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Can You Take Wine on a Wilderness Trip?
Most wilderness areas prohibit glass containers of any kind.  What’s a wine loving camper to do?  We just spent seven days in the Scapegoat Mountain Wilderness in Montana with the help of an excellent professional outfitter, K lazy 3.  Before the trip, we picked up a couple Platy Preserve wine bags to try out, plus trying a regular “soft” water bottle made by the same company.

When travelling in the wilderness, take only essentials!

Our test wines were drawn from several of our favorite Walla Walla, WA wineries:

• Rotie Cellars Southern Blend 2010 – a Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre Southern Rhone blend
• Gramercy Cellars Tempranillo “Inigo Montoya” 2009
• Rulo WCF red – a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend

Day One Results
The wine was a treat with our day one dinner of homemade lasagna.

Good wine enhances any meal.  No fancy wine glasses needed!

Day Two Results
Day two was a fishing day for Julie and I.  I managed to land a nice 18″ trout to add to our dinner!  The Gramercy Tempranillo and the Rulo WCF were both still in great shape and were very enjoyable at the dinner table.  No wine glasses?  No matter!

Fresh trout addition to a roast beef dinner.

Platy Preserve Wine Bag ($10 at REI)
These soft BPA-free wine bags allow you to expel all excess air, and pack down to next to nothing when empty.  As long as you keep the wine relativey cool, you should be able to have wine on your trip for many days. Nice wine will enhance any of your wilderness meals.  Consider investing in a set for your future trips!

PlatyPreserve wine bag

This is a food & wine blog, not a wilderness travel blog.  I hope you’ll indulge me in a plug for K Lazy 3 Outfitters.  Here are a few photos from our horse packing / fly fishing trip into the Scapegoat Mountain Wilderness in Montana.  Click on any photo to view as a slide show.

Morning reflection

Cowboy coffee

PhD trout – clear, slow moving water, wary fish.

My fish wouldn’t fit into the biggest frying pan!

Fresh trout appetizer

Days 1 & 2 are at a fixed camp in the wilderness.

Exciting riding

Julie fishing at Parker Lake

A happy flyfisherwoman!

Lunchtime view

More lunchtime views near the Continental Divide

Roy Rogers & Dale Evans?

Alpine flowers we never see in Minnesota

Ride up to the ridge and then down to Big Horn Lake for fishing!

Big Horn Lake Cutthroat trout stuffed with lemon & lemon pepper

Cooked over an open fire

There’s time for a nap after lunch

Looking down on the clouds near the Continental Divide

Susan, our chef, in her portable wilderness kitchen

Streamside dinner

Campfires are always a treat.

Valley of the Moon camp