Beyond Gorp: Favorite Foods from Outdoor Experts

* 133 recipes for camping and backpacking

* Stories behind the recipes and the people who contributed them

* Includes tips on outdoor cooking basics, food drying techniques, and trail food lore



Some of the recipes in Beyond Gorp are prized for their camping and backpacking practicality. These include food such as Lead Bread (a brick-like loaf that will keep indefinitely and survive even an air drop). But then there are gourmet offerings (Cashew-Ginger Chicken and Rice and Trail Tiramisu) and ideas on preparing wild foods (Cooked Stinging Nettles).



This cookbook is as much about the people behind the recipes and their adventures -- and misadventures -- in the outdoors. Hear the stories behind the titling of Angry Moose Scrambled Eggs and Poison Ivy Pesto with Shrimp. Learn why outdoor writer Tim Cahill needs Fat Cocoa to guarantee a warm night's sleep; understand the expedition fare philosophy of mountaineer Jim Whittaker; and why Celebration Cous Cous was special for writer-conservationists Laura and Guy Waterman. Each of these recipes has been tested by Mountaineers Books staff and friends.

YVONNE PRATER, a resident of Ellensburg, Wash., has been outdooring most of her adult life, hiking and snowshoeing in the Cascades, Rockies and White mountains. And, while out exploring, Yvonne has made a profitable habit of taking photographs and compiling information for the illustrated articles she's had published in Sunset, National Parks and numerous other outdoor magazines. A writer-photographer for the Ellensburg Record for over 22 years, Yvonne also regularly contributes photographs to The Seattle Times and other area newspapers. She is the author of the book Snoqualmie Pass: From Indian Trail to Interstate, a regional history also published by The Mountaineers Books.

RUTH DYAR MENDENHALL happily combined mountaineering, rock climbing, skiing, fishing, backpacking, and outdoor cookery for more than three decades in wild parts of the western United States, Canada, and elsewhere. Her experiences resulted in articles in Summit, Desert, National Parks and other outdoor magazines, and she was editor of the American Alpine Club's News for several years. Ruth's culinary expertise was given wide exposure in her two previous books, Backpack Cookery and Backpack Techniques; she was also the author, with her husband, John, of Introduction to Rock and Mountain Climbing and Beginner's Guide to Rock and Mountain Climbing.