View Full Version : "Real" Cooking on the Trail is it Worth it?
irritable_badger
01-04-2006, 19:02
I have quite a bit of experience with shorter backpacking trips (80-200 miles) but nothing on the scale of my upcoming thru-hike. One of the biggest lessons I have learned from these short trips is that I like to eat well while on the trail. I like a hot breakfast and a hot dinner. Good food makes a big difference when the weather sucks and you are tired and sore. The question I have is fairly simple; is "real" cooking on the AT worth the extra weight, trouble, expense, time, etc... As I read the forums it looks like a lot of people sacrifice nutrition for weight savings. Is this a light weight fanatic thing or is carrying the extra weight, even considering the benefits, detrimental to completing the journey?
Cookerhiker
01-04-2006, 19:22
You'll probably receive a range of opinions on this. I didn't thruhike but I've done several 150 mile+ section hikes where I had to resupply and use maildrops. Personally, I agree with you on breakfast - I cook hot oatmeal from scratch every morning. I pre-mix the oatmeal at home with oats, flax meal, cracked wheat, powdered milk, and a spice. My dinners aren't heavy themselves - dried pasta, rice, bulgur wheat, and couscous - along with separate McCormicks and Knorr sauce packets and dried vegetables - but they require more cooking than Ramen or Lipton sides so I'm using a white gas stove.
I'm probably carrying more weight than many hikers but I don't mind. I think your instincts are sound - nutrition is important on a long hike. So to answer your question: "is 'real' cooking on the AT worth the extra weight, trouble, expense, time, etc... ", my answer is yes.
My wife and I are section hikers so we like hot meals too. Breakfast and dinner. These are really good on a cold or rainy day. The extra weight is worth it. Depends on the length of our hike as to what types of food we will carry. Dehydrated vs some that are not or a combination of both. Most of the time it is a combination of both types. This helps keep the weight down and we still get a hot meal.:)
Lone Wolf
01-04-2006, 19:57
I have quite a bit of experience with shorter backpacking trips (80-200 miles) but nothing on the scale of my upcoming thru-hike. One of the biggest lessons I have learned from these short trips is that I like to eat well while on the trail. I like a hot breakfast and a hot dinner. Good food makes a big difference when the weather sucks and you are tired and sore. The question I have is fairly simple; is "real" cooking on the AT worth the extra weight, trouble, expense, time, etc... As I read the forums it looks like a lot of people sacrifice nutrition for weight savings. Is this a light weight fanatic thing or is carrying the extra weight, even considering the benefits, detrimental to completing the journey?
A thru-hike is a bunch of short trips strung together. "real" cooking is most certainly worth the extra weight, which ain't much. This lite-weight s**t is for sure a fad. I've got a few thru-hikes carrying extra stuff and weight. Bon appetit!
I find that it is not so much the weight - it is the volume. With a 4000-4500 cu in pack, it is simply not possible to carry "real" foods. Maybe in the summer, but not in colder or cool weather... And if you're like me, you eat more in cold weather.
I have quite a bit of experience with shorter backpacking trips (80-200 miles) but nothing on the scale of my upcoming thru-hike. One of the biggest lessons I have learned from these short trips is that I like to eat well while on the trail. I like a hot breakfast and a hot dinner. Good food makes a big difference when the weather sucks and you are tired and sore. The question I have is fairly simple; is "real" cooking on the AT worth the extra weight, trouble, expense, time, etc... As I read the forums it looks like a lot of people sacrifice nutrition for weight savings. Is this a light weight fanatic thing or is carrying the extra weight, even considering the benefits, detrimental to completing the journey?
Well, I cooked "real" foods during my six months and three days in 1993 -- partly because I'm a scrounge and resist buying "packaged convenience foods" that cost two or three times the cost of generic equivalent, especially since convenience offers marginal, or nonexistent, weight savings.
My secondary reason was simply that my concoctions tasted better.
I used several containers of chipped beef, canned tuna, corned beef,
etc every week or so, which typically added a half pound to my average pack weight.
I always felt the marginal extra weight was worth it, especially, when I added a summer sausage or a bit of fresh vegetables, or fresh fruit to the mix
Weary
SGT Rock
01-04-2006, 21:48
Food makes hiking fun. Eat as much real stuff as you have room and time to carry or prepare. I like hot breakfast with coffee and hot dinner, and have even been known to do a hot luch too. With the package meals out there it is easy to come up with interesting things to prepare with a little imagination and shopping time.
Of course simple and fast has its place too.
