View Full Version : How much trail mix do you bring?
pattydivins
06-08-2009, 22:11
Well how much of the gorp do you bring along with you at the start of a journey? :D
6oz per day. The recipe is use is below because of the extremely high protein since both soybeans and pumpkin seeds have about 10g of protein per ounce. Then obviously high unsaturated fat content as well. This way everything else i eat can be mostly carbs.
2oz roated soybeans, 2oz raw pumpkin seeds (shelled), 1 oz raisins, 1 oz dry roasted peanuts.
815 calories
52g fat (pretty much all unsaturated)
39g non-fiber carbs
45g protein
depends on the trip. for overnighters, i usually don't bother making any. i went through about an 8oz cupful/day during a week wandering around the smokies once... hard climbing, and i needed the energy... enough for a small handful every hour or so... ymwv.
Phoenixdadeadhead
06-08-2009, 22:38
I have 48 ounces for my next 3 week hike
None.
I got sick of it years ago :D (And I can't eat it with braces on anyways!)
garlic08
06-09-2009, 00:01
I just carry the ingredients in bulk--a bag of raisins and a bag of nuts--usually a pound of each at a typical resupply.
Pokey2006
06-09-2009, 02:50
I'm with Sarbar: none. I hate the stuff. The nuts and chocolate I don't mind, but the dried fruit and raisins? Eww.
I'm with Sarbar: none. I hate the stuff. The nuts and chocolate I don't mind, but the dried fruit and raisins? Eww.
Make your own with what you like.
I might bring currants and almonds, but not much. I might add them to my oatmeal for flavour or denser calories, or snack them by the handful as trail food. They aren't a staple, but if I lost more weight and needed more calories then maybe, but I'm not there yet.
bigcranky
06-09-2009, 07:30
I bring a ziploc sandwich bag about 1/2 full for each day on the trail. I suspect it's about 6 ounces per day, but I don't weigh it.
Cashews, craisins, cherries, chocolate chips (M+Ms in summer).
Fiddleback
06-09-2009, 09:08
The response that first came to mind was, "Too much." It seems I was/am always bringing home leftovers. Nothing wrong with that, as Jerry would say, but the idea of carrying the extra pack weight bothered me.
A while back I decided to incorporate the 'snack' into the 'meal'. The intent is to snack more often and have an extended rest period around noon but no longer have 'lunch.' My standard and favorite lunch was gouda and pepperoni, now it's more trail snack. In theory, the leftovers are minimized and the trail diet, absent the gouda and pepperoni, is much healthier. A few ounces are shaved off the pack weight, too.
My gorp differs a bit from above postings...I've grown weary of chocolate throughout the day. My snack is now built around mixed nuts, dried fruit, and yogurt raisins. Occasionally I add bits of caramel. The chocolate is saved for nighttime.;)
FB
none i use mini snickers and babyruths as my snacks throughout the day
healthymom
06-09-2009, 09:44
I have read references in this forum to gorp not being so yummy. (polite language) Also, in reading this thread I see that not everyone is enamoured of it.
I find this curious. I LOVE gorp. I make what I refer to as Christmas cookie gorp. I bake 20-25 different batches of cookies to give as gifts for Christmas every year. I then take all the leftover dried fruits, nuts, coconut and choc chips and dump it all into a gallon ziplock. I have to hide it in back of the freezer under other stuff to keep the children out of it. The gorp rarely lasts to summer.
A typical mix would include: coconut, dried cherries, figs, dates, raisins, apricots, Macadamia nuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, walnuts and choc chips.
So the question is, would this be considered yucky gorp, that others would prefer I not offer to them? Which in the end is OK with me because that leaves more for us to enjoy. Or would others consider it the trail treat my children and I do?
Dee
healthymom
Pathfinder
06-09-2009, 09:54
I like bringing dried fruits and other "good" snacks but nothin beats chocolate. I usually end up seperating the snacks because eventually it all starts to taste the same.
So the question is, would this be considered yucky gorp, that others would prefer I not offer to them? Which in the end is OK with me because that leaves more for us to enjoy. Or would others consider it the trail treat my children and I do?
Dee
healthymom
It isn't that I find it yucky - more that I just don't find it appealing any more. (Does that make sense? Lol!) A couple years ago it started happening - I'd find it heavy to the taste - more it took too long for it to digest in my stomach. Chocolate became a turn off on hot days as well to me.
So instead I started eating bars, cookies, etc that I made at home - easier to stick in my maw while hiking. Not as a heavy in the stomach, so they digested faster. I still take nuts, but now I grind them down into small dices (brace friendly) and use them in dinners for extra protein/fat. Love toasted walnuts in pasta, or peanuts with spicy Thai noodles!
I went to mostly freeze dried fruit as well - the regular stuff is too chewy. I use my fd fruit now in my meals as well. Berries or mangoes in breakfast, a handful of fd banana slices at lunch, maybe cranberries or cherries in dinner. That kind of thing!
So in a way I still eat some of it - just not in the typical gorp fashion :D
LaurieAnn
06-09-2009, 10:49
I love GORP and we make it with enough variety that we don't get sick of it. Sometimes it's savoury and spicy and other times it is sweet and salty.
For a 14 day trip I would be likely to take about 1/2 to 2/3 cup per person depending on the terrain and length of travel each day. We also end up packing some out but there has been the odd time we got storm bound for a day or two and it was helpful to have the extra food.
Here are some of our variations...
The Old Standby
Smarties® (these are like M&M's), sunflower seeds, peanuts, almonds, and banana chips
Tobias' Pirate Food (he's my 8 year old)
Cap'n Crunch®, raisins, milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, roasted-salted peanuts, sunflower seeds
Bryan's - All Spiced Up (my husband's favorite)
smoked almonds, barbeque corn nuts, corn chips, roasted green peas, honeyed sunflower seeds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and barbeque peanuts
Opeongo Overload (my personal favorite)
banana chips, honeyed sunflower seeds, sultana raisins, chopped dates, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, chunks of dark chocolate, dry-roasted peanuts and cashews
Jami Lee's Marshmall-O's (she's my great-niece)
mini marshmallows, Honey Nut Cheerios®, milk chocolate chips
LaurieAnn
06-09-2009, 10:50
grrr... my brain is on vacation today... I meant to type...
For a 14 day trip I would be likely to take about 1/2 to 2/3 cup per person per day depending on the terrain and length of travel each day.
Serial 07
06-09-2009, 11:11
reese's pieces...
Cabin Fever
06-09-2009, 11:59
reese's pieces...
Trail mix is not trail mix without some sweets. I like to buy mixed nuts, throw in raisins and a pound of m&ms or reese's.
pattydivins
06-10-2009, 17:16
Can you find enough variety of gorp items along the trail to change it up every now and then and create new varieties?
I really enjoy dried fruits (ie: fd bananas, blueberries, etc.), are these easy to come by?
4 ounces per day, but even that small amount ends up being too much since I lose my taste for it after a few days.
Pokey2006
06-10-2009, 17:27
Make your own with what you like.
Or I could just buy a bag of peanut M & Ms...
Dried fruit is not as universally appealing as, say, chocolate. Kinda like broccoli -- some folks love it, others not so much.
bigcranky
06-10-2009, 17:27
Can you find enough variety of gorp items along the trail to change it up every now and then and create new varieties?
I really enjoy dried fruits (ie: fd bananas, blueberries, etc.), are these easy to come by?
In my experience in the South, yes. Not at every gas station convenience store, of course, but the larger towns have nice grocery stores with a full range of food.
pattydivins
06-10-2009, 18:34
I am going to be hiking in the north (MA to ME specifically)
garlic08
06-10-2009, 20:10
I really enjoy dried fruits (ie: fd bananas, blueberries, etc.), are these easy to come by?
My friend would often manage to find dried blueberries in small packages, but he paid dearly for them, something like $4 an ounce! The larger groceries would have them with the raisins. I'm a cheapskate so I would stick with 'good old raisins and peanuts' (hey, I like the acronym that makes!).
I was resupplying at a natural food store in Flagstaff, AZ the other week, and noticed that their trail mixes were selling for as much as $14 per pound. A few bins down, the ingredients were selling for a maximum of $8 per pound. Trail mix in a store is often a rip-off.
MintakaCat
06-10-2009, 21:25
Trail mix in a store is often a rip-off.
That's the reason I just make my own, I also noticed the same thing.
Allen1901
06-11-2009, 05:28
I like to share so i take a 1 liter Nalgene full.
I buy Sam's Choice (Walmart brand) indulgent trail mix. It's really heavy on the white chocolate chips. It has plenty of cashews too.It's 4.50 for a large bag.
Cheers!
mweinstone
06-11-2009, 06:34
i dont usually eat much of mine but give it away or just carry it for weight. cause i like to backpack? so five pounds is the most i ever have but allways 3 as a minnimum. if that makes no sense at all, yeah. im matthewski. and i dont carry alot of sugar so my gorp has more light things in it like cookies rather than all heavy m and m's or just gummys. i l;ike to mix a gallon ziplock 3/4's full at about 3 lbs with :ginger snaps,gummies,chocolate,donuts,cashews,and other crap that really dosnt belong in a bag together witch is why its so fun to give out and see the reactions of carriers of only: good old rasins & peanuts" witch of course as us gorp officinados with doctorits in gorp thery know spells gorp. most of you dont know the womans name who invented the word. she practically raised two daughters out of backpacks and is a well known wild cook writter. guesses? first name is ruth.
