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elytis
04-23-2012, 19:20
So I have been experimenting with foods that meet a few criteria over the past few days.

1) require very little prep or extra ingredients.
2) light weight and small
3) taste is decent

On this journey of mine I have tried many meals ranging from downright disgusting to surprisingly tasty. As I sat down and ate my pre-packaged garlic and parmesaen mashed potates with a can of tuna thrown in (suprisingly it actually wasn't bad at all) I thought to myself what crazy things people have thrown together and eatten while on the trail.

So I pose this question to you all...What is the weirdest thing you have eatten on the trail? Were you just so hungry it didn't matter what was in it or was it actually something you would eat again today?

Can't wait to read the responses!

Spokes
04-24-2012, 09:04
Where's Minnesota Smith and his canned dried squid when you need him?.........

flemdawg1
04-24-2012, 10:01
I inhaled a bug once.

MyName1sMud
04-24-2012, 10:33
Haven't hit the trail yet but while on a few different other trails... People always turn their noses up at my "power breakfast". It consists of 2 eggs (scrambled) but while you are scrambling the eggs... Dump a can or two of tuna in on top. Cook together.

Sent from my Milestone X using Tapatalk 2

max patch
04-24-2012, 13:03
Back in the day I hiked about 300 miles with Taro, who is of Japanese descent. He shared some of his dried octopus and other food items with me and while I wouldn't call them "weird" they were certainly foods I had never had before.

The weirdest thing I ate was probably scrabble in Pennsylvania.

kayak karl
04-24-2012, 14:59
dog treats. got pockets mixed up.

aaronthebugbuffet
04-24-2012, 18:44
dog treats. got pockets mixed up.
Did you immediately notice or did you finish them all before you realized?

kayak karl
04-24-2012, 18:53
first one tasted funny, but i looked at the next. :)

somebody said scrapple is strange? we go to the Amish market every month to buy scrapple, sausage, liver, tongue and kidney :)

rocketsocks
04-24-2012, 18:53
I really don't have a problem with my foods touching each other,but I guess a chicken ramen noodle in a cup of coffee wasn't the brightest thing I've ever done,though it wasn't on the trail.

Wise Old Owl
04-24-2012, 19:27
I inhaled a bug once.


Thers a real man.... owns up and admits....wow!

Cooked some prawns from the trail I didn't have to catch them the heavy rains left them high and dry on the side of Hawk Mountain the next morning...

2nd place FD Peasant Omelet....ewwwe.

rjjones
04-24-2012, 19:53
Scrapple is an eastern PA thing.I believe it to be the #1 food for breakfast.But i'm from eastern pa and grew up on it.Now grits???

Pony
04-24-2012, 20:12
I got a mail drop in hanover that had a canned herring filet in it in a spicy tomato sauce. I threw in some zatarans jambalaya rice mix, peppers, onions, corn, carrots, peas. I was so excited, I thought it was going to be a gourmet trail meal. The fish taste was overpowering and ruined the whole dish. Disgusting. I was so hungry though that I ate the whole thing. About a quart and a half. The lesson is that if your girlfriend doesn't hike, tell her what to put in the mail drop or you'll wind up eating canned herring from the dollar store.

Wise Old Owl
04-24-2012, 20:16
Scrapple is an eastern PA thing.I believe it to be the #1 food for breakfast.But i'm from eastern pa and grew up on it.Now grits???


Nothing wrong with grits when its covered in Red Eye Gravy - and it contains....CAFFEINE!

BigHodag
04-24-2012, 22:05
I take a few packets of spicy dried squid on the trail for an afternoon morale builder.

While a common trail food throughout South Korea, most mee-gooks (Americans) would consider squid weird. While I wasn't all that fond of coming around a corner in a Korean national park and finding the trail running through a soju tent village selling souvenirs, hot snacks, and cold drinks, it was nice get some green onion pancakes and a spring cooled beer. Not unlike the hiker feeds in the GA/NC gaps.

rocketsocks
04-24-2012, 23:19
Thers a real man.... owns up and admits....wow!

