Food Strategy 2

[wikea1]

What are some examples of people's daily food items that they ate throughout the day? Also, for the people who just bought food along the way with no mail drops, did you just go to stores and buy whatever food you could find that was hiker worthy and have a mixed up menu throughout the trip? or did you have specific food items that you bought throughout the trail towns? Thanks!

[garlic08]

...for the people who just bought food along the way with no mail drops, did you just go to stores and buy whatever food you could find that was hiker worthy and have a mixed up menu throughout the trip? or did you have specific food items that you bought throughout the trail towns? Thanks!

You nailed it, a combination of those worked fine for me, no mail drops. Just bought whatever was available at small stores, and looked for specific good stuff at the larger stores. Cereal, peanut butter, cheese, tortillas, cookies, crackers, ramen, bagels, fruit...whatever. It changed regionally, too, like excellent bagels in NY, excellent cheese in VT, Moon Pies in NC (kidding).

[mountain squid]

In addition to what garlic08 mentioned:

tuna packets
chicken packets
Lipton Sides
instant mashed potatoes
Snickers and other candy bars
power bars
trail mix
Little Debbies and other high calorie snack cakes (convenience stores are good for individual pkgd items, especially breakfast items)
jerky
occasional Mountain House meal
Poptarts
oatmeal
cereal bars

It is hard to maintain a decent variety, but even harder with mail drops. Since you've already bought the food and mailed it, you either eat it or give it away (which means you have to buy something else for yourself).

See you on the trail,
mt squid

[wikea1]

Thanks guys I think im just gonna shop like you guys I have the data book so I know how far away towns are and buy that much food for the amount of days I think it will take. I believe that is the easiest way I think. Thanks for the answers!

[Lone Wolf]

What are some examples of people's daily food items that they ate throughout the day? Also, for the people who just bought food along the way with no mail drops, did you just go to stores and buy whatever food you could find that was hiker worthy and have a mixed up menu throughout the trip? or did you have specific food items that you bought throughout the trail towns? Thanks!

i never do mail drops for food. buy as you go. lots of variety that way and you tend not to overbuy like folks with maildrops do

[Kanati]

A nice cup of hot cocoa at the end of a cold, wet day really goes down good and warms you up. You can buy these in individual bags. I like Swiss brand.

Also, here's something you may want to try which came to be know by the guys I was hiking with as, Kanati-o's. For breakfast, mix instant oatmeal, Swiss chocolate and pow-moo (powdered milk). Mix it at the rate that suites your taste. I liked regular flavored oatmeal but apple cinnamon may be good also. Anyway, eat this dry and chase it with water. No muss, no fuss, eat and hike.

For breakfast I also had a large handful of walnuts and raisens. The fat in walnuts are great for hiking. The natural sugar in raisens provides energy.

I ended each day with a multi-vitamin plus and E and an A vitamin, just to stay healthy. I got sick anyway but I was a healthy sick person. Pun intended.

Good luck, happing hiking. :sun

[SGT Rock]

Buy in town unless you have special needs. The variety helps keep meals from becoming the same old same old. There are times when you absolutely think you need to have something and it isn't there so you are forced to try something else, then find that you are glad you were forced to go in a different direction with food. My favorite example is honey buns. Never would have thought I would want to carry them but picked up a box in Hot Springs. Mmmmmmm....

You will have your own thing for food and it will change over time anyway. My recommendation is have an idea for the first few weeks what you need, then let the hunger you develop determine your strategy as you go.

My general list:

Breakfast:
2 packs of instant grits
3 coffee filter bags
2 granola bars
handful of nuts and/or fruit

Lunch:
Propel fitness water
Flat bread
couple of individual cheeses
Summer sausage
Hot soup

Dinner:
Liptons or something like it
Packet of chicken or something
pudding
hot tea
Flat bread

Snacks:
2-4 candy bars a day
couple of handfuls of gorp a day
some jerky

Condiments:
Mashed potato flakes
Olive oil
Hot sauce
powdered milk

[Blissful]

Not sure on the variety aspect of grocery stores as there are only certain things you can get for backpacking at a store, esp for dinner. Why people think it is the same old thing in mail drops and it's boring to get food that way makes no sense to me. The ramen, potatoe, stuffing, lipton method is about the only thing grocery stores offer. Even if you want something different, say couscous, you end up with a box of it that you can't possibly use unless you want couscous every day. The chicken and tuna packets really adds up in weight if you decide to haul four packets for four days' dinners (which most don't resort to. Then its just a potato packet for dinner which means less protein, less nutrition that your muscles need). I also found that having to figure out what food to buy for meals, etc was time consuming and even frustrating than having it all ready in a mail drop (esp as I was buying for 2 people. It was very tedious at this small store in Monson for the 100 mile wilderness when my drop sent surface did not arrive - which is another thing, send mail drops priority mail). And yeah, if you have a little extra in a mail drop, I'm sure some grateful hikers would LOVE the excess. Or put it in a hiker box. That really is no big deal.

