From her pack, I saw her remove a small bottle of liquid.
"What's that", I asked, "hand sanitizer?"
"Oh this", she replied, "no...this is Everclear, the hikers best friend".
And, as I watched in amusement, she produced two small cups, and deftly mixed Everclear, water and powdered Gatorade. Then she handed me a cup. I was embarrassed because all that I could offer in return was a small bag of pistachios in their shells.
As I ate the pistachios with their strong taste of the earth and their faint metallic taste that the sweet and strong Everclear washed away, leaving only the earth taste and the succulent texture, and as I ate the pistachios from each shell and washed them down with the crisp taste of the Everclear, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans".
...Excerpted from "The Alcoholic Backpacker" by W. Thee...Copyright 2004
My ferry doesn't leave until, but I'm up before 6:00AM anyway. Everything is packed up and ready to go...so I head over to the Starbucks just down the street for morning coffee. Thus fueled for the day, I head for the dock. I park across the street and then, after a brief wait in line, they take my pack and I'm climbing aboard.
Lake Chelan is over fifty miles long with the town of Chelan the southern anchor, and the tiny town of Stehekin at the northern end. It's a pleasant ride through the huge gorge that the lake follows. The trip takes a little under three hours...so...around 11:15AM, my boat arrives at Stehekin in North Cascades National Park.
I pick up my pack and head for the Visitor's Center where I am issued a "Back Country Permit" allowing free camping anywhere in the Park. My first stop is the "purple Point Campground" about a mile or so down the small dirt road from the dock.
It looks like every campsite is open, so I pick the one with the nicest view...looking north and west at a "notch" in one of the Cascade ranges...very majestic. Once I unload my pack and set up camp, I hike around the lake for a few hours, revisit the Visitor's Center, and check out the Lodge (with a small restaurant and a General Store). To keep my "packweight" down, I have not packed any "refreshments", so I buy a nice bottle of local red wine and head back to camp.
Now...all of my research and work over the winter months bear fruit. I have endeavored to ensure that I not only have the "right" equipment for this trip, but also the "best" equipment. Now that philosophy pays off because, even here in the wild, I've got everything that I need. My tent is light-weight, but built like a tank...no leaks there. My cooking equipment is equally lightweight and very efficient as well. During my research, I found a company out of Austin, Texas called "Packit Gourmet"...as the name implies, they make backpacking meals that are a "cut above" the normal freeze-dried "glop". So...for dinner, I purify two cups of water using my "Steripen", heat it to boiling on my "MSR Pocket Rocket" burner and...voila...I soon have a huge bowl of "Texas State Fair Chili"....and it's good, really good. Then, for dessert, a cup of cold water and...voila...Chocolate Mousse for dessert. Who said that you can't eat well "in the wild"?
After dinner, I enjoy the rest of my wine as I watch the sun set over the Cascades...beautiful. The perfect end to a great day. Then...into my tent, slide into my sleeping bag, fluff up my collapsible pillow...asleep like a baby...out in the woods.
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