Munchy Bags

Before the trip we were told to pack mounds of high calorific foods for our munchy bags which we'd munch on every hour. This was an open invitation to eat whatever we wanted over the twelve days trek. 'A girl's fantasy!' one of the women said. Clearly, on an Arctic expedition it was essential to 'Get those calories in' to ensure one had loads of energy to walk at least 10 miles a day over icy terrain. Most of my life I admit I've been victim to the calorie counting culture so this was a wonderful opportunity. For once, I could eat as many calories as I wanted as opposed to cutting calories. So, I dreamed up the most delicious munchy bag ever. I bought dairy milk chocolate brazil nuts, toblerone, chocolate raisins, Terry's chocololate orange segments, matchmakers and some chocolate Kendal mint cake. I found some exotic dried fruit, honey roasted cashew nuts, salted peanuts, dried kiwi and apricots. Little did I know that after two days of this stuff I would want to retch every time I reached into the bag. Is it really possible to eat too much chocolate? Yes. Honestly. It wasn't long before I found myself salivating over everyone else's munchy bags. For example, I have never in my life had a craving for pork scratchings, and suddenly in the High Arctic I am dreaming of the stuff. The more fattening the better. Malt loaf and butter. Yum yum. Someone actually had the foresight to put some in their munchy bag. Now, that is precisely the kind of food you want after clambering up an iced waterfall in minus 25. Not a chocolate brazil nut. Before long, we all found ourselves swapping treats from our Munchy Bags. My brother even packed jelly babies. Delicious. Sadly, he had a sore throat for a few days and was unable to eat the chunks of chocolate in his munchy bag so I did my best to help him. He thought the sore throat was frostbite of the throat but he was unable to prove this. He lost a stone in weight during the trek which was pretty impressive.
I'm not saying how much weight I lost - yet, but the main benefit has been discovering muscles I never knew existed and feeling fitter than I've ever done. That means there are plenty of good reasons to go on an Arctic Expedition. To name a few, 1) You get to eat whatever you want 2) You tone up 3) You feel fit 4) You can never complain of feeling cold again 5) You can let your imagination go wild. When you walk for long periods of time with only your own thoughts, it's a recipe for madness. As I crunched past snowy coated rocks they reminded me of chocolate muffins covered in icing sugar. When I looked in the distance and saw several members of the group dressed in red windproof outfits, walking across a glacier lake, I thought of strawberries in a meringue case with whipped cream. Mmmmm.