Also, when you get to certain areas, all you can buy is what convenience stores have on their shelves and they are mega expensive with little to choose from.

At least with some drops you can dehydrate (like cans of chicken which weigh nothing or make up a beef crumbles) and make dinners up which were a great pick-me-up after a hard day on the trail and reduced the montony of it all. ATC has a good cookbook that we used. Lots of variety.

But hikers have used both methods successfully. I would likely use less drops next go around, but I would still use them.

[wrongway_08]

1) angel hair pasta and Prego sauce - the bags of it, not glass jars
2) chicken breast (BBQ, Lemon, garlic flavors) in the precooked packages.
3) Pulled BBQ, buns or wraps to eat it.

[jersey joe]

Snickers!

[JAK]

Not sure, but I would guess hikers burn up to 2:1 fat vs carbs. So they can go to a higher fat diet, but not to that extreme. It is most important not to run out of carbohydrates, as your brain depends on them to function properly. So I think a more moderate 1:1 ratio is better, which is still a very high fat diet.

A good ratio for lean hikers:
per 1000kcal burned
100 kcal protien = 25g
450 kcal carbohydrates = 112.5g
450 kcal fats = 50g
12.5g fiber
========
200g food per 1000 food calories
That would be a 45% Carb 45% Fat 10% Protien diet.

The dieting hiker might elect to burn some body fat along the way, so they might go to the same diet as above, but with most of the fat calories coming from body fat. Also, they might push the envelope on burning fat vs carbs to 2:1, by reducing their food consumption. I think they should still carry the food for perhaps 3:2 though, just to be safe, so they will have it if they get hungry or tired or cold.

A good ratio for a dieting hiker:
per 1000kcal burned
100 kcal protien = 25g
360 kcal carbohydrates = 90g
90 kcal from food fats = 10g
450 kcal from body fat = 50g
10g fiber
========
135g food per 1000 food calories burned
50g body fat burned per 1000 food calories burned

That would be a 66% Carb 16% Fat 18% Protien diet, which seems high carb,
but the amounts burned would be the same once you include the body fat.

Actual fat tissue is about 10% moisture, so in order to lose a pound of body fat, using this sort of a diet, and doing activities like walking that burn mostly fat, you would need to burn about 8000 kcal. While hiking that might be 0.5 pounds per day, or 3 pounds per week. While at home it might be more like 1.5 pounds per week.

Interesting table on net energy kcal/g for different types of protien, carbs, fats...
http://books.google.com/books?id=SRptlOx7yj4C&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=protien+kcal/g&source=web&ots=G50ft2ANnG&sig=Ihqh21kIaTWsxTyPKhi8CFkJ0AM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA116,M1

[wikea1]

Hey thanks for responding guys! Are there any spots along the trail where there are no food stores where you must resupply or are there always stores along the trail? Last question thanks!

[saimyoji]

don't forget tang. very healthy stuff.

[.5step]

stovetop stuffing!!

[Ramble~On]

I love to spend time in grocery stores /supermarkets checking out "trail" food.. Where there's a will...there's a way ! There are few items that can't be cooked on the trail...and I'm talking about 18 pound frozen turkeys and stuff like that.
The first couple of days out of town ought to be spent eatting like you're royalty. there's a weight penalty for fresh food but you don't have to go crazy with it and carry too much.

I did a bunch of maildrops in 1996 and it was nice having laundry det. small things of soap/shampoo and some items that I saved money on by buying in bulk...but the shipping quickly eats away at the savings made on bulk items. Planning for a solo hike you don't factor in the friends you'll meet along the trail and that shopping in groups often comes with rewards like splitting things up at the store... also...your tastes will change and buying food as you go allows you to decide then and there what's right and what suits you. Fontana Village is a good example of a place you might want to send a maildrop to and there are others but there's options for resupply here too.

Example food items throughout the day..this changes as tastes and availibility changes but aside from alot of what's already been mentioned
I like energy/nutrition bars like PowerBar Harvest, Larabar, Clif 20g protein Builder's Bars, Nature Valley Trail Mix bars, Larabar Jocalat , Welch's fruit snacks and Emergen-C drink mixes.

