It's the end of January, but apparently spring is here in the Northwest. Last weekend Max and I took a trip to Smith Rock State Park to get in some winter climbing, on a 3-day trip which featured both tank top weather and snow as Oregon tries to make up its mind if it should be hot or cold right now. Well, I enjoyed both variations on the weather, and I especially enjoyed the snacks we had along with us. We were out with a friend who is a really strong climber, so we had a rope gun to set routes that we wouldn't normally try ourselves. It was fun to push myself harder than I probably have on other climbing trips, and as a result I was much hungrier.
To the rescue was
Skout Backcountry, an Oregon-based company which makes organic and tasty pumpkin seeds and delectable trail bars. Their bars are one of my favorites of all the paleo-friendly bars out there...there's just something about their taste that is unique and satisfying. They use dates and pumpkin seeds as their base, and I appreciate how the date flavor isn't overwhelming like it sometimes can be. I sampled one of each flavor, and my favorite by far was the
Peruvian Chocolate (no surprise there, I'm sure...). I
was surprised by how much I liked the
Washington Apple Cinnamon bar and the
Oregon Blueberry Almond bar since I honestly don't usually like bars that don't feature chocolate in some prominent way.
It could have been that we ate them at the top of Wherever I May Roam, a fun 5.9 multi-pitch with unbeatable 360 degree views of the entire park...but either way I think they were pretty darn tasty. They're perfect for a small snack, or an addition to a lunch, with each bar being between 110-150 calories a bar, with about 3g of protein (from pumpkin seeds), and between 20-24g of carbs.
We also thoroughly enjoyed their pumpkin seeds. The
Spicy Texas Chili seeds were the perfect mix between spicy and salty (an essential flavor boost to the sometimes bland and monotonous trail food options), but if you prefer sweet and salty, you'll love the
Paraguayan Cane Sugar and Cinnamon seeds. They have the perfect crunch to them and are somewhat addicting after a few tiring hours of climbing. I can definitely say my muscles appreciated the pumpkin-powered pick-me-up. Skout is especially near and dear to me since the seeds they use are grown in the Willamette Valley, where I currently live and I think local food can connect you to the land in a really special way.
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| I told you there was snow! |
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Snacks
Dinner
- Homemade Sweet Potato Chili (from our freezer) w/ lots of butter & a bag of plantain chips
- Theo 85% Dark Chocolate
Day 2
Breakfast
- Scrambled eggs & meat sticks
Lunch
- Salami, cheese, avocado, banana
Snacks
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| And here comes the sun! |
Dinner
Homemade Sweet Potato Chili (from our freezer) w/ lots of butter & a bag of plantain chips
Theo 85% Dark Chocolate
Day 3
Breakfast
- Scrambled eggs & meat sticks
Lunch
- Salami, cheese, avocado, banana
Snacks
