10 Ultralight Backpacking Foods
The best ultralight backpacking foods are lightweight, nonperishable, high in calories and easy to prepare. Here are 10 backpacking foods you can find in stores everywhere that provide, on average, more than 100 calories per ounce of weight, making them ideal for ultralight backpacking.
1. G.O.R.P.
130 calories per ounce
GORP (also called trail mix) stands for “Good Ole Raisons And Peanuts”. But the ingredients don’t always have to be that boring.
Nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate, candies, crackers and cereals can be combined to make this staple backpacking snack that packs a whallop of carbohydrates and calories.
One cup of GORP (depending on ingredients) can provide as many as 700 calories.
My personal favorite GORP recipe consists of: Peanuts, almonds, raisons, M&Ms & cheddar Goldfish crackers.
2. Mac & Cheese
105 calories per ounce (with olive oil & summer sausage)
Macaroni & Cheese is a staple food for poor college students and hikers alike. At just 99 cents (or less) per box you can’t beat it for a cheap, filling trail dinner.
The cooking instructions call for a lot of water, butter, milk and simmering. But that’s not necessary. All you need to cook trail mac is 2 cups of boiling water and a pot cozy.
By itself it’s kind of bland, but when you add olive oil, parmesan cheese, summer sausage, SPAM or tuna, plus hot sauce and seasoning, mac and cheese becomes a trail delicacy.
One box of macaroni and cheese, prepared with 1 ounce of olive oil and 2 ounces of summer sausage provides a whopping 1,100 calories, and weighs just 10.5 ounces.
3. Breakfast Pastries
120 calories per ounce
Breakfast Pastries are popular among ultralight backpackers because they can be eaten in your sleeping bag in the morning with no cooking or preparation. And they provide a sugar-filled blast of calories to help rocket you up the trail first thing in the morning.
Some popular choices include: Pop Tarts, Fruit Pies, Little Debbies and other snack cakes. My personal favorites are the large cinnamon rolls and danishes sold in gas stations and convenience stores. They are big enough for a hungry hiker and can pack upward of 600 calories, in just 5 ounces.
4. Peanut Butter
170 calories per ounce
Peanut Butter is a classic backpacking food staple and still one of the best. It has a high calorie to weight ratio and provides a good mix of carbs, protein and especially fat (which is hard to find in many trail foods).
1 tablespoon of peanut butter packs a whopping 190 calories. Peanut butter can be eaten by itself, on bagels, tortillas or crackers, or mixed in with foods like oatmeal and ramen noodles to give them extra flavor and nutrition.
If you plan to pack peanut butter in it’s own container, obviously you will want a brand that comes in a lightweight plastic jar and not glass.
5. Snickers Bar
140 calories per ounce
There are plenty of overpriced, overdesigned “energy bars” on the market. Most of them taste like cardboard and sawdust and do not provide much better nutrition than the good old fashioned Snickers Bar (a hiker favorite).
These bars of nuts, nougat and chocolate are so ubiquitous on long trails like the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail that you would think they were handing them out at the trailheads.
A single King Size Snickers weighs less than 4 ounces and packs 510 calories. In my experience they provide just as much energy as the pricey “healthfood bars”… if not more.
6. Olive Oil
230 calories per ounce
Olive Oil is not a food by itself, but it is a popular food additive among hikers because of it’s high calories and rich taste.
On the long trails backpackers can be seen adding olive oil to everything but their drinking water, in an effort to get more precious calories and stem the weight loss which occurs from burning 6,000+ calories per day.
An ounce of olive oil contains 230 calories and works great as a butter substitute in hiking foods like: Mac & Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, Oatmeal, Rice and Pasta.
7. Liptons (Knorr) Pasta/Rice Sides
110 calories per ounce (with olive oil and tuna)
Liptons Sides are another inexpensive, easy-to-prepare meal that most long distance hikers wouldn’t do without. Originally intended as a side dish, Liptons rice and pasta sides make an excellent main course for a hungry hiker.
Ignore the instructions, which call for too much water, simmering and additional ingredients. All you really need to prepare Lipton’s sides is 1.5 cups of water, a stove and a pot cozy.
Liptons come in a variety of flavors so they already taste great, but can be made more hearty by adding olive oil, tuna, sausage, etc.
