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View Full Version : GORP on the AT!?!?



tlbj6142
03-18-2003, 10:51
On my weekend hikes, I typically avoid stopping for lunch (I get cramps easily). So I opt for a handful of GORP, 1 bite of a candy/power bar, cheese chunk, etc. every hour or so during short breaks.

Making and/or buying GORP before the weekend trips is relatively easy. Is it readily available along the AT, or will I have to buy separate ingredients and lug the extra GORP between stops?

Also, for those you that avoid a "big" lunch, what types of foods do you eat while during the day?

Redbeard
03-18-2003, 13:21
I just take a full hour and eat lunch, stretch out muscles and cool the feat.

DebW
03-18-2003, 13:57
You will probably find that you have trouble getting enough calories on a long hike if you don't stop to eat several times a day. I do the gorp only on winter hikes to avoid long stops, but find myself stopping for 3 lunches per day on longer mild-season hikes. Give yourself time to adjust and listen to your body. You might start with the just-snacking approach and work in several food breaks per day as your body demands more calories. Chances are you will tolerate it better once your body demands more food.

I assume you would most likely need to buy separate gorp ingredients and mix your own on the trail. I always carry gorp along with other lunch items, such as cheese, crackers, peanutbutter, dried fruit, logan bread, granola bars. I never eat until I'm stuffed during the day, so several small meals and additional snacks work well.

Scamp
03-18-2003, 15:24
GORP is too heavy and I stopped
carrying it last year.
I left it in hiker boxes, when possible.

Lunch was one of three choices:
1)PB&J Sandwiches
2)Power/Energy/Balance Bars
3)Meat/Cheese Sandwiches(pepperoni,
ham or chicken)

Sometimes, if I was wet/cold and at a shelter
I'd make some Cup-a-Soup with my sandwiches.
If I had gorp I'd eat the raisins and M&Ms for
additional calories.

It's better/cheaper to make your own gorp. Some grocery stores carry it, though.

Scamp

tlbj6142
03-18-2003, 15:29
I can understand the weight issue, but isn't PB@J just as heavy? Even with a small jar of PB and Jelly, it would seem to me to be just as heavy. Maybe not.

Redbeard
03-18-2003, 17:54
Jelly's all sugar, good calorie to weight ratio, and you can take smaller amounts of it, like the little packets you see at continentall breakfasts, or put the big jar in your bounce box and take smaller amounts in a plastic container. Peanut butter is the food of the god's, also high in calories, depending on what brand you get.

smokymtnsteve
03-18-2003, 18:00
......

Scamp
03-18-2003, 18:11
You got it!

No sense carrying peanut butter AND gorp.

Scamp

PushingDaisies
03-18-2003, 18:20
One thing that another hiker did last year was used one of the GladWare throw away food containers (the smallest, snack size) and put PB in half and J in the other half.

Not as heavy and she was only carrying what she needed.

You can then bounce the rest ahead, and fill up at your next stop.

Peaks
03-19-2003, 08:36
Peanut butter and gorp may feel heavy, but if you look at the labels, both have great calories per ounce ratio. These foods are dense.

At times, I carried Jiff Smooth Sensations chocolate silk peanut butter, and a GORP mix made with various nuts and dried fruites. Good stuff for me.

icemanat95
05-29-2003, 11:57
I quit with the Gorp after the first month. It was expensive, heavy AND bulky, plus it was difficult to eat on the move. Instead I opted for lunches made up of a variety of snack-type foods including granola bars, energy bars, candy (Skittles) and peanut butter or cheese snack cracker sandwiches. It worked well for me all the way to Maine. I got to really liking the snack crackers for their calories to weight ratio. Plus they are dirt cheap.

A lot of hikers would buy a package of bagels and base their lunches on those, I found bagels to be a bit heavy and bulky for my purposes. To each his or her own.

Sherpa
05-29-2003, 12:44
My consern is that so many good Cal things like PB or cheese make me so thursty?!?!?

asmtroop3
05-29-2003, 14:17
I found those individual tubes of peanut butter to be convienent and light enough to pack if you only take what you need. I put it on tortilla flats which is also easy to pack. I tried some dried bananas on it now all I have to do is remember the Bacos and I can have an Elvis sandwich

I still do gorp, I make my own with the usual stuff but I use mini M&M's and goldfish so it fits in those little plastic containers that the M&M's come in then I tape them to my pack straps and pull them off on the trail. they are about the size of shotgun shells so they only get one use then refill them. I call them gorp shooters.:banana :banana :banana :banana :banana

bigcat2
05-01-2004, 23:32
I just wanted to put my 2 cents in on the GORP "shooters". I recently did a long weekend trip in the Smokies and tried out the shooters idea. I thought they worked great and was able to eat on the go, even w/ trekking poles. Thanks for the idea.

art to linda
05-02-2004, 09:44
found an interesting set of refiiable squeeze tubes that should work well with peanutbutter & jellie(made by Coghlan's), plan on trying them out this week to see how leakproof they are....peanutbutter & jellie rolled in a tortilla is a great lunch ;)

SGT Rock
05-02-2004, 10:12
Nutalla and jelly burritos are my idea of a good snack.

Making trail gorp can be light and easy. Just add some small bags of ingredients. Regular bag of peanuts like honey rosted, a 4 ounce bag of craisens (not raisens), a 4 ounce bag of dried cherries, and a 4 ounce bag of pineapples makes about a pound of gorp and has a good calorie to weight ratio.

Moon Monster
05-02-2004, 12:00
Going back to the straight PBJ weight question; I found PBJ on dense bread like Lenders Bagels to be extremely comforting on a long hike. But, a three day supply for me (i.e., one 15 oz jar PB, one 21 oz bottle jelly, one 16 oz bag bagels) weighed upwards of four pounds with packaging and took up a lot of volume on day one. I also found I still had to substitute that with some other foods during my lunches. But, I was very happy on days when I could pull out the Strawberry sqeeze jelly bottle and go to town on it. Your own personal comfort foods can overrule strict weight issues from time to time.

Texas Dreamer
05-03-2004, 11:57
PB&J vs. Gorp

Have both at once! Peanuts, mini-prunes, craisins, and peanut butter baking chips mixed together taste exactly like PB&J. Somehow it even tastes grapey (I know not why).