[JAK]

I love to spend time in grocery stores /supermarkets checking out "trail" food.. Where there's a will...there's a way ! There are few items that can't be cooked on the trail...and I'm talking about 18 pound frozen turkeys and stuff like that.
The first couple of days out of town ought to be spent eatting like you're royalty. there's a weight penalty for fresh food but you don't have to go crazy with it and carry too much.

I did a bunch of maildrops in 1996 and it was nice having laundry det. small things of soap/shampoo and some items that I saved money on by buying in bulk...but the shipping quickly eats away at the savings made on bulk items. Planning for a solo hike you don't factor in the friends you'll meet along the trail and that shopping in groups often comes with rewards like splitting things up at the store... also...your tastes will change and buying food as you go allows you to decide then and there what's right and what suits you. Fontana Village is a good example of a place you might want to send a maildrop to and there are others but there's options for resupply here too.

Example food items throughout the day..this changes as tastes and availibility changes but aside from alot of what's already been mentioned
I like energy/nutrition bars like PowerBar Harvest, Larabar, Clif 20g protein Builder's Bars, Nature Valley Trail Mix bars, Larabar Jocalat , Welch's fruit snacks and Emergen-C drink mixes.I brought an 18 pound turkey once. Once. It was a thanksgiving trip to Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia back when I was young and foolish. You are right. There are some items that can't be cooked on the trail. lol

My choice would also be to buy stuff along the way. Leaves choices to the last minute, and forces you to calculate and improvise on the spot. It is kinda like foraging. When I drive out to do the hike the Fundy Footpath I often leave with no food and just stop at a small convenience store in St. Martins before I hit the trail head. They cater to locals and hunters mostly, not yuppy hikers like me, but my digestive tract must be similar, because we eat much the same food. ;)

[Johnny Swank]

I don't even know what I'm having for dinner tonite, much less 3 months from now. I had a bunch of maildrops when I thruhiked, but wouldn't go that route again. Food is just too available on the trail to deal with the hassle.

When we end up on the PCT, we'll probably just send drops from the last real trail town to the places that you really, really need a maildrop.

[SGT Rock]

Hey thanks for responding guys! Are there any spots along the trail where there are no food stores where you must resupply or are there always stores along the trail? Last question thanks!
Check out Jack's Re-supply article. FWIW, I Planned a few food drops for a couple of those areas: 3 days of food from Port Clinton and 6 days of food out of Glencliff. The plan was to tell my wife what to put in while I was on the trail based on what I was interested in eating at the time, so I didn't buy something in January that I wouldn't want to eat by May or June. Then later I got this great idea from a WhiteBlazer (Mags I think) to use the method employed by hikers on the PCT: Mail drop yourself. From a town stop a week or so before you get to that place you feel you need a drop, buy what you like to eat at that town and mail it to yourself up the trail. But anyhow, I messed up a wheel before I ever got there so I did about 1/3 of the trail without any food drops.

Someone mentioned being stuck with the same stuff all the time because trail stores all have the same thing. Well that isn't always true either. I imagine if you re-supplied on the only close food at the trail you could have that problem. But if you look at it, you might get stuck with that sort of thing every other re-supply like at Treants Grocery, but when you get to places like Gatlinburg, Kinkora, Damascus, etc etc etc you can get to a large grocery store and shop around and look at some pretty cool food you might not have thought about using. Liptons and the like becomes last place to look after looking at lots of other options. What I have found over the years of backpacking that there are lots of cool new brands and meals for the non-cooker coming available and those translate to easy to make food for the trail for us simple boil-and-eat hikers. I had pesto spaghetti a couple of weeks ago on the trail and it rocked. I also learned how long cheeses and some meats will last on the trail (weeks if you hike when it is cold) so you can have REAL food instead of pre-packaged stuff you buy months ahead of time that need to last in a PO for months waiting for you to claim them.

----------------------

Edit: here is the link to Jack's article: http://www.whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=resupplypart1

[mister krabs]

I brought an 18 pound turkey once. Once. It was a thanksgiving trip to Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia back when I was young and foolish. You are right. There are some items that can't be cooked on the trail. lol ;)


With enough aluminum foil, firewood and time, that list is mighty short!

[JAK]

I will try the turkey thing again some day. :)

[SGT Rock]

I smoked a turkey. I imagine you could hot coal bake one with some foil and a good hot fire.