I'm currently on a bar-b-que Fritos and bar-b-que corn nuts kick. Great by themselves or added to most any meal at the end of the day. Dumping a handful of fritos into a Mountain House meal makes it almost good.
Gorp-Gobbler
06-11-2009, 10:35
With a "Trail Name" like mine, what do you think?:D:D
i do 2 different trail mixes. 1 is more of a gorp (mixed nuts, raisins and m&m's dark choc). the other is a fruity variety of dried bananas, craisins and yogurt covered raisins. mmmm
i tell myself i'm eating healthy when i'm munching on the 2nd bag
pattydivins
06-11-2009, 22:51
I am bringing ~2lbs of some trail mix to start, seems like a good amount I wonder how long it will last.
I wonder how long it will last.
A ong time. If it gets hot, your chocolate may melt. Still edible. Worse is the nuts get stale.
Oops, or how long it will last eating wise? :D Measure out how many cups are in the 2 lbs. Figure 1/2 a cup a day or more.
medicjimr
06-12-2009, 11:09
Not a whole lot, since the nuts tend to get me thirsty and theres times I need to stretch the water between fill ups. Figure thats why they have free nuts in bars to keep you thirsty.
Fiddleback
06-12-2009, 11:31
A ong time. If it gets hot, your chocolate may melt. Still edible. Worse is the nuts get stale.
Melt? Melt can be a good thing!:sun
So there I was...getting ready for bed last night when the urge for something sweet and chewy hit. Was I the victim of a WhiteBlaze post-hypnotic suggestion? Knowing there wasn't anything in the pantry to match my craving I hit my backpacking stash.
Whatdya know? Leftover trail gorp! This batch with a heavy mix of salt water taffy bought at the famous candy store in Phillipsburg, MT ( http://www.sweetpalace.com/ ). And guess what...I packaged it unwrapped and, even in the cool temps of storage, it melted. Of at least, 'spread out.' All the different flavors of the taffy blended and mixed with yogurt huckleberrys and dark-chocolate--covered macadamians. What a treat!
I was a pretty happy camper last night and never left the house. Trail mix isn't just for the trail, anymore. If it ever was. :D And, just by coicidence I'm sure, I forgot my regular Friday morning weigh-in today.:-?
FB
You could make your own so that it doesn't have any salt in it. A good idea is to figure out exactly how much sodium and potassium and you need, and where you want to put it. There is usually enough potassium in all plant food, white rice and white flour being exceptions. Sodium is naturally scarce in food, with the exception of milk, blood, and stuff like seaweed. Once you have enough sodium and potassium in your regular hiking diet, you might need some extra for extreme sweating days where you need more salt out of proportion to the food you will be eating. This is normally what gatoraide is for, and it works, but I just think it is usually overdone, especially if hikers already have too much sodium and enough potassium in their regular hiking diets. I think Sarbar does a good job of limiting sodium, and she makes her own sports drink for sweaty days, using that half-and-half stuff I think. Gatoraide or Poweraide diluted extra, or not drunk every time, is another way to go.
I get enough normal ammounts of sodium in my skim milk powder at 2 litres of skim milk a day, and enough potassium in the oats and lentils and dried fruit. For extra sodium if I get into long sweaty days there is the Bay of Fundy here, or I can just bring some extra salt to add to my oatmeal, or I can add salt to my homemade jerky which I don't have to add any salt to but its a nice place to put any extra salt I might need. They trick then would be to save the jerky for the sweatiest days. I wouldn't add salt to homemade trail mix, and I don't always add salt to homemade jerky. For a short trip, dried food even dried meat doesn't need to be salted.
I like to put my extra salt in homemade jerky
Oops, that last line was a left over from my editing.
I add alot less salt to my homemade jerky than what you get in stores.
Sometimes none, but if I do need any extra salt its a good place to put it.
Jak - yep! :) When I do eat nuts I buy unsalted - just prefer that way as well!
On sport drink mixes, I drink Zip Fizz now...very low sodium and a hint of caffeine. Just enough to get me eating on hot days but not overdo it.
Jayboflavin04
06-13-2009, 17:25
I make my gorp with a bunch of differnt stuff peanut n honey roasted peanuts, bananna chips, craisins, yogurt covered raisin, raisins, cut up licorice, m&ms. I usually go down a couple aisles and pick up what looks tastey at the time.
saimyoji
06-13-2009, 17:35
And guess what...I packaged it unwrapped and, even in the cool temps of storage, it melted. Of at least, 'spread out.'