Cooked some prawns from the trail I didn't have to catch them the heavy rains left them high and dry on the side of Hawk Mountain the next morning...

2nd place FD Peasant Omelet....ewwwe.Yeah,I had a bud once,but I didn't inhale;)

rocketsocks
04-24-2012, 23:20
Yeah,I had a bud once,but I didn't inhale;)that's bug,drats those pesky keys;)

T.S.Kobzol
04-25-2012, 08:11
Probably morning coffee filtered through my fleece hat.

plurpimpin
04-25-2012, 08:30
vegetable oil chugging contest halfway through a 2 week canoe trip in Minnesota... for the record I won

GolfHiker
04-25-2012, 16:39
Spotted Dick.... okay, it sounds funny, but it's a real British favorite. Tastes like custard. You do have to be careful how you describe this, but it's usually good for a chuckle.

rocketsocks
04-25-2012, 17:16
Spotted Dick.... okay, it sounds funny, but it's a real British favorite. Tastes like custard. You do have to be careful how you describe this, but it's usually good for a chuckle.So where exactly did you see this spotty dick?

Heald
04-25-2012, 18:10
We found a dead deer once. On a thru hike in 2000 SOBO. Me and the guy I was hiking with cut it open. We took the heart, and the liver, along with some backstrap. It had been ice cold for days, so we knew the meat must be good, and it was. We pan fried the heart that night. We carried the rest of the backstrap, and the entire liver in a "Thank You" bag that dripped blood off the back of my pack for a couple days until we had consumed all the meat. It was fresh, and good, and sustained us.

rocketsocks
04-25-2012, 18:21
We found a dead deer once. On a thru hike in 2000 SOBO. Me and the guy I was hiking with cut it open. We took the heart, and the liver, along with some backstrap. It had been ice cold for days, so we knew the meat must be good, and it was. We pan fried the heart that night. We carried the rest of the backstrap, and the entire liver in a "Thank You" bag that dripped blood off the back of my pack for a couple days until we had consumed all the meat. It was fresh, and good, and sustained us.Heald,I think what you and your friend did there is one of the most awesome things a human can do...I'm sure you gave thanks to the animal for providing sustanance,through ritual,word,or a hardy bealch.:)

TJ aka Teej
04-25-2012, 18:30
I hiked into Katahdin Stream during a Penobscot gathering and was treated to moose jerky, smoked fresh water clams, fried whole partridge, venison sausage and grilled beaver tail. And PBR, lots and lots of PBR. The moose jerky was served like bacon the next morning for breakfast, too - right up there on my 'best thing I ever ate' list!

GolfHiker
04-25-2012, 20:46
In camp. after dinner, dessert of course. Where else would you see it?

waasj
04-25-2012, 21:33
Not so much a weird food, but a weird food story. I was at Tri-Corner in GSMNP (not my favorite shelter, but that is another story). Evening discussion was about trail comfort foods, Spam, smoked oysters, herring filets etc.. Mine was Vienna Sausages. Next day I was the only one headed north and got to Mount Cramerer tower as a storm was bearing down. Not a soul around. Ducked into the tower, and found at someone had left a can of Vienna Sausages on one of the window ledges. These things just seem to happen out there.

Sarcasm the elf
04-25-2012, 22:06
Probably morning coffee filtered through my fleece hat.

Now that's dedication!

rocketsocks
04-25-2012, 22:20
Not so much a weird food, but a weird food story. I was at Tri-Corner in GSMNP (not my favorite shelter, but that is another story). Evening discussion was about trail comfort foods, Spam, smoked oysters, herring filets etc.. Mine was Vienna Sausages. Next day I was the only one headed north and got to Mount Cramerer tower as a storm was bearing down. Not a soul around. Ducked into the tower, and found at someone had left a can of Vienna Sausages on one of the window ledges. These things just seem to happen out there.Now that's Trail Magic!

Just a Hiker
04-25-2012, 22:47
It was unusally hot on the trail in 06', so I was eating mustard packs at gas stations and fast food restaurants just for the extra salt.

