Palo Duro Canyon

[Kelly]

What kind of food do you take with you on your horse camping trips? Do you cook over a campfire? Or stove? Or are ya like me and use a microwave? I guess a microwave would be called glamping ?! LOL

Ive just started thinking about the food I will be taking with me on my 5 day Palo Duro Canyon trip in the fall. I know, it’s not till the fall, but I’m ready now!!! All I can think of packing is rice, beans, and apples …. for 5 days I’m vegetarian and pretty much eat a whole food plant based diet, including WINE & chocolate! Any suggestions? I do have a microwave, but no fridge nor do I want to deal with getting ice. I wont be real interested in fancy food anyways because I’ll be there for the scenery and hikes


Would love to hear what you eat while camping with your ponies and how you prepare it. Got any tricks or really cool ideas?

PS…. that’s ALL yall are gonna be hearing about this year!… my 5 day Palo Duro Canyon trip…. You get to hear about it for the next 9-10 months! I’ll go ahead and apologize in advance


Did you know that Palo Duro Canyon is “The Grand Canyon” of Texas and is the second largest canyon in the USA, the first being the Grand Canyon….just saying

 

[LostandFound]

Ok, so I don't camp with my ponies, but I do camp. I double wrap it in a tinfoil pouch and throw it in the fire. It needs to be burned down pretty well. Also you can get a small foil baking pan, put anything in it, cover it with foil and use that. Cauliflower travels well, and potatoes. I would throw the veggies in a cooler, even without ice. Use any that don't hold up well first. Canned veggies can go in the foil pan with some butter and spices. Maybe olive oil since butter will spoil. Some cake mixes only need water. Oatmeal or cream of wheat are microwavable. So are cans of soup. Not in the can. Lol. Goober grape doesn't need refrigerated if you like pb and j sandwiches. Bring a can opener. Ask me how mad I was when I forgot that. Lol. Potato chips and pretzels. Fruit snacks. Cookies, obviously.

 

[JFNM miniatures]

I don’t camp with my horses, but my brother being a fan of survival skills etc, he often does meals out in the mountain… and he says his favourite thing to cook is dried vegetables with couscous, or rice, etc. The dried vegetables are really cool because they are light to carry and take less space but once cooked, they “come back to life” and you could not have guessed that they were once dried. And he just goes by cooking on a fire, but then, there’s always some fallen wood you can use around here… I’m not sure about the canyon where you’re going… i guess it wouldn’t be convenient to carry wood around!

 

[LostandFound]

Hmm, I didn't think about not being able to have a fire. That might make it more difficult. And microwaved veggies are just kind of sad, though the dehydrated ones are ok. I don't know if I would say they were great. The freeze dried ice cream is kind of awesome. I think there are safety issues with leftover rice, so you would want to cook one portion at a time. And you can pre package that. If you use tupperware, measure it out ahead of time, then you just add water and hit the microwave (or fire).

 

[Kelly]

Haha! Yeah, I probably wont be making a fire, my fire starting skills aren’t great

I was at the grocery store ystrdy and saw rice packets in the rice section. They are single serving packets and you just put them in the microwave for about 90 seconds, so some of those could work.

Don’t laugh, but I kinda love microwave veggies LOL….especially broccoli & kale!! But I think I would need a fridge for those. Califlower & potatoes I can just throw in the microwave. Soup is another good one too, thanks! Dehydrating some goodies, is a great idea.

Ive never had freeze dried ice cream, do you get it at your local grocery store or is it something you make? Does that have to stay in the freezer or would I be able to leave it out?

YES! I will add can opener…. And wine opener to my list!!

 

[LostandFound]

Any store that sells camping stuff should have the freeze dried ice cream, it's shelf stable. No fridge needed. Walmart, Cabelas, or amazon has it too. They also have about a million other dehydrated meals, just add hot water and eat. You can get freeze dried fruit at the grocery store. Kale and broccoli will last a day or 2 in a cooler,(without ice) just eat them first. Wine opener too! There is a lot of sadness in trying to open a bottle of wine with a screwdriver. Also a lot of cork.
Bring more bottled water than you think you will need. I use it to brush my teeth too.

