Camp food has morphed in recent years and I’m amazed at the choices on the market today. Many years ago, my buddy Brad and I, were getting ready for a backwoods breakfast and going through our usual routine. Our small white-gas stove with its missing heat shield, was whining and hissing as we sat and waited for the water to boil. There was a good chance the stove would over-pressurize and blow, so we positioned the release valve away from us, in the event it became a flamethrower.

The stove hissed, the water boiled, coffee was made, and for the first time we had scrambled eggs for breakfast in the mountains. What once looked like yellow cotton candy in a plastic bag was transformed into a thick yellow goo, and because we were sitting on a granite cliff 3,400 feet above sea level, attempting to summit Mt. Madison, with seven emotionally disturbed adolescents in tow; these were the best eggs we’d ever had. That was 1978, and the first time we’d tried this kind of food; the kind where you pour hot water in a bag, shake it over your head, wait two minutes, and eat. It was magic, and from that point forward, we couldn’t get enough of that stuff for a couple reasons; it was easy to make, and it lightened our load, a great plus since weight was one of our biggest challenges.