Silver Falls Hike & True Primal Soup Review

Well, here in Western Oregon, unrelenting rain, high winds, and a mysterious lingering illness in Max's respiratory system have kept us from getting out for longer than a day hike, but we found the best day hike we possibly could! This Wednesday we went to Silver Falls State Park, outside of Salem, Oregon to hike the Trail of Ten Falls, a 7-ish mile hike through a canyon where you see...you guessed it!...ten waterfalls.

Looking out from the eye of the earth

This is one of the most unique areas I have visited for a couple different reasons. First of all, the trail winds behind three of the falls, giving you the opportunity to stand behind a thundering curtain of water. We went in the midst of a two-week rainy spell (I'm from the Northwest originally, and even I thought it was a LOOOOT of rain) and these waterfalls were at their finest. The North Falls were my favorite. The giant rock cave that you walk through behind the falls is eye-shaped, so when you stand behind the waterfall looking down-valley, you have the erie feeling that you are looking out from the eye of the earth. Second, this place is so unique because of how big all of the waterfalls are, and how concentrated they are in one area. Many of the falls are over 100 feet, and you can see them all in under 8 miles.

And of course, it was raining all day, but we're really glad we went. We were also really glad that we brought some True Primal Soup with us to test out for lunch! It was a little extra work to light up the stove just for a day hike, but with how cold and wet we were, we really appreciated it. Some of you may have already read my Paleo-Friendly(ish) Canned Soup Round-up, where I lamented the fact that there wasn't actually a true paleo canned soup. But my prayers were answered! True Primal has created the first canned soup that follows all the Paleo "rules," all the way down to no preservatives, fillers, or flavors, which I think is the hardest thing to find.

The most remarkable thing about this paleo/primal canned soup is that it doesn't have the "canned" soup taste to it, which I find even Amy's Soups have. Probably because they don't use any of the things I just mentioned. It tasted like something I cooked in my own kitchen. Also super convenient is the pull-tab lid, just in case you forget your can opener, which is highly probable. Max and I were a little skeptical looking at the nutrient profile, since each can has only 270 calories, and 20 grams of protein (way better already than most canned soups, but not that much for a hungry hiker). We remedied this by adding hefty amounts of butter, but with that as the only addition, one can each filled us up for lunch and kept us going until the end of the hike.

True Primal Beef & Vegetable Soup

They only have one flavor right now, Beef and Vegetable, but I hope they will come out with more flavors soon! And I think the best part is, they are reasonably priced! You do have to buy a 12-pack through Amazon since individual cans are not available yet, but it works out to about $3.60 a can which is very comparable to Amy's canned soups. I will definitely be buying these for future trips!

Want More Paleo Backpacking Meals? Support Heather's Choice Kickstarter!

I recently found out about Heather's Choice Meals for Adventuring, and I am so excited these are available! Heather is an evolutionary sports nutritionist and she has crafted these meals to be optimal for an active outdoor lifestyle. In addition, she only uses sustainably sourced 100% grass-fed meat, and wild-caught fish, and all meals are gluten-, dairy-, and soy-free. I will be testing them and reviewing them soon on the blog, but in the meantime, check out her website, and if you're as impressed as I am, consider pledging to her Kickstarter!

Canyoneering the Swell: 4-day Menu

I just found this unpublished post! I wrote it all up and then was waiting for pictures from Max. Awesome trip, awesome food.



A couple weeks ago Max and I did a four day trip to the San Rafael Swell in Southern Utah to do a little canyoneering before we move back to Washington and leave the land of canyons behind. We hiked Wild Horse Canyon, Crack Canyon, and Lower Baptist Draw in the Temple Mountain area. All three were gorgeous hikes and Lower Baptist even offered us a little rappelling. We finished off the trip with a short day of bouldering at Big Bend outside Moab. This is some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen; the Reef itself is spectacular to look at, especially in the evening spring light. This was a car-camping trip, so this menu is more suited to cooler-toting folk. And I'm still not eating dairy or nuts, so hurrah if you aren't either. This one's for you.

Tuesday - Wild Horse Canyon

Wild Horse Canyon

Breakfast

• Eggs & bacon (at home)

Morning Snack

• 1 grass-fed pepperoni stick
• 1 large carrot
• 5 olives
• 1/2 bag plantain chips

Lunch

• Red Pepper Turkey Sandwich (replace cheese with 1/2 an avocado)

Afternoon Snack

• 1/2 bag plantain chips
• couple kale chips
• olives
• 1 stick celery
• couple sips of wine

Dinner

• Bacon with Spinach, Mushroom & Onion

Cooking up some bacon, mushroom, spinach, and onion for dinner

Wednesday - Crack Canyon

Crack Canyon

Breakfast

Breakfast bacon, and in the background, our homemade
rocket stove

•  Eggs & bacon
• olives
• 1/4 of a cucumber

Morning Snack

• tin of oysters
• couple kale chips
• couple spoonfuls coconut butter

Lunch

• 1/8 log salami w/ mustard
• 1/2 a sweet potato (baked at home)
• some leftover spinach stems removed from dinner the night before

Afternoon Snack

• 1/2 an apple
• 2 oz. grass-fed summer sausage
• olives
• 1/2 a carrot
• couple sips of wine

Dinner

• 1 15-oz. can coconut milk, 1 15-oz. can salmon, 1 bag organic frozen veggies, 1 green bell pepper, chopped, and plenty of coconut oil all cooked together until melded (it was going to be curry, but I forgot the curry paste...)

Thursday - Lower Baptist Draw

Lower Baptist Draw

Breakfast

• Eggs & bacon
• 1/4 cucumber

Morning Snacks

• 1 bag plantain chips
• 5 slices salami
• 1/2 an apple

Lunch

• 1/4 log of salami
• 1 carrot
• 1 can coconut water
• some kale chips
• olives
• couple sips wine

Dinner

• Sweet Potato, Apple & Onion Chorizo Bake (substituting 1.25 lb. ground fresh chorizo for the dried log-style chorizo, and doubling the recipe for 2 people)

Friday - Bouldering in Big Bend

Breakfast

• 1/4 lb. pork sausage
• 2 eggs scrambled in coconut oil
• 1 large carrot

Morning Snacks

• 10 slices salami
• couple spoonfuls coconut butter

Lunch

• 1 tin oysters
• 1/2 a cucumber

Afternoon Snack

• olives
• 1/2 a sweet potato (cooked at home)
• 1/2 an apple

Dinner

• Bison burgers at a friend's house in Moab!