First things first:  This aspiring PCT thru-hiker got to see Wild last night!  Before I write about what I thought of the movie, I feel I should explain my thoughts on the Wild phenomenon.  I like to think I read Cheryl Strayed’s book “before it was cool,” and I definitely was planning my thru-hike (and had already hiked the AT) before the book came out.  Nonetheless, I have no complaints about the attention the book and, now, the movie are bringing to the trail.  (In fact, it bothers me how elitist and sexist some of the criticism of the book from within the hiker community has been.)  If, in years to come, Cheryl Strayed’s memoir brings more passionate, idealistic hikers to the trail hoping to use their time in the wilderness to overcome past wounds and become the people they want to be, I think that would be a beautiful thing.

Anyway, I sincerely enjoyed the movie.  I didn’t love it as much as I loved the book, but that’s kind of typical for me.  In my opinion, curling up with a book is just a more moving, intimate experience than watching a movie ever is.  I was amazed at how well Reese Witherspoon embodied my imagined Cheryl Strayed.  There were lots of little details that I loved — from the retro Clif Bar wrapper to Strayed’s ragged breathing in her spoken thoughts.  The movie wasn’t an account of Strayed’s hike, but neither was the book; both depicted her journey, in the larger sense.  I thought that it was a beautiful movie.  (If you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your thoughts!)

So, anyway, chili.

I grew up terrified of beans.  My best guess as to why that is, is my mother’s rigid avoidance of them.  It wasn’t until I’d been a vegetarian for more than a decade that I finally ate them — and found that, not only could I tolerate them, I really liked them.  As a whole new world opened up to me, it was only a matter of time before I’d discover the wonders of chili and appreciate it as the perfect cold-weather meal.

Eating rehydrated chili on the trail begins with making normal chili at home.  If you’re more familiar with the dish than 20-year-old Rainbow Dash had been, you probably have a favorite chili recipe.  (If you don’t, you could go to the Trail’s End Festival in Millinocket, ME, and taste-test your way around the chili cook-off.)

When I’m making chili for the trail, I begin with just a few ingredients:

• Onions
• Garlic
• Peppers
• Tomatoes (cans of diced and pureed tomatoes provide easy shortcuts)
• Beans (cans of kidney, black, and even garbanzo beans)
• TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein, either of a generic brand or the flavored “crumbles” that Morningstar makes)
• Chili powder and any other complimentary spices I’m fond of at the moment

Cooking chili is a simple as sautéing the onions, garlic, and peppers, stirring in the remaining ingredients, and then adding salt and pepper and other flavors until it tastes the way you like it.  Because dehydrating food sometimes seems to diminish the food’s flavor, it’s generally a good idea to over-spice and over-season foods for a backpacking trip.  And, unless you are proficient in dehydrating corn, I recommend leaving it out of your chili; that’s one of those foods that tends to give novice dehydrators some issues.

After you’ve got a nice pot of chili, just spoon it thinly onto lined dehydrator trays and put it in your dehydrator for 8 hours or so at a medium setting.  When the food is dry inside and out, divide it among Ziploc freezer bags and stick it in your pack or resupply box.  All you’ll need to do when you get to camp is add boiling water to the bag and let the food rehydrate for 5-10 minutes.

When I’m backpacking, I like to add rice to my chili (which I add cook, dehydrate, and add to the bags before I pack them) or serve it burrito-style in tortillas — or both.  However I serve it, it’s a great way to warm up on a chilly evening or after a rainy day hiking in Maine.