FB
gravity will do that if its not fridged. but then rock hard saltwater taffy isn't any fun to eat.
Well how much of the gorp do you bring along with you at the start of a journey? :D
NEVER bring more than you are willing to give away....:D
ShelterLeopard
06-14-2009, 00:11
I don't like trail mix- I just bring plenty of snickers bars and beef jerky.
ShelterLeopard
06-14-2009, 00:21
PS- I like salt and vinegar almonds, but only when I'm near a water sourse- they make me really thirsty.
Pokey2006
06-14-2009, 02:17
Oh, good -- I'm not the only one who hits the "backpacking stash" late at night! So sad when you're rummaging through bags of dehydrated goods just to get a fix from some craving. But so good when you find that giant bag of mini-Snickers right when you desperately need some chocolate...
Melt? Melt can be a good thing!:sun
So there I was...getting ready for bed last night when the urge for something sweet and chewy hit. Was I the victim of a WhiteBlaze post-hypnotic suggestion? Knowing there wasn't anything in the pantry to match my craving I hit my backpacking stash.
Whatdya know? Leftover trail gorp! This batch with a heavy mix of salt water taffy bought at the famous candy store in Phillipsburg, MT ( http://www.sweetpalace.com/ ). And guess what...I packaged it unwrapped and, even in the cool temps of storage, it melted. Of at least, 'spread out.' All the different flavors of the taffy blended and mixed with yogurt huckleberrys and dark-chocolate--covered macadamians. What a treat!
I was a pretty happy camper last night and never left the house. Trail mix isn't just for the trail, anymore. If it ever was. :D And, just by coicidence I'm sure, I forgot my regular Friday morning weigh-in today.:-?
FB
Allen1901
06-14-2009, 18:47
If you like salty tasting GORP try adding Pistachio nuts.
Cheers!
Altogether.......
None...not a bit
Three or four of us would all buy a couple ingredients and make a group gorp to split. Anything and everything went in it. Several times we left town with 5lbs each of gorp. Better energy food than sugary bars all the time. Sometimes I got sick of it and carried a couple extra pounds.
Rockhound
06-30-2009, 18:22
How the hell is this thread 49 posts long?
njordan2
06-30-2009, 18:27
2 pounds of almond m&m's per week.
YoungMoose
06-30-2009, 18:35
I bring 1 cup a day.
Allen1901
07-02-2009, 10:03
How the hell is this thread 49 posts long?
It's not anymore. It's 52 posts long. LOL
Cheers!
JessieRvnsmk
07-06-2009, 09:40
53 now.
I love GORP, but prefer to make my own. Not a fan of salted nuts mixing it with my M&Ms and there are NEVER enough banana chips in any of the store bought brands.
sheepdog
07-06-2009, 10:21
None, I carried a pound of the stuff 150 miles and never ate it. It just doesn't do it for me on the trail. Snickers bars, now that's trail food.
LaurieAnn
07-06-2009, 16:26
Apparently too much on this last excursion... lol.
gorp sure does weigh a lot...
gorp sure does weigh a lot...
But look at the calorie to ounce ratio. Good stuff.
ShelterLeopard
07-13-2009, 18:11
Well how much of the gorp do you bring along with you at the start of a journey? :D
As unpopular as this will sound, I HATE trail mix. Almost as much as I hate granola. But I really like all other trail food, so I eat plenty of that. Especially snickers bars, milky ways and almonds.
None.
We ate Hostess Fruit Pies instead. Way tastier.
:D
Dicentra
07-14-2009, 01:27
None.
We ate Hostess Fruit Pies instead. Way tastier.
:D
That's true. I also had dried mangos, dark chocolate and a couple of kind of nuts (none of this mixed together) in my pack. The herbed almonds from World Market rock!
Chocolate espresso caramel bars from Starbucks. Those are quite tasty!
TIDE-HSV
07-21-2009, 00:29
When you normally pack as part of a married tandem, you're not always in charge of the gorp package, and my wife is a gorp-fiend. I've tried to point out that bringing a pound back from a week backpack is not really cool weight management, but that doesn't seem to get anywhere. Oh well, it's always around for a late snack...
ShelterLeopard
07-21-2009, 09:20
Chocolate espresso caramel bars from Starbucks. Those are quite tasty!
You know what would be really good? Chocolate covered coffee beans..... As long as they don't melt. I'll eat them all in February!!!
Well how much of the gorp do you bring along with you at the start of a journey? :D
Twice as much as I need. Friends get hungry, too!
My new and current favorite is a simple mix of lightly salted roasted cashews and dried cranberries. I'm not as inclined to pick one out as I am when I use M&Ms and peanuts (guess which I eat first :rolleyes:).