Keto Backpacking Menu
After my trip to The Enchantments and realizing how heavy all my food was, I decided to find something different. In my search I discovered Next Mile Meals, a company that makes keto-specific backpacking meals. These things are incredible, they have the perfect ratio for those trying to adhere to a keto diet, but even for people who are not keto, I find these meals to be eons ahead of all the other backpacking meal options in existence. When you buy most backpacking freeze-dried meals you’re getting super cheap carbohydrates and maybe if you’re lucky a little protein and vegetables. It’s kind of ridiculous how badly the other companies skip on giving you the fuel you really need to endure long efforts under load.
Everytime I’ve eaten a standard dehydrated meal, the experience has been sub-par. My expectations were low, because dehydrated food just sucks when rehydrated, it’s usually not very good. With Next Mile Meals, I was blown away. Holy cow, these are the best tasting, most filling, backpacking meals I’ve ever had. And believe me, I tried every kind when we were looking for a sponsor for the Spartan Agoge (at the time we partnered with Backpacker’s Pantry), so I know what is out there. Next Mile Meals is the best backpacking meal company you can buy your camping meals from. I 100% recommmend it. These were my meals from them along with some other snacks and goodies to get me through the weekend.
Our original plan was to explore the High Divide – Seven Lakes Basin Loop, which offers all kinds of great camping spots along the route. Unfortunately for us, there were only walk-up spots available and as it turns out, those walk-up spots get nabbed the 24-hours prior at the local Ranger Station located in Port Angeles. We were unable to be there a whole 24-hours before our trip, so we missed out on a walk-up reservation for a campsite. Of course, we had a backup plan so we decided that we would explore the Grand Pass Loop located in a different section of the ONP.
The plan called for two nights. We would arrive in Port Angeles on Thursday evening after taking the ferry over from Seattle and driving for a little over an hour and a half from the dock. There we grabbed dinner and found a safe place to park for the night near the Wilderness Information Center. With the comfort of Susan the Subaru, on our side, we were able to get a great nights rest. We slept in our Big Agnes sleeping bags with Q-Core SLX sleep pads with Susan’s back row laid flat, creating the perfect bed platform for car camping. One of the main reasons I bought this Outback was because of this specific “feature.” The ideal amount of roominess for any adventure comes standard.
The next morning we woke up and made our way to the trailhead for Grand Pass Trail which starts at the Obstruction Point parking lot. Since this hike takes place in a National Park, it requires a special entry fee or an America the Beautiful Pass to enter. Once you park and exit the metal enclosure of your car, you step out to a panoramic tundra with rolling peaks and a bright blue sky splashed with brushstrokes of white clouds. It was quite an enchanting site after driving up through the fog and out of the darkness. For the time being, we’d have delightful weather to make our trek to camp.
Speaking of delight, I was overcome with the emotion when I discovered Erinn planned a different route for us to make the trek to Gladys Lake. Instead of taking the standard course via the Grand Pass Trail, she wanted us to take an old use trail known as Lillian Ridge. This old trail acts as a ridge traverse to Moose Mountain leading to a descent that would guide us to our campsite at Gladys Lake.
“You can take this trail much farther than you’d want to take a budding hiker. Turn around while the hike is still fun.”
We did no such thing; we continued where others would typically turn back or find an alternate route. Preferring to stick within her comfort level, Erinn took a lower path across some scree. While the course was inherently more accessible, it was taxing, and it forced her to take more steps than she would have liked. She moved forward one step every three as she carried on while I scrambled my way up and over the ridgeline. The very nature of this scramble had me taking my time and focusing on every movement. With 40lbs of backpacking equipment and gear packed away in my pack, I quickly acknowledged the reality that this might not have been the wisest choice for most to take. Nevertheless, I was confident enough in my skillset to tack this level of difficulty with the added weight.
Slowly and with a controlled effort, I made my way up the wicked traverse. As I neared the highest point, which was no more than 50 feet of ascent from the top, I grabbed onto what seemed like a decent and rather large chunk of shale; it appeared stable. I grabbed hold and started to exert the force necessary to pull myself up to the rockface. Yet as I went to pull myself up, and the entirety of the chunk shifted and pulled away from the face of the mountain. I quickly stopped my movement and regained control via my other three points of contact that secure me safely to the ridgeline. With control reestablished, I took a moment to catch my breath, laugh at the realization that this was my second taste of fear this year, and I was safe. That quick slip reminded me of the genuine dangers I faced as I made this traverse.