8. Foil Pack Tuna (and other meats)
30 calories per ounce
Unlike the other foods in this list, Tuna does not have a high caloric density. 3 ounces of tuna has only 90 calories. But it provides something else that is sometimes in short supply on the trail: Protein.
Protein is not as important as carbohydrates for energy, but it is important for cell rejuvenation and muscle maintenance (and it tastes good).
Other types of meat which are good for backpacking are: foil pack salmon, chicken breast, and SPAM, as well as cured meats like: salami, pepperoni and summer sausage.
9. Wraps (Tortillas)
100 calories per ounce (w/ tuna, mayo, mustard, relish, olive oil)
Regular bread is not very good for backpacking because it is so easily squished. Bagels are a better option, but they take up a lot of volume in your pack. One bread product that is perfect for ultralight backpacking is the tortilla.
Tortillas are flat, lightweight and easy to pack. By themselves they don’t provide too many calories, but you can fill them with whatever you like (peanut butter, jelly, honey, tuna, cheese, sausage and more) to create a delicious wrap.
The sky is the limit to what you can put in a trail wrap. The weirdest wrap I’ve seen so far is mashed potatoes, potato chips and M&Ms 
10. Instant Mashed Potatoes
115 calories per ounce (with olive oil & SPAM)
Instant Mashed Potatoes are great because they are very easy to make. You don’t even have to cook them if you don’t want (just add water to rehydrate).
Some brands offer different flavors which include cheese, spices, sour cream and more. My favorite is Idahoan Loaded Baked Potatoes (shown at left).
A single package of Loaded Baked mashed potatoes prepared with 1 ounce olive oil and 3 ounces of SPAM provides 930 calories, and weighs just 8 ounces.
* BONUS: Instant Drink Mix Powders
On a backpacking trip you have to drink a lot of water. But after a while the taste of water gets old. Drink mixes solve that problem.
Sports drinks such as Gatorade and Tang provide much-needed electrolytes, salt and sugar. Sugar free drink mixes like Crystal Light provide no nutritional value, but they are a very lightweight way to flavor water (which comes in handy when drinking from natural water sources that are murky and gross tasting).
In the morning and evenings hot drinks such as hot chocolate, hot apple cider and coffee provide warmth and comfort to the weary hiker.
This list is far from comprehensive. These are just a few of the ultralight backpacking “staples” that always find their way into my food bag, year after year.
What high calorie ultralight backpacking foods do you recommend? Please post your comments below…
If you can find taco shells, rather than tortilas, you get the same basic foood groups, but 40% higher calories per oz. because the process or turning a tortilla into a taco shell involved cooking out the water and replacing it (at least partly) with oil. Taco shells are better than chips because they nest together. To make them more compact, break each one in half and re-nest them so that they lay in two flat collections (one for the right side of each taco shell and one for the right side of each shell). Over 140 Cal.oz. See http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/bearitos/blue-corn-taco-shells/
and http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/bearitos/blue-corn-taco-shells/
I like the blue corn ones but yellow cord in similar and easier to find. I like them with moyonaise packets swiped from fast food chains, with hummus, with cheese, etc/
One of my current favorites (nmeaning I haven’t gotten tired of it yet) is Santa Fe instant refried beans. Not usually available on the trail but worth loading up on an putting in resupplies. Works great for lunches also. Rehydrates in minutes and good cold or hot. Available at Amazon.
Eric, thanks for the info. I really enjoy getting your newsletter and your posts. Always awesome tips! Keep it up man:)
Great list of staples. On the wrap section, I’d like to add that when I did wraps for the Summertime on the AT, I was pleasantly surprised to find that you could get free salad dressing packets at almost any grocery store deli, or perhaps buy very cheap, single-serving ones. Wraps can be fancy – sweet/spicy tuna, garlic croutons, shredded parmesan, and balsamic salad dressing – or they can be loaded with delicious calories – easy cheese and summer sausage, or pre-sliced pepperoni (b/c it came in resealable pouches) being one of my favorite concoctions.
Other foods that I take a liking to – cous cous, quinoa, and just about any kind of CLIF bar. Snickers are cheaper, but I do find that the energy I get from a CLIF bar lasts longer, and I actually prefer the heartiness of it. It also doesn’t melt.
Ahhh you have listed some of my very favorites, especially Snickers and Idahoan Loaded Baked. For thru-hikes I now also carry flatbread (goes great with Don’s suggestion of Santa Fe instant refired beans and pretty much anything else) and string cheese. Gotta love the calories.
Eric, a valuable post, succinctly summarized.
One of my favorite treats that is high calorie and nutritious is an old fashioned oatmeal/peanut butter/chocolate chip no bake cookie! Absolutely heavenly on the trail! Since I have Colitis and Celiac disease, everything I consume must be gluten free.
However-many of ur suggestions are definitely workable, even for my diet! Thanks Erik! Another great blog as always!!
Thanks for the great post, Eric, very helpful! Question: what\’s the best method for cooking things like mac & cheese or lipton noodles with an alcohol stove?
Gookinade is much better.
@Ben The way I cook things like mac & cheese and noodles on the trail is to bring water to a boil, then either add the food to the boiling water (in the pot), or the boiling water to the food (in a ziplock baggy) and place it inside an insulating pot cozy for about 15 minutes. While it’s in the pot cozy it continues to rehydrate and “cook” some more. The pot cozy takes the place of the simmering part of the cooking cycle. For some foods (like rice) that are a little tougher I let the food boil with the water for a few extra minutes before putting it in the cozy.
I love most off the foods. I love Land of Lakes hot Coco Classics w/its many flavors, to start the day.
Thanks, Erik! Any good suggestions for vegans?
@Karpani I hiked with a girl on the PCT who is a vegan, Dirt Diva. I remember she ate a lot of oatmeal, energy bars, mashed potatoes and (I think) peanut butter. I’m never really certain what qualifies as vegan, but I think nuts, seeds, dried fruit and berries, oatmeal, granola, natural peanut butter, olive oil, rice, cous cous, quinoa, hummus, plain mashed potatoes and vegan bars are a few options. Maybe there are some vegan hikers out there who can weigh in on this one.
Great list! I regularly take bagels with me. I squish them flat as I can (they smash super flat) then add some peanut butter. EZ lunch! I am going to have to try the potatoes and pasta. looks good!
For no stove hiking- firm bread and cheese, dried fruits, chocolate, corn chips (fritos, doritos, etc), jerky, granolas, cold pizza or hamburgers less than 1 day old, crackers, and cookies
PayDay !!!
salty, peanutty, carmelly goooodness
plus, they don’t melt
Powdered protein drinks are easy to pack, easy to prepare, taste great, and contain carbs, protein, and fats.
example:
CtyoSport Cyto Gainer
Banana Crème
Chocolate Caramel Swirl
Cookies ‘N Crème
Rocky Road
Strawberries-N-Crème
Vanilla Shake
18.5 servings = $35 = $1.90/serving
150g serving = 570 cal (108 cal/oz)
6g fat, 75g carb, 54g protein
This article on the backpacking food ideas is great…just the kind of information that I am looking for…very helpful!!
Turk
At 200 calories per ounce – Macadamia Nuts. If you could live on that alone you could cut your food weight in half. But – alas – variety is the spice of life so cut the peanuts and go with macadamia.
Great post Erik. You will always see some of the same items pop up in different peoples lists – the mac n cheese and the lipton pastas. Also two of my favorites.
Keep up the great work here on your site!
Hey Erik,
Not always available but for the first day out Egg McMuffins travel well and for me are filling. They don’t drip or get soggy like a Big Mac would. If you can get them early in the morning on the day of the hike, take 3 or 4 along and use them for lunch and snacks. I use them on day hikes all the time.
If I’m taking several days of food, anything with moisture is too heavy, esp if I have to use a bear can. Instead of bread/tortillas, I take dried foods like bagel chips, pita chips, triscuits. Great source of veggies are freeze-dried veggies from Trader Joe’s or several “survivalist” websites. I have freeze-dried asparagus, brocolli, and cauliflower (Alpineaire) and individual packets of Olive Oil (minimus.biz) Great meal is dehydrated split pea soup that I add wheat germ, parmesan cheese, a dash of instant mashed potatoes, brewer’s yeast and package it in a ziplock at home, then add a packet of olive oil, maybe throw in some garlic bagel chips after cooking for croutons. I buy the soup in bulk at the coop in Seattle, but I think it’s widely available. Dehydrated black bean soup with tortilla chips and chipotle chili also good. Chow.
Erik, I take the tuna when I backpack. I do have a concern that its strong odor will bring every bear within a 100-mile radius, but no problems so far.
@John to prevent odors from your food bag attracting animals you may want to try these: Loksak Odor Proof Bags
I have to take some issue with this list. Things like poptarts and pastries are not a good breakfast food for backpacking (not good for home either).
Caloric content compared to weight is NOT the most important aspect when selecting backpacking food. Healthy food choices must come first. If you’re eating crap, you’re body won’t be up to high mileage anyway, so who cares how much your food weighs in that case?
Your list is completely missing fruits and vegetables, which contain the nutrients that your body needs (as opposed to potatoes, poptarts & snickers bars – all of which are empty calories)
I don’t need to eat breakfast in my sleeping bag (I wouldn’t strongly advise everyone to keep food out of their tent) because I’m backpacking to be outside. I usually start my day with a breakfast mix with:
1 oz Oatmeal
3/4 oz granola
1.5 oz dried fruit
Chocolate Bits
Almond slivers
I don’t eat “lunch” really, instead I snack throughout the day. My goal is never to be hungry and replenish calories as I expend energy. Plus a lunch break would just slow me down.
For my day time eating I eat:
4 oz GORP (always something new so I don’t get bored)
6 Trader Joe’s Fruit Strip Bars
2 Bags of energy fruit bites
1 Protein bar
2 Granola bars
Supper:
3 oz pasta or rice
1 oz custom seasoning mix
1 oz dried veggies
I’m a vegetarian, so I get my protein from a protein bar and the nuts from my trail mix.
Everyone needs to hike their own hike, but I STRONGLY recommend to the readers that you don’t blindly follow the suggestions in this blog and instead find something HEALTHY that works for you.
I always keep a food journal so I can plan for exactly what I’m going to eat. The quantities listed above are based on my needs for a 15-20 mile day with a ten pound pack.
@Dave: I have to disagree with you that nutrition is more important than calories. If you can find foods that are both nutritious and high in calories (such as peanut butter, nuts, raisons, etc.) those are great. But there are not many foods which fit both of those criteria (that are readily available in grocery stores and can be eaten for months without tiring of them).
When I am not on the trail I am very health conscious. At home I exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet of lean meat, fish, vegetables and fruits. But, on a long distance backpacking trip the rules are completely flipped. I know hundreds of thru-hikers and long distance backpackers and almost no-one eats what would be considered a “healthy” diet on the trail. There are exceptions I’m sure, but they are the minority.
Open up the food bags of 9 out of 10 backpackers I know and you will find a grand assortment of junkfood, the likes of which we would never eat in our everyday lives. On a short hike (less than a month) you can eat healthy and get away with it, because you will be living off your body’s fat and protein reserves. But after many months and thousands of miles it gets used up, and the only thing that will keep you going is CALORIES.
The average male hiker doing 20+ miles per day will burn at least 5,000 calories. In order to maintain body weight and minimize food weight it is imperative to focus on caloric density. Assuming an average caloric density of just 100 calories per ounce, 3.125 pounds of food would be required to provide 5,000 calories. That is simply too much food weight. Five days of food (the average distance between resupply stops on most trails) would weigh almost 16 pounds.
A more reasonable food weight is around 2 pounds per day. Assuming an average caloric density of 100 calories per ounce that would provide 3,200 calories (not enough for most people). If you increase caloric density to 125 calories per ounce that would provide 4,000 calories, which is still on the low end, but doable. 4,000 calories may be enough for some hikers to maintain body weight indefinitely (depending on age, size and metabolism). But for big guys like me (I’m 6 feet, 200 pounds) I will lose several pounds of body weight per week eating that.
One pound of fat has approximately 3,500 calories. If I burn 6,000 calories a day while hiking, and only eat 4,000 calories, I will be running a caloric deficit of 2,000 calories per day (14,000 calories per week). At that rate I would lose 4 pounds of body weight per week. Over the course of a 5 month hike that would be 80 pounds. Now obviously I could not stand to lose 80 pounds. I would keel over and die before that happened (or at least have to get off the trail for several weeks to recuperate).
In order to counteract this extreme deficit I do what most hikers do, which is pack the highest calorie foods I can find, and pig out in town once a week to supplement my trail diet. On an average “zero day” I will try to eat at least 10,000 calories. Since I’m not doing as much physical activity on those days I don’t burn as many calories (about 3,000 calories). I also use town stops as an opportunity to eat healthy foods which are not practical to carry on the trail (like meats, vegetables, fruit, dairy, etc.)
Here is how a typical week on a long hike (consisting of 6 days of hiking and 1 day of resting and eating) would break down:
Intake: 34,000 calories (6 days @ 4,000 calories per day, 1 day @ 10,000 calories per day)
Output: 39,000 calories (6 days @ 6,000 calories per day, 1 day @ 3,000 calories per day)
Deficit: 5,000 calories per week
In this scenario I would only lose 28 pounds over the course of a 5 month hike (which is pretty typical). When I thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail I started at 205 pounds, and finished weighing 175 pounds. If I lost any more weight than that I would probably become too weak to continue.
Everyone’s metabolism, nutritional requirements and tastes are different. But for me (and the majority of lightweight backpackers I know) this is what works. I admit that my advice is skewed towards the needs of long distance backpackers, because that is what I do myself. But, even if I am only going out for a weekend hike, I still pack the same kinds of foods because they are lightweight and provide lots of energy for hiking.
Erik, thanks for the great list! In one of the comments, you refer to a \"cozy\" used to replace the simmer step for cooking. What exactly is a cozy? Is this something you make for yourself out of an insulating material?
@Lisa: A pot cozy is an insulating cover for your cook pot. Instead of simmering on a flame (which uses up fuel) you can add boiling water to your food and put it inside a pot cozy for about 15 minutes. The cozy keeps the heat in and “cooks” the food as it rehydrates. I make my own pot cozys out of Reflectix (the metallic material that car sunshades are made from) and duct tape. I will make a video showing how to make one soon.
I dare you to not enjoy a wrap with peanut butter, tuna and tabasco. So good I eat them off the trail.
Great Ideas..But I think you find a peanut butter serving of two Tbsp (32 g)is 190 calories, not one Tbsp.
Re-reading this because I enjoy your posts so much, Erik! Notably absent from everyone’s list is any form of coconut…? I have heard of a powdered “coconut cream” but have not used it. Also coconut oil. I wonder if it’s due to the controversy over whether it’s a healthy oil or not? And, granted, you have to like the taste! I think coconut is GREAT with macadamias as a granola
Heather, I use powdered coconut milk all the time on hikes. It’s great added to oatmeal or granola in the morning. It has a lot of calories and tastes wonderful. You can often find it in ethnic food aisles with Thai ingredients, or sometimes with Caribbean or Latin American foods. Another fun item is powdered whole milk, which you can find as the “Nido” brand at Walmart and just about anywhere that has a lot of Hispanic clientele.
I like peanut butter playdough, it’s high calorie and delicious. You can also add raisins, coconut, chocolate etc. A basic recipe is 1 c. peanut butter, 2 Tbl. honey, and 2/3 to 1 c. dried milk depending on the consistency you like.
@Lindsay That peanut butter playdough sounds really good! I’m gonna have to try that. Thanks for the idea
Erik
I have always found porridge good in the morning before I start to walk; it does not give a temporary energy rush and sticks to the stomach all morning, I appreciate it’s a hassle to make but it is cheap and easy to carry. I have no idea of the calorific value. I am surprised no one has mentioned it on this blog. I am from England, maybe porridge is not big in USA?
Dominic – Yes, porridge is a definite staple, though most people here probably only think of oats / oatmeal. MY personal favorite is a combination of ground seeds, like 1-2 tablespoons of each – sesame, sunflower and pumpkin – as the base, with added coconut, almonds, macadamias, raisins for sweetness, dried apples or anything else that seems tasty. When I first started training I ate this every morning. I actually gained weight until I could hike long enough distances to burn it off!
As an alternative, though much lower in calories, I also enjoy corn mush. To make it, though, you have to add the corn meal to COLD water, then boil.