Bronk
04-26-2012, 06:21
I carried a canteloupe and two ears of corn out of Elk Park, NC.

waasj
04-26-2012, 20:23
Yeah, gotta love it!!!

Deerleg
04-26-2012, 22:34
A clove of garlic and a couple ounces of olive oil can go a long way on the trail....Ill roast a couple of pieces in the olive oil before I throw in water to boil what ever is the main course.... only takes an extra min of fuel and enhances the en tray...very little effort big flavor pay off.

lemon b
04-27-2012, 08:20
Fresh boiled frog legs.

shwn354
04-27-2012, 21:33
Got a squirrel in Maine...tasted like chicken

wicca witch
05-02-2012, 12:34
try eating cattail,dandelion,bark,root soup very healthy&delicious

jeffmeh
05-02-2012, 14:39
I don't find it that weird, but I do enjoy Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana), Wood Sorrel (Oxalis), and Spruce Gum (the resin from red or black spruce trees) when I come across them, which is not that rare.

Ender
05-02-2012, 14:44
I drank half a bottle of liquid Parkay. Oh yes I did.

It... wasn't very good. But I will say the next day I had more energy hiking than I've probably ever had. And I won a 6-pack of beer from the bet.

Wise Old Owl
05-02-2012, 15:20
Uhh nasty....

Mrs Baggins
05-02-2012, 19:00
I can only talk about the weirdest thing I DIDN'T eat.......a friend and I were at Wayah Bald Shelter in 2008. A young woman pulled a package of hot dogs out of her pack and announced that she'd been carrying them for 5 days (in the heat!) and would anyone like one. She had hot dog buns to go with them. My friend and I politely declined.......but everyone else jumped on having them. Five days. No refrigeration. I realize hot dogs with all of their preservatives can have a nuclear half life....but still.....we quietly ate our own meals. I have a truly horrific fear of food poisoning........

gpburdelljr
05-02-2012, 19:41
I read a story one time where a young woman asked a man, that spent a lot of time in the wilderness of Alaska, what the difference was between what he would and wouldn't eat. His reply: "Forty-eight hours".

moldy
05-02-2012, 21:25
Porcupine. Easy to catch and kill and skin. When fried or roasted over a campfire with some Barbi sauce....tastes just like chicken.

untitleddocument
05-03-2012, 21:28
I have 2: One time I went on a 2 nighter with a large group of friends. Before we left me and one other guy had bought filet mignon and put them in a small thermos with ice. On the second night while everyone was eating granola bars we whipped out the steaks and cooked it with potatoes and beans. Most satisfying meal ever :p

The next one was when I was hiking the Long Trail. I caught another hiker and ended up chatting with him for the day. He invited me to have dinner and he pulled one of those 42 oz cans of La Choy chicken chow mein out of his bag. Turned out he had 2 other cans the same size. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or bow out of respect

ATMountainTime
05-09-2012, 11:33
I ate an alien once. just once.

Coal Miner
05-09-2012, 11:43
Last fall I was on the AT and kept seeing what looked like chestnuts along the trail. Although I grew up in W.Va. I have lived in Florida for 30 years. I decided to pick some up and roast them around the fire that night. I stayed that night at the Overmountain shelter and built a nice fire in the tent area and roasted a pocketfull. Perfect evening to eat some roasted chestnuts and enjoy that view. They were the worst tasting things. I later learned they were Buckeyes.

wookinpanub
05-09-2012, 14:26
Moose meat and fiddleheads at Shaw's in Monson. Keith asked me not to tell, but I think it's safe, now.

rongallant
05-09-2012, 15:35
Moose meat and fiddleheads at Shaw's in Monson. Keith asked me not to tell, but I think it's safe, now.

Heck, that's a staple meal where I come from.

rongallant
05-09-2012, 15:36
I ate a raw fish eye. Crunchy. Got the video to prove it. Lol

wookinpanub
05-09-2012, 16:15
Heck, that's a staple meal where I come from.

I had lived all of my life in Florida to that point and had never heard of fiddleheads or had the opportunity to eat moose. Keith said something about it not being approved by the USDA, so he shouldn't be serving it to customers.