[mudhead]

Boiled chicken in a #10 can. Hot greasy food. We had fun.
Pot roast in foil sounds easier, less mess.

[JAK]

Mine was a total disaster. I was completely clueless, even more than I am now. It was back in 1986 or 1987. I lugged it the first day or two, as we eat Thanksgiving on Sunday up here, Columbus Day. Saturday Night, the second night, I was worried it might go bad, so bagged it and put it in a lake. Leeches had a field day. If I was a real man I might have cooked it and eaten it anyway. I hurled it into the bushes, which was another clueless thing to do. Good times. lol

[JAK]

Dropped a remote control in the kitchen sink once, and popped it in the microwave to dry it.
Believe me I've done alot of dumb stuff that you just can't make up.

[Cool AT Breeze]

Dropped a remote control in the kitchen sink once, and popped it in the microwave to dry it.
Believe me I've done alot of dumb stuff that you just can't make up.
Jak I think I'm begining to understand you.

[JAK]

You're just getting it now eh. lol

[Catalyst]

You guys have helped me out with meal ideas- no mail drops this time. I can't tell you how revolted I was by mac n cheese ("smackin' wheeze") old oatmeal and gorp two months old by the time i was well into VA. :eek: Probably the only somewhat *good* :-?food idea I had last time was mixing my instant mocha coffee powder (or instant pudding, if I had that in a drop) into my oatmeal- toothachingly sweet, but good energy until I'd bonk. The hiker boxes got fat on my mail drops for sure. I started buying fresh fruit, peanut butter, cheese and breads for lunches when i'd hit towns early on- and while we're at it, if you're the only one gnawing on that big ole hunka cheese, why bother cutting it? :D Cheese & sausage do make it just fine even when it warms up. I'm planning only meals for the first week and then it's eat what I can find in c-stores and grocery stores; will carry extra dried vegs is all. Hot sauce, garlic powder, black pepper & olive oil will make a number of sins palatable!:sun

[Jack Tarlin]

Also, don't neglect spices. I always carry Ziplox of seasoned salt; lemmon pepper; crushed red pepper; curry powder; garlic powder; onion powder; and mixed Italian seasoning. These go into just about everything I cook, and can really make Liptons, rice, stuffing, tater flakes, etc. actually taste like something you'd wanna eat. Spices can be purchesed cheaply en route (especially at dollar stores) and I re-fill my Ziplocks every few weeks from my bounce box.

[Johnny Swank]

+1 on spices. You can make a ton of stuff with some basic spices, noodles/rice, cheese, and whatever other staples you're in the mood for that week. We've gotten away from any Lipton meals, and just make up stuff on the fly now. Makes it easier to resupply once you get the hang of it.

[RememberYourZen]

Dropped a remote control in the kitchen sink once, and popped it in the microwave to dry it.
Believe me I've done alot of dumb stuff that you just can't make up.


hahahahah. incredible!

[boarstone]

Hey thanks for responding guys! Are there any spots along the trail where there are no food stores where you must resupply or are there always stores along the trail? Last question thanks!

If you make it to Monson maine, that will be your last resupply for 8-12 days, depends on your speed. You may need to have a food drop half-way thru. Check your trail guide your using, for Monson Maine area.

[boarstone]

If you make it to Monson maine, that will be your last resupply for 8-12 days, depends on your speed. You may need to have a food drop half-way thru. Check your trail guide your using, for Monson Maine area.


You'll be able to resupply at Whitehouse Landing. This section is the "100 mile wilderness" part.

[garlic08]

If you make it to Monson maine, that will be your last resupply for 8-12 days, depends on your speed. You may need to have a food drop half-way thru. Check your trail guide your using, for Monson Maine area.

If you're comfortable with 100 miles between food stores, there's no need for food drops anywhere.

Many NOBO thru hikers (the half dozen I met there last year, for instance) are able to hike the 100 mile wilderness in 5 days or less. The northern half of the "wilderness" seems pleasantly flat with good trail, a real joy to cruise after the Whites and Mahoosucs.

Besides the "wilderness", I only had one other 100-mile store-less stretch (in VA), and that's only because I limited my town stops and hitch-hiking.

[Downhill Trucker]

1) angel hair pasta and Prego sauce - the bags of it, not glass jars
2) chicken breast (BBQ, Lemon, garlic flavors) in the precooked packages.
3) Pulled BBQ, buns or wraps to eat it.

Where you gettin pulled BBQ from? Sounds delicous.