Lucky Charms and Going Hungry in the UP

When thinking of a time in my life when food took on an almost spiritual-like quality, one instance comes to mind. It happened a couple of years ago on a week long backpacking trip to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the upper peninsula of Michigan. There's a fantastic hiking trail that runs along the lake from Munising to Grand Marais and at one point or another I've hiked it during all four of the seasons.

My number one problem as a backpacker is overpacking and a 40 pound pack usually isn't a surprise to my shoulders. I had already hiked this trail at least twice, and decided that this time I was going to attempt the trip in an ultralight fashion. So where did I decide to cut weight? My food supply. My daily food allotment was as follows - breakfast: 2 packs instant oatmeal and a fruit leather, lunch: 1 cliff bar and 1 vegetarian beef jerky, dinner: a pack of ramen noodles. This is all I packed for the 8 day trip. I didn't even have gatorade or electrolyte powder for my water! I had no extra food for snacks or emergencies.

Pictured rocks is definitely not even terrain, and about a half a day into the trip I knew I had made a dire mistake. Unfortunately the longer we hiked the farther we got away from Munising and our food source. I remember it got to the point where I would make my ramen noodle dinner at night first eating the noodles plain, and then adding the seasoning packet to the leftover water in my pot and trying to drink it as a stew so I felt I was getting a double portion! It is hard to trick the stomach. I also remember dreaming about Lucky Charms. It was the one thing I seemed to be craving that whole trip. I recall setting up camp, dropping off my pack, and heading for Grand Marais as soon as we got within a reasonable walking distance (I'm thinking it was about 4 miles into town from where we were). Never was I more thrilled then that day when I walked into the tiny Grand Marais general store and bought my milk and Lucky Charms. Spiritual? I don't know. But I do know that in the future I'd rather carry the extra weight of food on my back than starve away in the woods!