Food is an important party of any trip and on this trip it was tasty, plenty of it and lovingly prepared. All five of the guides pitched in and helped with the prep. Each days breakfast and dinners staples were packed in a 10 gallon ammo can to keep them dry. Need Day 7 . . . just pull out the Day 7 ammo can and all the fixin’s we in the box!!

First order of business when we pulled in for the night was to was get the ‘booze bag’ in the water for chillin’

. . . and conversely in the morning the gang would wrangle down a ‘ringtail cat’, milk it and have the milk chilled for morning coffee (National Park Service approved!). Coffee was served promptly at 6:30am with a load cry of “Coffee” by whomever was on breakfast duty that morning. It also served as a wake up call for those not already roused!

The kitchen setup. Mats were place under the tables to catch crumbs or anything that dropped off the tables. Pack it in . . . Pack it out!!!

Once the boys had the kitchen set up and we were busy assembling our camps they would take a break, sit on the boats, have a few beers and talk  . . .  about us!!! (Thus our joke on Captain John about Pat pulling women’s underwear out of his dry bag everyday. I think Capt. John saw right through our gag!!!)

Food was cooked over propane or charcoal. These ‘jet engines’ would bring that morning water for coffee up to a boil in a flash!!!

Propane stoves were usually used for cooking breakfast . . .

. . . such as these fried ‘tators Clint was busy cookin’ up!!

Breakfast and dinners were served family style. As soon as everyone had gone through the line once, there was a chance for seconds. ALWAYS plenty of food!!!!

Clint used the flat pans for pancakes . . .

Fred and CJ load up on sausages and melon. Fresh fruit every morning!!!

Becky and pancakes . . .

. . . and sausages and fruit!

Dewey likes to talk to the food when he cooks . . . Clint not so much . . .

. . . and real maple syrup (not from Wisconsin)

emJay and Diana line up . . .

. . . need sustenance for a BIG day of hiking today!

. . . and how would you like your farm fresh, Grade A, X-Large eggs individually prepared?  no powdered eggs on this trip!!!

Usually we had a shore lunch which gave us a chance to get off the raft for a while and walk around. On days when we would be pulled over and hiking over the noon hour, we made a bag lunch in the morning and carried it on board in our ammo cans.

However, on days when we were not hiking over noon hour we pulled in and had a nice freshly prepared salad . . .

. . . and  learned how to make a serving cone out of a large tortilla. A great lunch on a hot day!!!!

Sometimes it was a sandwich buffet . . .

. . . with all the fixin’s.

No one went hungry on this trip!!!

Dewey with his Gilligan’s Skipper hat . . .

. . . and John prepared today’s lunch .  I had heard there was going to be salmon that night . . .

. . . and sure enough there they were

. . . cooked to perfection

Pam and Charlie were first in line tonight!!!

Dewey taking to his fixin’s again!!!

Doesn’t get any better than this, besides the fact you are three days from civilization and in the middle of nowhere . . .

. . . beef stew another tonight!

One night it was ‘Beer, Burgers and Brats’ (bring your own beer) in honor of Wisconsin meat!!!

. . . we definitely did our part

in making sure there were no leftovers.

Where are those brats from . . .

. . . Johnsonville, WISCONSIN!!!!

Hot off the barby. (dessert cooking in the foreground Dutch oven)

Another night is was pasta, with homemade sauce . . .

. . . lots of garlic and feta cheese!!!!

Dewey, Clint John and Zack busy with prep.

We had a couple of Mexican nights starting with chips and salsa . . .

followed by shrimp and  . . .

tilapia tacos!!!

YUMMMM!!

Oh those boys are something. Zack is a gps guru for the state of Utah and has a Asian market down the street from his office. He brought along some ‘preserved silkworms” one of his office mates had bought for the gang . . .

. . . to give them a try.

mmmmmmmmm . . . taste like chicken???

Captain John shows the boys how it is done . . .

Johnny is having second thoughts once he got it in his mouth . . .

Zack . . .

. . . he was happy

So was Clint, who had seconds.

The only rafter to try them was our own, Wisconsin Johnny . . .

. . . not sure he has ever been the same!!!!

Another night we got into camp late and had a great steak fry, by moonlight . . . very romantic

Individual ribeyes prepared over charcoal . . .

. . . rare or medium???

Salad, potatoes, corn, mushrooms, onions and a medium-rare steak. YUMMM! (what no red wine??? actually Diana and John were nice enough to share some of their grape!!)

Oh yeah, one more daily ‘job’ we had was to do our own dishes. Not a big deal. Scrape into a bag and do a three tub scrub and rinse. Done in two shakes. Tonight they even had battery operated lights decorating the dishpans. Everything is air dried. VERY sanitary. No one got sick on this trip!!!

Hey, how about some BB pork riblets tonight . . . start the cooking in beer . . .

. . . add sauce and finish on the barbecue.

Iowas own Pork Queen, emJay, gives her thumbs up as she returns for seconds!!!

Nice . . .

If you didn’t like pork, how about some chicken???

. . . AND there was always dessert. Fresh fruit or more often than not a cake baked in a Dutch oven over charcoal. Here Clint gives a lesson in icing a cake . . .

. . . as the group PATIENTLY stands by.

But how about adding a little Ready Whip from a can. They thought of everything!!! And if that was all too sweet . . .

Wisconsin Johnny passed the chocolate truffles!!! (I don’t know  . . . but I think he still looks a little crazed from the preserved silkworm appetizer night)