Quote:
"... but I enjoy cooking food like pizza and garlic bread in the back country."


In the context of a long-distance hiking thread, FWIW I can't recall ever seeing thru-hikers baking things. I'm not saying that none do, but in two long trails now I've not seen it, and I suspect that if you stay on trail, assuming a long-distance thru-hike of one of the long distance trails, that you'll find that the miles you're cranking out will leave you disinclined to do things like bake bread in camp.

Thru-hikers and their preferences and styles certainly do vary (sometimes by a lot); I don't doubt that some have done this sort of thing, but FWIW it's at best a rare behavior. Less time spent fiddling with meals is more time to do other things at the end of the day.

Rechargeable batteries for streipen: I suggest that you rethink this one too. The recharging units are heavy and require a lot of exposure to sun to do much good (I carried a solar charger on much of the PCT for my smartphone). If you use UV light, better IMO to just buy the batteries in towns or get them in resupply boxes.

Again, I'm speaking in the context of long-distance hiking, and not relatively short trips (few days to a couple of weeks). The dynamics are definitely different.
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Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle