West Coast Trail Preparation

Before I begin, I want to say that this trip is dedicated to Liz Itter and her fight against the cancers that are consuming her energies. Like me, Liz is a runner and member of the Penguin Brigade, but unlike me, Liz is a veteran Penguin. Please visit and support her by clicking on the link in the sidebar.

Does this look like enough food for two for eight days? This picture is the result of our meticulous planning for our upcoming trip to the West Coast Trail. A lot of this food was purchased at a large Chinese Superstore called T&T’s in West Edmonton Mall. We avoided the expensive and relatively low calorie processed freeze-dried stuff like “Mountain House” made especially for backpacking, which you can buy at backpacking specialty stores such as MEC.

It is based on 3000 calories per day for both Marilyn and I. It has lots of weird and wonderful stuff. We are taking dried things like beef and pork jerky, wasabi peas, noodles, high fiber cereal, rice, beans, tuna, granola bars and snacks, dried fruit, cashews, a whole lot of hot pepper spicey stuff, hot chocolate, gnocchi (for the first day), soups, crackers, and of course coffee!

We pre-packaged all the food into distinct and specific meals and numbered the bags for each day’s meals. So there is no guesswork, no eating too little or too much so that we find ourselves short.

The entire food supply for 8 days for 2 people weighs in at 27.5 pounds, which we will distribute between ourselves.

On top of that, we have to add our gear. The final equipment list and weights will be forthcoming in the next few days. We expect Marilyn to carry 30 pounds plus water, and I will carry 40 pounds plus water, although I will probably not go that heavy. And because the food weighs so much, every meal we eat will reduce that weight so it will be easier as we go, even by the next day.

We are starting at the most difficult end of this 75 km long wilderness trek, just when our packs will be heaviest. If you are interested in a description of this trail, you can easily find many descriptions online. Meanwhile you will have to wait for my full report until I return.