HEALTHY EATING HACKS
Tips From Two Camping Experts
TEXT BY MICHELLE A. DICK
For years, my outdoor culinary repertoire was limited to opening a can of beans. That was until I rediscovered cast iron cooking and, specifically, Dutch ovens. Now I make meals I savor just as much as my outdoor experiences themselves.
Eating healthy isn’t always easy. Let’s face it: Popping a bag of chips in your mouth takes a lot less time than washing and cutting up vegetables. And when camping, it can seem even more cumbersome if you don’t know how to prepare, pack, or store nutritional food appropriately for good eating on a long trip. We have some expert advice on how to overcome its challenges so you don’t put on calories while tackling your outdoor adventures.
Here are some nutritional recipes and preparation tips from two outdoor enthusiasts who make healthy eating a priority while camping.
Jeremy Vimmerstedt Climbs to Healthier Heights
Jeremy Vimmerstedt is a general contractor in the Vail Colorado area who says he was literally born camping. “We would lock up the house in June when school let out and spend every summer in our camper until school started again in the fall,” he says.
Today he is still an avid camper, as well as a mountain climber and skier, and he enjoys the outdoor life with his wife, Pam.
She is Jeremy’s main climbing and camping partner and their favorite place to climb and camp is the Shelf Road sport climbing area, just north of Canon City, Colorado.
Photo by Jeremy Vimmerstedt.
Photo by Getty/ Vera_Petrunina.
IMAGES BY JEREMY VIMMERSTEDT AND CHRISTINE WILLERS
The couple’s camping adventures may involve a long, multi-day hiking trip into the backcountry, carrying a tent in their packs. Jeremy says, “When we are doing a rock-climbing trip, we will bring our little teardrop camper and sleep at the base of the crag we are climbing.” He has climbed at least a dozen mountains in Colorado that were above 14,000 feet and has rock-climbed several rock faces that were 10 to 15 pitches long.
Jeremy’s most memorable time climbing was when he went to Shelf Road and led a climb. He placed an engagement ring on a carabiner at the anchor at the top with a note that read, “Together there is no mountain we can’t climb. Will you marry me?”