 

[JFNM miniatures]

And I know this is not food related, but you might want to bring several strands of baling twine, always useful to repair things or tie stuff… especially if you’re camping with your horses!

 

[Kelly]

That’s another thing I cant decide…. How many horses to take?? I’m taking Stormy for sure. Should I also take Breezy? It would be so easy for me with just one horse, but I know Stormy would be happier with his best bud Breezy there with him. If it was only Stormy, I think about all the confidence he would build being by himself. Decisions, decisions hmmmm

 

[LostandFound]

Well, what do you actually want to do in your adventure? Are you looking to relax? To explore? Use the horses to pack stuff in on long hikes?

 

[MaryFlora]

Would you be worried about the safety of the horse you left behind if you were out on a trail for several hours or more?

I can think of two times that people who “just wanted to” trespassed to pet the horses in the pasture and one time, during a parade, actually left the sidewalk to run out and place their baby girl on the back of my mini. Both times left me dumbfounded.

Nothing like, “I wanted” to trump common sense and common boundaries.

 

[Kelly]

People are CRAZY!!

Oh no, I wouldn’t leave anyone behind at camp, I wouldn’t take any chances. Where I go, they go…. I think they would be too easy to kidnap

On our adventure, we plan to explore, hike and maybe a little cart driving. The ponies aren’t really looking to relax, they can do that at home. The only thing they will be packing on our hikes is my lunch

 

[Abby P]

Well, so if you do happen to decide to have a fire, might I suggest a pie iron? You can cook just about anything in it - actual pie, of course, but like anything you'd make into a panini, or eggs, or potatoes...it's really awesome. Of course you can do ALMOST the same thing with aluminum foil wraps but the pie iron really makes it crispy on the edges...

I look forward to the next 9 months of vicariously anticipating your trip.

 

[LostandFound]

I don't know if I would want to juggle 2 horses by myself while exploring new trails. Unless they were fairly well trained to travel in a string, and even then that would be a lot for me. I'm imagining trying to use the ladies room on the side of a trail with a horse in each hand.

 

[Kelly]

might I suggest a pie iron?

I had no idea what this was, I had to Google it. And it looks soooooo COOL!!

I'm imagining trying to use the ladies room on the side of a trail with a horse in each hand.

Hadn’t thought about that, but that is a good point LOL

 

[Abby P]

I've done it with one big horse, should be no problem since a mini only equals a third of a biggie, right? So it's still only 2/3 of a horse. I can't imagine there would be ANY issues with one trying to go in each direction while you're compromised.

If you get the pie iron just make sure to bring lots of butter. Everything must be drenched in butter.

 

[LostandFound]

Can you even bring butter? I don't know if you will have a/c, and while some people don't keep it in the fridge, it could get pretty warm camping depending on your setup.

 

[Dragon Hill]

Salted butter can be left a room temperature (around 70) for a week or two. Unsalted butter cannot. <<According to the Internet. I've never had butter go rancid, but they say you should be able to tell by the smell if it goes bad.
There is such a thing as a butter crock or butter bell, where butter is placed in the bell part and then placed down into a water filled bowl. Supposed to keep it fresh for a month and control the temperature somewhat, but I don't have one.

 

[LostandFound]

If I go into my camper on a warm, sunny day it can be hot enough to melt a plastic fork. Room temperature is a nice idea but might not be practical while camping.

 

[Abby P]

There is always ghee - purpose-made to last in hot weather. Just trying to help you out, thinking outside the butter dish.

 

[Kelly]

Here’s my itinerary so far:

• From my house to Caprock Canyon is 4hr 30 min, spend 1 night here

https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/caprock-canyons

• From Caprock Canyon to Palo Duro Canyon is 1 hr 40 min, spend 2 nights here

https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/palo-duro-canyon

• From Palo Duro Canyon to Copper Break is 2 hr 45 min, spend 1 night here

https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/copper-breaks

• then home is: 3 hr 25 min

None of these parks have electric hook up in the horse camping area, so I will be bringing my generator.