OK, thanks again for the suggestions for my trip! I love the 'stew in a jar' idea. Unfortunately, I will always be carrying my pack -- the only time we lose the packs is for the last 1000 vertical feet toward the summit -- so I'd have to carry the water-weight as well, unless I soaked it overnight and had the stew for breakfast. Still, this idea sounds so good, I might not mind carrying the extra water, especially if it's toward the end of the trip when the dry food could get old. As for carrying fat, as much as I loooooove the idea of just bringing a big pack of butter to slather on everything, even though this trip is at altitude, I'm expecting temps of at least 70 during the day, so probably not the best idea. I like the dates too, although they are sooooo sweet I can only eat 1 or 2 at a time. So here's my proposed shopping list. This is for about 8 1/2 days on the trail. Any input would be most welcome: 2 lb jerky (beef/turkey) 1 lb dried apricots 1/2 lb banana chips 1 pack dates 1 pack freeze-dried veggies 1/2 lb almonds 1/2 lb macadamia nuts 1 small jar (or whatever) nut butter (macadamia, almond) Does this make any sense? Too much? Not enough? I'm really bad at planning this stuff. Thanks for all the help! Irene _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com