Question about food

[Lowrie]

I am going to be starting a north-bound hike from Springer starting in Sept and hopefully going into late Nov. I'm not an rank amateur backpacker, but I am new to long distance hiking-like the AT offers. My typical hikes are 2-3 nights so I've never really packed food with any weight concerns in mind. I usually bring frozen stuff with me, and various other things that are not practical for long hikes. I'm trying to get some ideas on good things to bring, have sent, pack etc...I am going to have some maildrops sent and also do some resupplys on my own. Any suggestions by those of you in the know would be greatly valued....Thanks

[Tin Man]

There are many dried packaged dinners available in the grocery these days. Lipton pasta and rice dinners are light and tasty. Chili, jambalaya and other dishes are also readily available in dried packages. You can supplement these with chicken, tuna, shrimp, etc. packed in foil.

[Lowrie]

Typo above, sorry...I'm not a rank amateur....my first post ever and I messed it up.

[Tin Man]

Typo above, sorry...I'm not a rank amateur....my first post ever and I messed it up.

No worries. Ignore the post speller nazis and you'll be fine.

[Feral Bill]

No worries. Ignore the post speller nazis and you'll be fine.

They have way bigger fish to fry. Read a few threads and you will see.

[Blissful]

Check the Cooking & Food forum for thread ideas on what food items to bring.

[ShelterLeopard]

It depends on how much money you want to spend. It you have cash to burn, you could go to an outfitter (hiking gear) and just get a bunch of dried meals, but I don't recommend it. First of all, it is really expensive. Like five dollars a meal. Since you'll be hiking in the cold, you will probably want a lot of food that can be served hot.

My favorite trail food is those Pasta Sides by Knorr (or maybe its Korr), available in grocery stores under the "prepared foods" sections, and they're pure carbs, good for the cold. Since you'' be hiking in the cold, you also should probably bring a LOT of snack food to keep your energy up. A lot of people say that in the winter, you shouldn't stop and eat lunch because you'll cool down too much, and instead just eat a lot of snack food all day long. Like SNICKERS!

[ShelterLeopard]

I just realized that in the first paragraph I didn't follow my first of all with a second of all- I meant to add that I don't really even like all those backpacker foods.

[atraildreamer]

No worries. Ignore the post speller nazis and you'll be fine.

A Little Poem Regarding Computer Spell Checkers...

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

[Crawbear]

Hi just a word of caution on mail drops. I found them very inconvenient. It seemed that every time I wanted to go to the PO, I was arriving at a time when it was closed for the weekend. It really threw some unnecessary wrenches in my plans. PLUS - you will end up hating the stuff you packed. Start out with what you want to eat at first and you will find lots of places to resupply close to the trail. Try different foods along the way. That was a fun part of the journey for me.

Best of luck.

[Crawbear]

I second Tin Man on the Lipton pasta stuff. Very easy to prepare, good tasting, and cheap.

[Snowleopard]

Whatever you get, try it out at home before you go.
Look for posts by LaurieAnn, Sarbar and Dicentra. Better still, buy their books.

[River Runner]

I second Crawbear. You will probably find your tastes change on the trail and you may not want to eat what you purchased for mail drops.

There are a few places they would be very handy, read this:

http://whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=resupplypart1

Then look for more articles on the sidebar for more information.

[Plodderman]

It all comes down to snickers bars. Lately I have added the Crystal Light (caffeine and B vitamin enhanced) and oatmeal in individual packages for breakfast, cup of soup for lunch and chicken and pasta for evening meals with snickers through the day. Almonds are nice to bring and the stores now are filled with pre-packaged soups and pastas that all work.