Me Want Food

Its official. My summer appetite has nearly reached maximum capacity.

Turns out I'm really into food. Lots of food. I don't think that I have technically reached freakshow levels of consumption yet, but my current fueling process does involve ingesting probably two to three times my normal level of daily rations, which is apparently essential for continuous mountain walking and proper brain fuctioning.

I once worked with this terrible guy from Texas. This was years ago on the Glacier Amphibian study. Dude referred to calories as energy. Exclusively. Like, you couldn't get him to just freaking say calorie. It was only one of his many, many infuriating behaviors and character flaws. Especially when he said it while waving around the packet of dry ramen he was shoving into his face. Or when he'd pull a bottle of hot sauce out of a makeshift holster on his hip. Or when he'd bring a bag of canned goods into the back country (and forget a can-opener) because that lingering pineapple or mushroom water contained the vital "energy you need."

Still, the dastardly Texan had a point. Not about the mushroom water. That is ridiculous.
But, out here, calories are our friends. To demonstrate this fact, I bring you a random day-in-the-life menu from a recent trip:

(22 mile day)
First breakfast:
coffee
spicy V-8
two toast
two eggs
fresh cherries

Second breakfast (in car on way to trail head):
one toast with peanut butter and jelly
banana
plum
tea

Elevensies:
crackers
trail mix
homemade bar

Lunch:
one whole wheat wrap with chevre, lettuce, tomato, avocado
one bagel with pb&j

Afternoon snack:
apple
remaining crackers
trail mix
fruit leather

Dinner:
three bowls of oily pesto pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and veggies

Dessert:
chocolate covered ginger

I am actually rubbing my belly as I write this. This morning I woke up at 7:00, famished, and proceeded to shove some cold stale bread in my mouth before going back to bed. Life is good.