Corn Pasta and the Metric System

First of all, thank you to everyone who has joined our Facebook group. And kudos to you if you have continued to read this.

This post will bit a bit short and a bit schizophrenic. The first topic of the day is corn pasta (and its magical allure amoung ultrlight backpackers) and the second is my quick appreciation of the metric system and its subtle beauty.

Okay. So if you know about ultralight backpacking, you most likely have heard of Ray Jardine. Ray is important because he was one of the first proponents of ultralight backpacking. In the 80's and 90's, when people still carried 70 pound packs, he was prophetic in saying that "less is more." His books helped people imagine a new kind of backpacking: simple, light, and fun. For this, people like me are eternally grateful. His was/is a true pioneer and Jenna and my PCT trip is somewhat in his shadow.

However, he also happens to be quite a screwball and has popularized some strange ideas (hiking barefoot, shunning brand name gear because it is inferior, carrying an ice axe with you at all times, hiking with umbrellas, etc.) After reading his book, we were a bit reluctant to believe in his preachings, so you can imagine how we were skeptical about one of his most prevalent myths: that corn pasta is the single best trail food (and better than any other sort of pasta). While Jenna and I were eating dinner the other night (rice pasta, to be specific), I decided to look into the credibility of this myth- a one man "Myth Busters." As it turns out, Ray was right; corn pasta does contain more carbohydrates than either rice or wheat pasta, but the difference is minuscule. Wheat pasta contains 42 grams of carbs per 2 oz. dry serving, rice pasta 43 has grams, and corn pasta has 46 grams. Corn pasta did contain the most but by the way that Ray raved about the miraculous properties of corn pasta, I don't think 3-4 grams difference could account for it. (This doesn't mean we still don't love corn pasta and plan on eating it often on our hike...)

Now for the metric system. Have you ever noticed how perfect it is? How intuitive it is? I had such a moment the other day when I learned that one liter of water is equal to one kilogram. My god! Perfect! Take a second to think about how miraculous it is. How water freezes at 0C and boils at 100C. How 100 grams make a kilogram. I love it and am now a convert.