I’ve worked in a coffee shop.
While working in a coffee shop, I can embarrassingly admit that I once vomited from an espresso overdose.
I came up with the ingenious idea to forego coffee on a cross-country bike trip. 15 minutes into my first “caffeine free” ride, I found myself sitting on the curb of a gas station with a cup of joe in hand.
Organizing a camping trip usually starts with the question of who’s bringing the coffee.
I prefer to date other coffee drinkers, so that I don’t feel as needy when my need for caffeine kicks in.
When I meet up with a friend for a coffee date at 9am, there is a 98% chance that I have already had a cup of coffee and am keen for round two.
I miss living in Vermont because every rest stop provides free organic coffee.
I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop.
But I also love mountains. Long days where I stumble through a boulder field in the dark, guided by the illumination of my headlamp, tromp across exposed ledges, and find my way back down to the same boulder field, once again in the dark, to sleep in my car at the end of the day to avoid driving through pure exhaustion. Sadly, there isn’t an espresso stand at the lower saddle of the Grand Teton.
How do I keep my jittering jitters at a happy medium in the alpine?
Gnarly PUMP: Store 1 scoop of Gnarly’s Nitric Oxide Activator in a plastic bag and combine with 8-12oz. of water when your energy is getting low. Not only will this product feed your muscles and allow you to feel powered for a sustained period of time, but it is packed with Green Tea extract to provide you with 60 mg of caffeine for a surge of natural energy.
Chocolate Energy Bites: I stumbled upon these tasty caffeinated chocolate bites at Outdoor Retailer last summer and have come to both enjoy and rely on them. With 135mg of caffeine per serving, a bite is comparable to a cup of coffee, providing me the intense burst of energy I crave when I become sluggish in the mountains.
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans: Not that I eat 28-beans at a time, but a 28-bean serving of dark chocolate-covered coffee beans contains 336 milligrams of caffeine. Stash them in your pocket and they become an easy way to slowly obtain an increase in energy.
Instant Mountain Mocha: A mountaineering mentor recently introduced me to his homemade ultra-light backcountry stove. Made from an aluminum can and denatured alcohol or dry gas, it weighs practically nothing. What else weighs practically nothing? A serving of instant coffee and hot chocolate stored in a plastic bag. You will feel like you are living at the Ritz when sipping on a mountain mocha at 12,000 ft. and it won’t a change the weight of your pack.
An Apple: There is zero caffeine in an apple, despite what myths you have heard. But your sugar and calorie intake is directly correlated to your energy level. While still small, apples provide you with a healthy, sugary snack that provides calories (also known as energy) and Quercetin to improve lung function and boost brain power.
