My 2 cents, it is really a matter of personal taste. In 2002, as very
early risers, no one wanted to heat water for hot cocoa for breakfast (and
we were provided it several times) and we had few gatorade drinkers. But,
we kept EVERYTHING from our base camp commissary as we headed out on the
trail. Then, by our first trial commissary, we had an idea of what we
didn't need (like hot cocoa, gatorade, etc.) and pulled it out. But this
was a tent by tent decision, not a trek decision. Gatorade lovers kept
their gatorade and non-gatorade users either gave it to another group, or
swap-boxed it. In 2004, the cocoa was gone from the menu, but still loads
of gatorade. But this time, we had several youth who ONLY drank gatorade,
so they collected it all for their use. Again, as the personnel changes,
so do the requirements....
The nice thing, most staff camps have a swap box, so you CAN get rid of
stuff on the trail. I, too, am not a proponent of the minimalist packaging
routine. I saw kids jumping up and down on their packs <g> to get the
meals stuffed in. If we had taken the cereal out of the boxes, everyone
would have been eating Lucky Charms dust at the next breakfast. The
packaging provides a BIT of protection from this routine.
As a person who had a bit of "stockpiled caloric reserves" to fall back on,
I had no desire to consume everything provided to me in the meals. I ate
what I wanted, put some aside for later, gave or traded part away, and
swap-boxed the rest. It worked for me.
Gorpmania was a bit disappointing in 2004. The first few meals, it was OK.
After that, we normally swap-boxed most of the tropical gorp. The regular
gorp was a pretty good seller, but the tropical gorp was another
story.....I guess the M&Ms are a real PLUS to weary kids <g>!
Anyhow, as I said, this is only my 2 cents, your mileage may vary. YIS.
Mike ('76, '02, '04).
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Received on Thu Jan 13 09:40:20 2005
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