Alligator
01-04-2006, 21:53
I find that it is not so much the weight - it is the volume. With a 4000-4500 cu in pack, it is simply not possible to carry "real" foods. Maybe in the summer, but not in colder or cool weather... And if you're like me, you eat more in cold weather.
I go to the trouble, but I just section hike. I think it's worth it though. The most basic things you do are eating, sleeping, and walking. Eating should be a pleasure. You could budget for extra food space and get a slightly larger pack if needed.
I'm the opposite. In the winter, I like to take some fresh food. The refrigeration is nice and I have to move up to my winter pack anyway so I have extra room.
I am a Thru-hiker. Not that I have the only way, just to say that Thru-hiking is different that long distance hiking, section hiking, backpacking, camping, walking, or hanging out in the woods with a 4WD truck and cooler full of beer. I have done (and continue to do) all these things. I like food, for that matter, food is #2 while doing any long hike. Good sleeping being #1.
After the initial shake down this is what worked for me. In town I would eat anything that I wanted. I would eat too much. On the day of leaving, I would go to the local grocery store and pick out 1 day less of food than I thought I would need to carry me through to the next town. The first meal would be fresh food, hot dogs, potatoes, lettuce, steaks, corn on the cob, whatever turned me on while I was in the store. This I cooked (over a small fire, with no pot) on the first night. The balance of pack food would be whatever looked good at the time that I stood in the store. Bread and cheese, cookies and peanut butter, carnation instant breakfast and powder milk, can of nuts, whatever looked good. Walking into town with an empty pack, but not yet hungry, is Perfect!
Real cooked food is a big Sprit lifter while on any long hike, even more on a Thru-hike. Yes, many Thru-hikers that planed what to eat six months before they started did not like seeing me eating grilled pork chops with baked patato and sour cream, in the middle of nowhere. But then, I could not figure out just what, and how much, that I would want to eat on a trip that I had never done before.
In several places I could eat a meal at the local resturant and walk to the next one for the next meal. Another thing that I noticed, everywhere I went, someone there could speak, at least passable, english and they all took my American money. On the trail, some could not do without morning coffee, but by mid summer many would not cook at all, including making breakfast oatmeal with cold water.
I am a Thru-hiker. Not that I have the only way, just to say that Thru-hiking is different that long distance hiking, section hiking, backpacking, camping, walking, or hanging out in the woods with a 4WD truck and cooler full of beer. I have done (and continue to do) all these things. I like food, for that matter, food is #2 while doing any long hike. Good sleeping being #1.
After the initial shake down this is what worked for me. In town I would eat anything that I wanted. I would eat too much. On the day of leaving, I would go to the local grocery store and pick out 1 day less of food than I thought I would need to carry me through to the next town. The first meal would be fresh food, hot dogs, potatoes, lettuce, steaks, corn on the cob, whatever turned me on while I was in the store. This I cooked (over a small fire, with no pot) on the first night. The balance of pack food would be whatever looked good at the time that I stood in the store. Bread and cheese, cookies and peanut butter, carnation instant breakfast and powder milk, can of nuts, whatever looked good. Walking into town with an empty pack, but not yet hungry, is Perfect!
Real cooked food is a big Sprit lifter while on any long hike, even more on a Thru-hike. Yes, many Thru-hikers that planed what to eat six months before they started did not like seeing me eating grilled pork chops with baked patato and sour cream, in the middle of nowhere. But then, I could not figure out just what, and how much, that I would want to eat on a trip that I had never done before.
In several places I could eat a meal at the local resturant and walk to the next one for the next meal. Another thing that I noticed, everywhere I went, someone there could speak, at least passable, english and they all took my American money. On the trail, some could not do without morning coffee, but by mid summer many would not cook at all, including making, bought before the hike, breakfast oatmeal with cold water.
Oops...I'm drowning....I did not hit send.....Help!....Oh my!!....Help....
max patch
01-04-2006, 22:43
It depends on the trip. It also depends on you.
On short trips we eat like kings. Bakepacker. Zip Stove with grill. Real frying pans. Etc.
On my thru I made camp time as less as a hassle as possible. I wanted to spend my time walking, not cooking. Within 2 weeks breakfast was cold cereal/instant oatmeal. Didn't need nor want coffee. Lunch was always PBJ bagel. Supper was the only hot meal of the day, and it was generally a one pot liptons. Eat good in town and maybe bring something from a deli for the first meal on the trail.
The majority of hikers on thru's don't make a big deal out of cooking and opt for simplicity. A very few, however, make cooking one of the focal points of their trip. Choice is yours.
