Kegger Chronicle · Gear & Tradition

Equipment & Recipes

What to bring, what to cook, and how to eat well at 5,000 feet with no refrigerator

The Kegger Backpack is, fundamentally, a backpacking trip. Everything you need for the weekend goes in on your back. The keg comes in on a stretcher. Everything else — food, shelter, clothing, beer mugs — is your own responsibility.

Over 50 years, a body of collective wisdom has accumulated about what to bring, what to leave behind, and what to cook once you get there. This page collects the best of it: Tom McGonigle's gear list, John Baird's equipment recommendations, Chuck's full weekend menu, and Teresa McGonigle's legendary camp recipes.

How the weekend works

Most people drive up to the public campground at the top on Friday evening — there's usually a good party there Friday night. On Saturday morning, pack up what you need through Sunday afternoon and walk your pack down the valley to the party spot — about a 45-minute hike. Once there, set up your tent and be ready to go back out to the parking lot for a keg when your services are needed.

If you forget anything, someone else will have it to loan or give you. Don't overthink the packing.

Tom's gear list

Shelter & Sleep

• 1 tent
• 1 sleeping bag
• 1 Insolite pad or cushy air mattress
• 1 lawn chair (optional but highly recommended)

Clothing

• Good hiking boots or tennis shoes (both grip granite)
• Long pants for keg carry duty (manzanita cuts bare legs)
• Jacket, bathing suit, shorts, clean tee shirt for Sunday
• 1 clean pair underwear, 1 pair clean socks, 1 towel
• Check the predicted temp for Bear Valley, CA

Essentials

• 1 large bottle of water (or water filter or iodine tablets)
• 1 official Kegger Backpack beer mug
• 5 beers (to hold you over if a keg runs dry)
• 1 small flashlight
• Toothbrush, small bar soap, ⅓ roll TP, 3 garbage bags

Critical items

• Cutters mosquito repellent — MANDATORY
• 10 paper plates, fork + knife
• First aid kit basics, matches, sun screen

Tom's note on water: You must filter or boil ALL water from the Stanislaus River. Do not pull water from Blood's Creek. Alternatively, carry down a couple gallons of bottled water, or use iodine tablets — they work fine for two days.

John's additions

• Big air mattress (strongly recommended)
• Sandals or lighter shoes for around camp
• Gaiters and gloves, long underwear, rain coat or poncho
• Star chart, topo maps, compass
• Playing cards, 50 feet of rope, candles or a lantern
• Cook kit: pot, bowl, cup, utensils, biodegradable dish soap, duct tape

First Aid Kit — John's version

• Various size bandages, antibiotic ointment, Motrin
• Coffee
• Whiskey

B.Y.O.L.C. — Bring Your Own Lawn Chair. This one is non-negotiable according to both Tom and John.

Chuck's weekend menu

Teresa's recipes

Teresa McGonigle has been feeding the Kegger for decades. Her breakfast burrito recipe is legendary — she pre-packs everything in one bag before the hike, stashes it in the cooler, and has it ready for the morning after the night before.

Teresa's Breakfast Burrito

By Teresa McGonigle

Ingredients

• 1 pkg flour tortillas (10–12)
• 1 lb bacon, cut into pieces
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4–6 potatoes, already baked
• Cheese, shredded · Sour cream · Salsa

Method

When the harsh sun first rises in the morning — when the hangover has got you down, you're stiff and you just want to lay in your sleeping bag, your mouth tastes like the mud on your boots that you never took off last night, and you know you should put something in your stomach or it will get worse — try this burrito.

Cut up the bacon into pieces and fry. Drain most of the grease. Cut up the pre-baked potatoes and add to the bacon. Toss in the onions. Add the eggs and cook until done. Warm the tortillas in foil over the campfire. Wrap the mixture in a warm tortilla with cheese, sour cream, and salsa. Eat.

You can put all the ingredients in one bag and stash it in the cooler before you hike down — all ready for the morning after. First come, first served, until gone. — Teresa McGonigle

Teresa's Campfire Foil Dinner

By Teresa McGonigle

Ingredients

• Hamburger patties
• Potatoes, pre-cooked and chunked
• Carrots, cut small · Onions, chopped · Mushrooms, sliced
• Salt & pepper · A few slices of buttered bread

Method

Wrap everything in foil and cook over the campfire. Fast and easy — then go back to serious after-dinner drinking. Bon appétit! — Teresa McGonigle

John's variation: make up your meal at home the day before — meats, fresh veggies, spices, all wrapped in three layers of tin foil. You can add some water, broth, or white wine (or beer) right before putting it on the coals.

Tom's food list

Lunch

• 1 loaf bread, 1 package lunch meat, 1 package cheese, 1 jar mustard, 1 tube Pringles

Dinner

• Boneless chicken breasts (grill)
• Potatoes (half-pre-cooked in microwave at home)
• Vegetables + aluminum foil to cook veggies and taters

Breakfast

• Frying pan, 1 dozen eggs, 1 pound bacon, package of tortillas

Snacks

• Bite-sized Snickers bars, 1 jar trail mix, Peach vodka (Teresa's)

Tom's packing tip: If you can come up with a food list that lets you get it there without carrying an ice chest, you'll be better off. As you're packing, if you're bringing anything you're planning to carry down to the party that isn't on your list — think about it again.