Hiker Hunger

There is this unwritten law on the trail that nobody shares food, which makes sense because thru-hikers can't afford the cost or the weight of food to be giving it out. I on the other hand do not abide by this rule as my hiker hunger has yet to set in which could be due to nerves, excitement or the excessive exercise curbing my appetite. I guess it makes me a bit of a trail angle, but I have been giving out snicker bars, Ramen, dried fruit and spice packets because I don't want to carry the extra weight (especially since I have not been consuming it) and I have been doing this free of charge or trade. Although, a few days ago Nobo (slang for North Bounder), Dutch, asked if he could trade me a pop tart for 5 packets of oatmeal. Fair trade. Done. Does this earned me a set of wings and a golden band above my kaput?...I think so :).

The other day, this thru-hiker, we call him, Spice Rack, was making himself some tea to give him that caffeine boost needed to jumpstart his hiker legs.

"Is that a raspberry blend?" I asked

"It's pomegranate...hmmm...I think this is the last bag I have," he lamented.

"Oh, it's ok," I said thinking it was sweet that he would have given me a bag had he had one.

"Oh, I wasn't offering," he laughed.

Then we all laughed, Cunu, Nurse Beka, and Soldier. That made my morning.

At one of the hiker hostels I sat across from Buritto and watched him in awe as he stuffed a meatless sub into his crave cave. I felt like I was watching Natgeo or Discovery, today's show was featuring a snake, only instead of a gazelle it was choking down an enormous sub. The muscles in his neck tightening and relaxing, a continuous eb and flow of bite and swallow without a break for air. Or had he developed a way to breathe through his skin? I did not see his arms drop until the food he cradled in his hands disappeared completely into the abyss of his unhinged jaws.

Another night I spent in a lean-too and over the course of an hour, every time I looked at Nobo, Rambler, he was eating. First a meat and cheese wrap, than a Mountain House meal. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I saw him downing another meat and cheese wrap and then another Mountain House. He would eat the wrap by the fire, both hands cupping the soft protein and fat filled dough, his cheeks full, teeth churning, his eyes darting left and right. He looked like a looked like a skiddish chipmunk guarding his nut.Then he would eat the mountain house meals in the lean-too.

Think of the scene in Nemo where the crab is brought to the surface and all of the seagulls start saying, "Mine, mine, mine." Thru-hikers take food seriously. A thru-hiker is, however, whiling to give advice, support, motrin, duct tape, and rubbing alcohol but with all the calories they are expending any bit of food is as necessary and needed almost as frequently as oxygen.