked meal that has yet to leave a guest dissatisfied.
Keeping it simple for me means a one-pot meal whenever possible. It means preparing a good deal of food ahead of time at home – probably not complete meals that have been cooked and frozen, but at least side dishes, accompaniments, or the better part of the preparations. You can scramble and season your eggs, chop your veggies, and grate your cheese - all well ahead of time, then store in a ziplock bag and freeze. All of this not only saves on cooking, but on clean up.
Keeping it simple means a good, hearty camp fare, and plenty of it. No one should go hungry. And keeping it simple means allowing yourself time to enjoy the company, the horses, the view, and the mountains. That, my friends, is why we’re out there.
Prepare at home well in advance. Make your menu. Make your list of ingredients. Get your ingredients together in the most efficient packaging. Freeze foods well in advance so that they remain frozen for longer.
Practice at home first. If you’re planning on using a camp stove, become familiar with its set up and operations. If it’s your first time cooking over a wood fire and hot coals, not charcoal briquettes (unless, of course, you choose to pack in a bag of briquettes, too?), build a fire pit in your back yard, or visit a designated camp site first to learn the ropes. Burnt food, or food left raw or doughy, is a bummer when you’re down right starved. If you’re planning on using a dutch oven, try it at home first. Learning when you’re tired and hungry is not recommended.
A few things I keep in mind when planning a menu:
1. Simplicity. I can’t state this one enough.
2. Variety and good taste. Might as well enjoy it, and we do.
3. Nutrition. The better you eat, the better you feel, and that is of upmost importance when your body is working as hard as it is packing in the high country. Consider well balanced, complete meals, with adequate fruits and vegetables, not just meat and potatoes. This is not the time and place to diet, though be sure you know any specific dietary needs or preferences for all folks you’ll be cooking for.
4. Hydration. This is a factor, perhaps more so in the high country, but for any intense physical activity, which horse camping is. Encourage beverages at every meal, and make sure there is always fresh, clean drinking water available to refill a cup or water bottle.
5. Quantity. Not only considering the quantity of people you’ll be cooking for, but making sure there is enough for all. Consider the caloric intake. Better to have to deal with left-overs and table scraps than to make anyone go hungry out there. Snack. Always have food available, be it at camp, or on the trail in your saddle bags, horn bags, or pockets.
6. Time. How long will you be out? How many days and how many meals will you need to plan? How long will you be able to safely provide fresh and frozen foods, and at what point would you be safer relying on canned, dehydrated or preserved?
When I am horse camping alone, my hands are full with setting up camp, caring for the horses, and riding all day long. For practical reasons, I keep the food as simple as possible. I have resorted to those instant “backpacker” meals in a bag where all I had to do was add hot water and wait. The packages were designed for two persons. I can eat the better part of the whole thing. No way would one of those have been enough for two persons. Adequate caloric intake is important. If there is one thing I need to work on for solitary eating habits, it’s trying to make sure I get enough.
When it is just our family of three I am cooking for at horse camp, I’m willing and able to take a little more time for preparing meals, and I am far better at allowing myself more time to sit down to enjoy the meal. We’ll sit around the camp fire long after our plates have been scraped clean, just enjoying the mountain and each others company.
When I am cooking for a group, I spend more time preparing, and less time kicking back. Cooking over the fire, which is the center of attention to any camp, I can still manage to enjoy the stories and conversations just the same. However, with a group, somehow, it always ends up being more prep, more cooking, more clean-up, more dishes, and just plain more work. Unless you have (or are) a designated camp cook who remains back at camp cooking, cleaning and tending to any stock left behind, remember my advice from the last post: If you are camping with a group, share the load. Enjoy it all together.
Here is a sample menu for a five day pack trip.
Day 1
Breakfast: Not provided
Lunch: To be prepared and packed at the Ranch before saddling up and heading out. Set out all the fixings for beef and bean burritos. Each person can make their own, wrap them up well in foil and pack them in a paper sack, along with a few homemade cookies and fresh fruit. Lunches will be packed on each individual’s riding horse.
Dinner: Cream of broccoli cheddar soup (the packaged soups made by Bear Creek are my favorites), steaks cooked over the fire, baked potatoes (pre-cooked, warmed in foil in hot coals), Caesar salad and fresh bread (made ahead of time, wrapped in foil and gently warmed over the coals). Chocolate cake (made ahead of time at home) for dessert.
Day 2
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with ham and cheddar cheese (eggs can be stored scrambled, seasoned and frozen in ziplock bags, or carefully pack cardboard cartons and bring along the real thing), cinnamon rolls (made ahead, wrapped in foil, and gently warmed in a dutch oven or over hot coals), fresh melon.
Lunch: To be prepared and packed at base camp for consumption during the days ride. Sandwiches and snacks may include: pb&j, lunch meat or salami, jerky, cheese, crackers, fruit, cookies, chocolates.
Dinner: Black bean soup, chicken fajitas with fresh veggies (chopped and marinated back home), tortillas and/or cornbread (baked ahead). Peach cobbler or blueberry crisp (made with canned fruit and baked in a dutch oven at camp) for dessert.
Day 3
Breakfast: Green chili stew (made ahead and frozen), fried eggs, tortillas, canned fruit.
Lunch: To be prepared and packed at base camp for consumption during the days ride. Sandwiches and snacks may include: pb&j, lunch meat or salami, jerky, cheese, crackers, fruit, cookies, chocolates.
Dinner: Minestrone soup, Buffalo Burgers with all the fixings, potato chips, salad. Cheesecake w/fruit topping for dessert (made at camp with an instant boxed mix and canned fruit).
Day 4
Breakfast: Veggie and cheese omelet, spice cake (made ahead of time), bacon, canned fruit.
Lunch: To be prepared and packed at base camp for consumption during the days ride. Sandwiches and snacks may include: pb&j, lunch meat or salami, jerky, cheese, crackers, fruit, cookies, chocolates.
Dinner: Split pea soup, BBQ shredded pork (made ahead and frozen), cole slaw (chopped and prepared at camp), rolls (made ahead, wrapped in foil, and carefully warmed over hot coals. Blond brownies and bourbon balls (both made ahead) for dessert.
Day 5
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, sausage gravy (easy to make at camp, though I have also made ahead and brought frozen), biscuits (the canned ones don’t do well in elevation, but any instant mix baked in a dutch over is a good bet), canned fruit.
Lunch: To be prepared and packed at camp for consumption during the trip back to the Ranch. Sandwiches and snacks may include: pb&j, lunch meat or salami, jerky, cheese, crackers, fruit, cookies, chocolates.
In addition/all days
Beverages: At each meal at camp, I boil up a pot of cowboy coffee and have a pot of water on for anyone wanting hot chocolate or tea. I also put out fixings for tang, Gatorade and/or lemonade. A little flavor to the water may encourage folks (especially kids) to drink more.
Snacks: I like to have a grab bag (usually a large plastic container) available for each person able to dig into at will in order to refill their pockets and saddle bags or munch on while at camp, which includes: crackers with cheese, trail mix, individually wrapped chocolates, jerky, dried fruit, fresh fruit, granola bars, hard candies, and my personal favorites, smokehouse almonds and peanut M&Ms.
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