Food

Without food, you get really hungry, and pretty soon you aren't having fun anymore.

Food is a big and important topic, since for longer trips, it will dominate the total pack weight. I hear guidelines ranging from 1.5 to 2.0 pounds of food per person per day. This is something each person has to work out for himself and will depend on the level of exertion, temperature, and the persons mood. Being well fed keeps morale and energy levels high.

I took 2.0 pounds per day and found I had too much (this on my 6 day trip to the Sierra in 2009). I think 1.6 pounds per day would be a better guideline, and some experienced people say that they agree. Note that an 0.4 pound savings over 6 days is 2.4 pounds, nothing to sneeze at. And you carry that extra weight throughout the whole trip!!.

While I found 1.6 pounds per day a good guide, a recent BPL article arrived at a different number, namely 1.4 pounds per day, as a recommended absolute minimum during summer conditions. Note that this leaves no margin for error, which is fine I think. If push came to shove, a day or two without food would not be the end of the world. Every person has a different appetite and metabolism. I recognize that without diligent planning I will tend to take too much, "just to be sure". Weighing things avoids such nonsense and is much more practical than counting calories.

It is worth remembering that most of us don't live on the trail, and we can therefore afford to eat a diet that would be terrible in the long term. On a trip, a diet of chocolate, fritos, and nuts might be OK, especially given the level of energy expenditure when hiking all day. Andrew Skurka says to aim for a caloric density of 125-150 calories per ounce. Foods with a higher caloric density make for a lighter pack.

On a long trip, you might want to get "scientific" and count calories and weights. You can get really hungry hiking fast all day, and you can get lethargic just from being hungry and poorly fed. Or you can have too much food and realize at the end of the trip that you needlessly carried several pounds the whole time. This is something you want to get right. The furthest I have gone is to just weigh my food bag, divide by the number of days, and ensure that it is about 1.5 pounds per day or less.

Most experienced people say they hike at a pace of 2.5 to 2.75 miles per hour. Figure 120 calories per mile and add that to your base metabolism of 2400 calories per day (which may be as high as 3000 if you are in shape!). Add 200 calories for 1000 feet of elevation gain. Do you mind being a little hungry all the time and loosing some weight (and perhaps being grumpy and irritable)? How much body fat do you have to loose?

Food for long trips

A bear canister, it would seem, is really designed to hold 6 or 7 days of food for a single person. So, to cram in 10 days of food takes some attention, but it can be done. Take a look at this list from Rick Sutton.

Balance Carbs, Fat, and Protein

I have suffered food burn out on a number of long trips, and I think part of my error is not having enough fat and protein. In particular fat. The two changes I intend to make to my food plan for long trips is to have more variety and more fat and protein.

Freeze Dried Food

Just say no! Many people have been somehow made to think that this is the only way to do backpacking. I have eaten this stuff on a few occasions, and I will happily consume virtually anything, but there are better ways to go. If nothing else, the stuff is horrifically expensive. One brand is not called Mountain Air for nothing.

The wilderness gourmet

There are people (so I am told, these stories may simply be legends) that eagerly embrace the challenge of wilderness cooking and spend hours cooking amazing meals when backpacking. I love to eat, so this sounds really nice in a way, but this is not what I want to be doing in the wilderness. I mention this because perhaps this might be your thing, and you should be encouraged to know there are others like you -- and maybe you will invite me along and do the cooking. In the meantime, my aim is for extremely simple tasty and satisfying meals.

Avoid Cliff Bars!

I can eat these on a strenuous day hike, but on a long trip after the first day or two, the gag factor is overwhelming. Just say no! There are much better alternatives. For a time I was charmed by LARA bars, and they are indeed a superior alternative to Cliff Bars, but I have gotten burned out on them. The real truth here is that on any trip longer than a day or two, you need variety. I will also launch into a rant against processed food. A good rule is to look at the ingredients list. Is the list really long? Does it contain things you never imagined or never hear of before? Take a long look at a Cliff bar, then take a long look at the ingredients list. Any more questions?

Avoid hot food, (maybe?)

Do this, and you can avoid stove, fuel, and pots. This all sounds great to me, until I think about missing out on my morning coffee. I did meet one guy hiking out from the Sierra with a small pack who said he had spent the entire trip eating only dried fruit and nuts. More recently I met a fellow heading in for a 6 day trip who said he was doing a no cook scheme and carrying 0.75 pounds per day. I would want to try this diet a few days at home before attempting it on a long trip. Also, I suspect that switching to such a diet all of a sudden (along with a new activity regime) might lead to some issues on a trip. I will note though that this works out to 15 pounds for 20 days, just about right for the Muir Trail without resupply.

Avoid cooking

What I mean here is to avoid anything that requires more than mixing with boiling water and waiting a few minutes. This is good, solid, sound advice! Pasta, most people are surprised to learn, can just be mixed with hot water and, without additional heat, be left to absorb the water. With careful shopping, plenty of things on the supermarket shelves can be found that will cook this way. Ramen soup for example, is perfect, and I find I crave the salt. I often carry Lipton (aka Knorr) "side-dish" packets and find they work well, but I recommend choosing the rice entrees and avoiding those with big strap-like noodles.

Moose Goo

Ultralight Joe offers his recipe for "moose goo", consisting of: He packs a squeeze tube using 8/8/4 tablespoons and gets 1320 calories, 172g carbs, 24g protein, 38g fat; good for 2-3 lunches on large tortillas.

If you cannot find corn flour, peanut butter with just a small amount of honey on tortillas makes great food. Can be messy though. Ultralight Joe's tube would keep the mess in check.

Rocket Fuel

This is a mix of powders that you mix with cold water and guzzle down for a quick breakfast with staying power. A shaker is best for mixing, or just stir and stir and stir. If a "gatoraide scoop" is used as a measure, the above will be about right to prepare 0.5 liters of stuff. The gatoraide measure may be about 1/4 cup. Alternately, you can proportion the ingredients to match a standard "pouch" of instant breakfast as follows: Once I actually make this stuff again, I may update the above proportions. Obviously these are just starting points and there is no precise chemistry going on, so just experiment.
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's hiking pages / tom@mmto.org