Skidsteer
01-04-2006, 23:51
http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/
Worth a look.
i carried all kinds of heavy real food coming out of town. pizza was a sweet surprize...just do what ya feel like doing, you'll get tired without the extra food, and food can be strapped to the outside even on a 3500 cube pack, so pack size don't mean squat. steak and potatos, polish sausage, fruit, pork tenders and potatos, pizza cheese peperoni, man the list is endless and i bet i forgot a lot of good fresh food i packed in, it just makes sense to me to take advantage of the good food and whole calories
smokymtnsteve
01-05-2006, 01:09
Horace Kephart author of "our southern highalnders"
said something like.."we don't go to the woods to rough it but to smooth out the roughness of civilization"
therefore I say go to the woods to enjoy yourself,,
I enjoy good food and when I hike I always try to eat well and foods that I enjoy.....LIFE IS GOOD,,,ENJOY YOURSELF,,
It's only a "WALK IN THE WOODS"
the goat
01-05-2006, 09:02
screw the stove, you don't need it. too much of a hassel just to eat hot oatmeal in the morning & different variations of the same noodle concoction every night. but you'll have to find this out for yourself. plus, you'll never have to do dishes:D
I like to call good food on the trail "Disposable Weight" ya ain't gonna carry it for ever!
Most of the replies thus far have been from section hikers, not thru-hikers.
For thru-hikers, I think that Max Patch hit it pretty close. Most thru-hikes prefer to spend their time walking and not cooking. Meals get to be pretty basic and simple. If cooking is involved, it's a one pot meal, because that's all the pots they have. And it's probably only a small pot.
Of course, there are those that do more elaborate meals, but they carry more weight, and probably do fewer miles.
Like all things, there is no one right way or wrong way to hike the AT. All part of hike your own hike
Spirit Walker
01-05-2006, 10:12
I knew thruhikers who spent a lot of effort cooking, but most of us just did the one pot meal thing. No reason you can't cook breakfast and dinner, but I think you'll find with time that all you really want to do at the end of the day is crash, so your meals will probably simplify. If you are doing maildrops though, with dehydrated meals, there is no reason not to eat well. It gets harder when you are limited to a small grocery store selection. As others have said, a lot of people bring 'real food' out of town and eat it the first night. Others bring six packs. You do whatever makes you happy. There is plenty of time for most AT hikers to get the miles in and still have time for cooking - it's just the energy/interest that may be lacking. Unfortunately, the trail ruined me for cooking. I want my off trail meals to be as easy as the on-trail meals were. But I don't eat Liptons if I can help it except when hiking.
When I hike to camp, will often make gourmet meals.
However, when I am thru-hiking, camping is secondary to me.
I hike all day from sunrise to almost sunset (and even past sunset on occasion). I want something quick. Boil. cook. eat.
I am a hiker who happens to camp on thru-hikes. Sometimes I am a camper who is hiking into a site. A subtle, but important difference, that dictates what gear I carry or what I cook.
The Italian phrase of the day calendar for January 4th (it was a gift) : E l'ora di mangiare.
Lit: It is the hour of eating. How appropriate! :)
Papa Razzi
01-05-2006, 19:18
I ended up settling for a happy medium on my thru in terms of cooking. I wouldn't do anything too fancy, but I'd go a step up from just Lipton's. My typical dinners would often be a rice/lentil mixture with curry powder, cheese, and sometimes tuna or half a packet of instant mashed potatoes, half a box of stuffing, canned chicken, and sometimes cheese. I almost always restricted myself to a one pot, quick cooking, just-add-water meal.
During the summer months I found it annoying to eat a hot meal on a hot evening, so I went stoveless for awhile, normally eating a few tortillas filled with hummus and cheese and a few side items.
Irritable Badger:
What I found is that a cooked breakfast is nice in the late winter and early spring, but once the days get hot, I was looking to hit the trail ASAP so I could knock out 10-12 miles by noon. That was the primary factor in the cooking vs. not cooking decision. I started eating cold in the morning once I reached central/northern VA. I still liked a hot dinner, and kept on eating those right on through to Maine.
Of course, you might find that you like to continue to cook a hot breakfast or make coffee in the morning. You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger coffee junkie than me, but I go without on the trail, and imbibe in towns.
Cookerhiker
01-07-2006, 07:54
Irritable Badger:
.... You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger coffee junkie than me, but I go without on the trail, and imbibe in towns.
Same here - funny how the body works. At home and in all aspects of non-Trail life, I need my morning coffee but on the Trail, I skip it, don't miss it, and don't need it.