August 29, 2006
Big Easy Chair Kit, Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad, Stillwater Sleeping Bag, & Backpacker's Pantry Meals
Accessories
By Megan Michelson
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Big Easy Chair Kit, Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad, Stillwater Sleeping Bag, and Backpacker's Pantry Meals
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After a 13-mile hike into a desolate valley in northern Utah, my feet are starting to blister and my stomach growls like a grizzly bear with a hangover. I want a soft bed and a five-star meal…a bit far-fetched for a remote overnight backpacking trip. Or so I thought.
My nine-person group spreads out on a spacious plot of grass underneath a tumbling, snow-melt-driven waterfall. Behind us towers 13,528-foot Kings Peak, the highest point in Utah, which we will summit in the morning. In front of us lays an expansive, grassy view of the High Uintas Wilderness Area, an untouched region about two hours east of Salt Lake City.
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My first mission is to swap my lightweight trail hikers for a pair of squishy flip-flops. My second task is to pull out Big Agnes's Big Easy Chair Kit with its accompanying Primaloft-filled Insulated Air Core sleeping pad, which weighs a wispy 21 ounces—less than two soda cans. The chair is made from super-durable polyester with fiberglass stays, and it stuffs nicely into a tiny, mesh bag. I blow up my sleeping pad, stuff it into the chair, and—voila!—I have my very own, portable backcountry La-Z-Boy.
Now that I'm settled in and cozy, it's time to address the most pressing issue: my voracious hunger. The menu for tonight? Paella with saffron rice and chicken, pad Thai, and chicken cashew curry, all made by Backpacker's Pantry, a gourmet freeze-dried meal company. (An aside: I've never been a big fan of just-add-water dinners that come in sealed plastic pouches. I'd much rather carry in fresh vegetables and pasta. But, at this point, I was too hungry to care, and besides—the meal options sounded pretty tasty.)
You know that old line about how everything tastes better when you've hauled it in for miles? Well, it's true. We boiled water, poured it into the packaging, and waited several minutes until it was cooked (read: rehydrated). Pad Thai hasn't tasted so good since I was in Chiang Mai. I was full by the time dessert came around, but I sampled a bite of the Backpacker's Pantry dark chocolate cheesecake anyway. It was as rich and dark as the starry, black sky above us.
That night, I curled into my Big Agnes Stillwater sleeping bag—a goose down, three-pound bag with a patented, waterproof, and seamless construction. And, with my sleeping pad slipped inside the bag, I didn't wake up in the middle of the night to find myself five inches off my cushion. In fact, I didn't wake up in the middle of the night at all.
Big Easy Chair Kit, $30; Insulated Air Core sleeping pad, $70; Stillwater sleeping bag, $359; www.bigagnes.com. Backpacker's Pantry meals, $5-$13; www.backpackerspantry.com
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