Comfort From Home: Not every trek has to be painful! In fact, if you are not comfortable trekking on foot or by horse you need to rethink a few things. First, why are you doing it? Is it to test your gear, test yourself or to have fun? In my opinion it should be all three. This is a hobby, and we do it for the love of it and to have fun.
Most people are miserable over one big thing that I have been
hitting on for a long time: they carry too much gear. They spend too much time
packing and unpacking and the loads are heavy. But one thing most people
overlook is to have some small thing that is a comfort of home, something to
savor around the fire or spruce up a cup of coffee on a cold wet night.
For me that “go to” is chocolate! In the colder months you can carry a bit of hard chocolate to melt in your coffee or to break off and savor while riding or sitting by the fire. I have managed to keep chocolate from melting in extreme heat if it is deep in your pannier on a pack horse. Short of that you can carry a small tin with powdered chocolate to mix in your coffee or just with water. Here is a great website on the history of chocolate: Editor’s Note: Click here:
You would be surprised how something so simple can put a nice cap on a miserable day and sends you off to sleep more relaxed! Another thing I have carried is a small tin of hard black licorice to suck on while riding in the heat. It helps stave off your bodies demand for water and passing the tin around unexpectedly to your trekking mates is a nice surprise. You can find what I have used at: thecandylady.com. Every trek you should have something like this or try different things, even the fur trappers in the Rockies got something, if available at the rendezvous and enjoyed it until it was gone. Every trek in the woods should get better for you and more comfortable as you improve your skills.
For those that do Rev War trekking, try carrying some cone sugar for that “go to” treat. I am sure if you are clever enough you could use the cone sugar and water to make a paste to coat some meat for cooking over the fire! Leave the cone sugar nippers at home, use your knife or hawk to break it off. No sense adding that extra weight. You can always chunk it before you leave. Historicenterprises.com has some very accurate cone sugar. See you around a fire or on the trail!
Written by Gerry "Lucky" Messmer. Reprinted with permission from the author.
Code: trk01