The Mountain Candy Czar
By Kit Fruscione
I was a young child, probably five years old, when my love for sweets began. I can remember my Pop taking me to a restaurant in Niagara Falls New York, where I grew up, called, Around The Clock. My grandfather was a kind-hearted man and soft on us grandkids for sure. That morning, he showed his kindness by letting me order a Root Beer float for breakfast! FOR BREAKFAST!!! This was the first time I ever had root beer, let alone at 7:30 in the morning, and I instantly fell in love with it. The combination of cold sweet soda mixed with fresh, creamy vanilla ice cream was the most delectable thing I had eaten at that point in my young life. It was that root beer float that became the catalyst for my sweet tooth being born.
As I grew, my love for sweets continued. I soon learned that sweets were a good form of quick energy playing sports in my teens. A Snickers bar moments before a track meet or soccer game and I was all fueled up, ready to race around the track, or chase the ball up and down the soccer field.
In my thirties, I discovered backpacking. I would bring Backpacker Magazine to work and on my lunch break as a teacher, I would stare at the colorful photos of the mountains. I could visualize myself, on those pages hiking. The high peaks and the granite of the rock against the deep blue sky were breathtaking. As a public school teacher, I had summers off, so I took advantage of that perk and began going on guided backpack trips. My first trip was an eight-day, women-only, guided backpack trip in the Mahoosuc Mountains of Maine. There, I learned the golden rule of Leave No Trace (LNT) and that everything you needed was in your backpack. Talk about feeling empowered and independent!
The mountains had stolen my heart and the feeling of independence, paired with how my body felt hiking—strong and invincible— had me hooked. It wouldn’t be long until I discovered the beauty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Summer of 2007, I decided to hike the John Muir Trail (JMT). The JMT is a 211-mile trek through the Sierras. I found a guided backpacking company to do this trip with. It would be 21 days long. We began in Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite National Park. When I found out that the other hikers were men, other than the trip guide, I guess I’m the minority, I thought.
The guys treated me just like one of them which was ok by me for a while but into about day 17 of the trek I grew tired of fetching my own water, setting up my tent after a long day of hiking with a 30 lb. pack. By then I wanted to be treated like a lady, a queen of sorts but how was it I could get these dudes to do these chores I had come to dread? Not wanting to appear like a damsel in distress, I plotted that day as I hiked along the dusty trail. How could I get these guys to do my work? Then it struck me! CANDY. I have candy with me. A big bag too. Bite-size chocolate bars, Hershey kisses, hard candy. I had shared some with them in the past few days, and they seemed to enjoy it. This will be my leverage! If they want candy, they must work for it! Candy will be my currency!
For those of you who have backpacked, you begin craving certain foods: pizza, burgers, and sweets. You think to yourself, I’d do anything, anything to have it! These dudes will be no different, I thought. I was excited for the days hiking to end, to see how my plan would work. Once we reached our destination at another gorgeous mountain lake, I wiggled out of my backpack tired, letting it fall to the ground. I sat on a rock next to it, chugged the last of the water from my Nalgene bottle, and pulled out a Snickers bar from my pack gobbling it up. One of the dudes came over and said, “got any more of those?” Nodding, I tossed him a Milky Way watching him pop it into his mouth. “God I love these!” he said. “Can I have another?” I bit my lip lowered my sunglasses onto the bridge of my nose, and said, with my eyes squinting at him from the bright sun, “If you want more, you’re gonna have to set my tent up for me, you manage that I’ll give you three more, and if you fetch my water too I’ll give you a total of six. From here on in, until we reach the end of this trek, I crown myself CANDY CZAR, and if you or the others want candy, you’re gonna have to work for it. Out here in these mountains, candy is gold!” He looked at me, wiping the sweat from his forehead, tugged on his beard, chuckling, “are you serious?!” I pushed my sunglasses back on, “oh, I’m very serious.” He then laughed, “ok, you got a deal, CANDY CZAR!”
I was no longer the minority. I had become the Authority! I was CANDY CZAR! The power that I wielded from the contents inside that plastic bag was astonishing. For the remainder of the trip, the dudes clamored over who would set up my tent, and fill my water bottles.
Soon, the 21-day trek had come to an end. It was time to retire my self-acclaimed crown as MOUNTAIN CANDY CZAR. While making my way home, I sat in a restaurant airport waiting for my flight. The waitress asked me what I would like. I said, “A root beer float sounds great.” Closing the menu, I smiled to myself thinking that’s where it all began, decades back, when my kind Grandfather ordered me that for breakfast. That’s when my sweet tooth was born. It had served me well, and helped in giving me the title of CANDY CZAR for those final four, sweet days in the mountains.
Kit Fruscione resides in Rochester, NY. A retired special educator, she currently works as an Addictions Counselor, and Recovery Coach for individuals with eating disorders. When not working, Kit is tripping around the world on hiking and cycling adventures with her wife. Kit’s favorite type of candy is a Snickers Bar. You can contact Kit at this email,
