Showing posts with label Long Trail thru-hike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Long Trail thru-hike. Show all posts

Monday, August 12, 2013

What (not) to Eat

Time to start thinking about the logistics. What am I going to EAT?


Generally, I try to eat high-protein, low-fat and relatively-low-carb. I did the Dukan Diet for a while, and certainly lost weight. However, the almost-no-carb aspect of the Dukan turned out not to work so well for distance running -- I’d flop out, cranky and dizzy, after only about 6 miles. So for the LT I’ll need to just eat. On the C2C, my sis and I ate every 2-4 hours. With intense hiking, that’s probably a refill every ~1,200 calories?

At first, I thought I wouldn’t take a stove – I’m notoriously rubbish at cooking (my pal LJF, correctly, says I’m the only person who can screw up pasta) and I don’t want to carry anything unnecessary. Here are foods I’m thinking of taking that don’t need cooking (or a can opener):

1)      Met-RX bars


2)      Cabot Extra Light Sharp Cheddar (well, any kind of cheese)


3)      Jerky



4)      Peanut Butter



5)      Tortillas (wheat)



6)      Various Nuts


7)      Some kind of flapjacky delight
ideally, freshly baked by an Enid Blytonesque farmer whose property I happen across


8)      For the peaks: special motivational sugar-treats from my dear mum: Kendal mint cake and Fruit&Nut (on the C2C, this got me back on my feet after a 20-odd mile day through deep snow).

Sorry America, when it comes to choc you are no superpower. 


Then a friend mentioned that, with a stove, I could make oatmeal. In a situation where I’m denying myself almost every other creature comfort – electricity, plumbing, marimba, drumkit, the Internet, laundry facilities – the difference between cosy oats and cold slimy PB-on-cheese could make all the difference.


Potential stove-foods:

1)      Instant Oatmeal



2)      Ramen

already feeling pretty bored just looking at this.


3)      Help me out, internet pals. That’s all I got. [comment below, email suggestions using the "contact" form to the right, or direct to portablepercussionist@gmail.com].

Friday, August 9, 2013

The Portable Percussionist: Long Trail concert tour

Announcing…..

The Portable Percussionist: Long Trail concert tour




What? This September/early October, I’m going to be thru-hiking the Long Trail --272 miles running the length of Vermont – from the Canadian border down to Massachusetts. Along the way, I’ll stop off and give solo concerts/clinics, for “portable” percussion. That means found objects, bits of wood, stones, ceramic flowerpots, etc. I’ll be playing some pieces from the Frog Peak ‘Rock Music’ collection (you can guess the instrumentation), Rzewski’s ‘To The Earth’, and first performances of works by Jacob Mashak and Dennis Báthory-Kitsz. The concert schedule will be announced very soon (I’m still looking for a few venues/schools/barns/houses/galleries to play in Central and Southern Vermont), and each day I’ll share up to 272 words about the project. There’s a lot to plan, from scheduling to repertoire to sleeping options to percussion mallets to food to blister control.

Why? Because I love music and I love hiking. Because any kind of adventure is good. Because the Vermont winter is around the corner, and spending September almost entirely outdoors will be good for my muscles, head and heart. Because (thanks to a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation), I can help bring some brand-new music into the world, while seeing things I’ve never seen before.


How? Have you gone completely mad? On balance, I don’t think a thru-hike is intrinsically more dangerous than a regular road commute. I’ve already solo-hiked two of the LT’s 12 divisions, and last year I thru-hiked the UK’s Coast-to-Coast trail. I’m planning and prepping the Long Trail tour carefully, and hope to have friends join me for sections of the hike. 


Vermont Community Foundation