Camping food suggestion help needed

[p40whk]

We will be driving out to Utah to spend 2 weeks in Escalante, Bryce and Zion and are camping for the duration. We are trying to pre-plan all of our meals and make them up ahead of time, freeze them and pull them out and cook when ready.

Our plan is to use many of the recipes on the Reynolds Wrap website for making foil meal packets. Make a paket for each night then freeze them. My concern is keeping them cold enough for the duration. All the meals will be kept in a 5 day cooler and we plan to fill it with regular and Dry Ice at the start of the trip. The frozen food packs should thaw gradually over the first week but I'm concerned about the second week.

We've done a week of camping before without a problem but not two weeks in August in Southern Utah! Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

I'm also looking for a good roadside fruit/vegetable stand in Green River Utah that we can stop on our way in to pick up some melons. I was there in 1992 for a mountain biking trip and still remember how great the melon's were there. If anyone knows of a good spot to stop and could tell me what street it's on I would appreciate it.

[middlefork]

I would reccomend two coolers. One for the first week and one for the second. On the second one freeze everything and put some dry ice in it. Then seal it with duct tape. Keep a wet towel over it and out of the sun as much as possible and you should be good to go.

The secret is to not open the second cooler at all the first week.

[DOSS]

I would suggest for your Ice not to use Bags of ice.. Get some 2 liter bottles and fill them with water and freeze them to go with everything (that way when they melt the water doesn't get into everything). I second the 2 coolers Idea.. Durring the day put all of your sleeping bags etc on top of the coolers instead of a wet towel to help keep them cool as well (more insulation)... If you are having cold drinks a small 3rd cooler would be best for those as it is something you get into often.. the less often you get into your cooler the colder it will stay for longer.

[Scott Card]

Dig a hole and bury the second cooler. I haven't tried it but I think it would work well. The surrounding temperature below ground level would be much cooler than the air temps. Dig the hole in the shade. If you don't want to cover the whole thing up then bury it part way and cover with sleeping bags. A wet towel in this temperature (here in Utah) would dry out in about 30 minutes and be of little value. Just an idea... anyone tried it?

[DOSS]

I buried a cooler once.. it didn't make enough difference for me to make up for the extra labor of digging and putting the area back so you couldn't tell someone buried a cooler there :)

[Scott Card]

I'm just thinking out loud here but when you dig in the sand 6 inches or so the temperature is significantly cooler. So having buried a cooler didn't help? Huh. I would think that a cooler with dry ice and/or regular ice, sealed and buried, would last much longer under ground than on top with air temps in the 90's to 100's. This idea in not new or original but I was just playing of an old pioneer trick of buring ice, root cellers, etc.

[DOSS]

I'm just thinking out loud here but when you dig in the sand 6 inches or so the temperature is significantly cooler. So having buried a cooler didn't help? Huh. I would think that a cooler with dry ice and/or regular ice, sealed and buried, would last much longer under ground than on top with air temps in the 90's to 100's. This idea in not new or original but I was just playing of an old pioneer trick of buring ice, root cellers, etc.

ohh it helped but just not enough to make it worth the effort.. durring the day I usually have about 4 sleeping bags and pads on top of it so it had tons of insulation.. the difference between my normal 4 sleeping bags and burying it wasn't enough when I would rather spend that time effort hiking :)

[p40whk]

We were going to have one cooler for food and the other for drink but I like the idea of having a food cooler for each week, dy-icing them and taping the second cooler shut. We're staying in Bryce and Zion so I doubt digging a hole is an option although the Virgin River is pretty cold!

[Shan]

Could some of the last meals of the trip be like backpacking meals? Where no refrigeration is needed?
I am not sure I'd rely on my cooler lasting through week 1 and 2. I was just down there and my cooler did get hot, especially if it's left in a car to roast.

I recall a melon stand just off the highway at a rest stop. I think they are aplenty there.

[mtthwlw]

Could some of the last meals of the trip be like backpacking meals? Where no refrigeration is needed?
I am not sure I'd rely on my cooler lasting through week 1 and 2. I was just down there and my cooler did get hot, especially if it's left in a car to roast.

I recall a melon stand just off the highway at a rest stop. I think they are aplenty there.

For backpacking meals, try this site:
http://www.trailcooking.com/taxonomy/term/7%2B8

[trackrunner]

sounds like you plan on car camping. why not use the local grocery stores so you can preserve your food for a shorter period of time instead of trying to preserve the food for two weeks strait.

[p40whk]

sounds like you plan on car camping. why not use the local grocery stores so you can preserve your food for a shorter period of time instead of trying to preserve the food for two weeks strait.

Up until now we haven't thought of this since we weren't sure how good the grocery stores were in the area and we were trying to save a buck or two. This just may be our best option.

I know there is a small grocery in Springdale just south of the entrance to Zion but not sure what else is close by. Is there a larger full service grocery within 20-30 minutes drive?

[Cirrus2000]

Up until now we haven't thought of this since we weren't sure how good the grocery stores were in the area and we were trying to save a buck or two. This just may be our best option.

I know there is a small grocery in Springdale just south of the entrance to Zion but not sure what else is close by. Is there a larger full service grocery within 20-30 minutes drive?

There is a new, larger location of the same store (Sol Foods) further south in Springdale, across from the Shell station and half a block down. You should be able to get everything you need there. To get to something larger, you can go to LaVerkin (Farmer's Market) in 30 minutes or Hurricane (everything up to Walmart) in 45 minutes.

And the grocery store in Escalante isn't huge, but it sure has all the staples. Should be able to get all you need there. North side of Main Street at Center Street.

[p40whk]

There is a new, larger location of the same store (Sol Foods) further south in Springdale, across from the Shell station and half a block down. You should be able to get everything you need there. To get to something larger, you can go to LaVerkin (Farmer's Market) in 30 minutes or Hurricane (everything up to Walmart) in 45 minutes.

And the grocery store in Escalante isn't huge, but it sure has all the staples. Should be able to get all you need there. North side of Main Street at Center Street.

That's great to hear and makes my planning that much easier. Thanks for the information.

[trackrunner]

as kev mentioned. Farmer's Market in LaVerkin. Not much further down the road is Hurricane (Hurikin) with a Lin's Suppermarket & Wal-Mart. Both have cheaper prices than Farmer's or Sol Foods.
edit: but Farmer's does have some good sales that make it cheaper at times.

[ibenick]

I'm a big fan of cooking things like spaghetti on car camps because you don't really have anything to keep cold other than maybe some meat to throw in. I did a week driving around southern utah a couple years ago and lived mostly off spaghetti and mac and cheese, not much to keep cold but the beer.

[Cirrus2000]

I'm a big fan of cooking things like spaghetti on car camps because you don't really have anything to keep cold other than maybe some meat to throw in. I did a week driving around southern utah a couple years ago and lived mostly off spaghetti and mac and cheese, not much to keep cold but the beer.

Plus one on the pasta. I take a bag or two of (Trader Joe's) pasta, and a couple of jars of (Trader Joe's) marinara sauce. Boil up the pasta, dump it in a bowl, and spoon a bit of sauce on top - I don't even heat the sauce, just let the pasta warm it, and let it cool the pasta a bit, and gobble it up lukewarm. Throw the jar in the cooler for the next meal.