Karpani, Eric,
I’m vegan, which means a vegetarian that eats no dairy or honey in addition to no meat or fish flesh or products. So my suggestions to get adequate protein is to learn about some of the better quality sports drink mixes for endurance athletes that contain soy protein or just get some powdered soy protein to take and mix in drinks. Sports drinks can provide high quaility carbs, protein and fats in the right proportion and formulas for quick and efficient absorption by the body.
Any running,triathlete or cyclist shops carry these drinks and soy powder can be found in nay health food store. Sports drinks also provide essential electrolytes like potassium and magnesium in addition to quality sodium.
Definitely take a good multi-vitamin or Emergency-C type products with you.
Total calories counts, but even more important IMO is to take in less total calories, but ensuring the calories consumed have higher nutritional quality instead of just alot of junk like white flour, white sugar or highly-saturated fats found in typical backpacker food.
Most people over consume calories becasue the food they are eating is generally of poor quallty. For example, eating tons of mac and cheese or sugary candy bars will actually be counter-productive especially on long thru-hikes or other multi-month endeavors. Your body actually needs quality nutrition, not just alot of calories. People eating a lot of “junk” calories will still feel hungary no matter how much they eat, again because they are not giving their bodies proper nutrients, which means they can become fatigued, sick or injured more easily.
peanut butter is awesome! Also, items like hummus mix, of course nuts and legumes like bean dip mix are easy to carry and prepare. There are also vacumm-sealed packages of tofu that do not need to be refigerated and if you live near any asian markets, you can get various prepared tofu products in sealed packages that also don’t require refrigeration and come in great flavors, like curry, chili-garlic or szchuen.
You can also get vacuum-sealed tempeh (fermented soy bean curd) or seitan (wheat gluten) products as well that are packed with vegetarina protein. Also take a look at the hemp, rice or pea protein products in your local health food store as well.
And best of all, if you focus on carrying quality nutritional items, you actually carry less, so your food weight in your pack is less as well!
Hope this helps!
@Susan: Thanks for the info. I may have to give healthy food another try, or at least increasing the amount of healthy food vs. junkfood in my trail diet. Your point about getting higher quality calories versus volume of calories makes sense.
I have found that Harmony house’s dehydrated vegies and legumes are fantastic for lightweight backpacking. They retain most of the nutritional value of fresh veggies and don’t contain all the excessive sodium found in prepared foods like hummus and blackbean mixes (most individuals do not need as much salt as they think). Of course you can make meals exactly how you want them. http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Backpacking-Kit-18-ZIP-Pouches_p_1866.html
Erik,
This post was interesting to me because I never considered something like Pop Tarts to be good trail food. I, like Dave (who you replied in length to), thought that a lot of the junk food you listed didn’t seem quite appropriate for hiking. Whenever I think about backpacking and hiking, I think of eating healthy and wholesome along the way–not stuffing my backpack with Easy Mac and Snickers. I found your post, and reply to Dave, a bit surprising but helpful.
My only concern is: if you’re eating a bunch of junk food for the calories, do you ever feel a bit sick? If I eat junk normally–like a whole Snickers bar–my stomach doesn’t quite agree with it. I’m afraid that if I ate a bunch of this stuff on top of hiking strenuously it would make me feel a little sick. Energetic, sure, but sick.
@Kayla: If I eat junk foods normally I do feel sick just like you. I rarely eat junk food when I’m not hiking. But on a long-distance hike you burn so much energy and you get into such great shape physically that your metabolism changes. It feels like your entire digestive system starts to work at maximum capacity and is capable of efficiently utilizing every calorie you throw at it, even if the calories aren’t very high quality.
The problem with healthy foods (on a long hike) is they contain lots of protein, water and/or fiber. This adds to their weight (and makes them slow to digest). For example: A chicken breast weighs 6 ounces and provides only 280 calories. (That’s 46 calories per ounce). A large apple weighs 8 ounces and provides only 115 calories (That is only 14 calories per ounce). It would take 3 pounds of chicken and 3 1/2 pounds of apples (6 1/2 pounds of food) to provide 3,000 calories (and many hikers eat more than that in one day). So, although they are probably superior to a Snickers Bar for nutrition, they just don’t provide enough calories to justify their weight.
Of course you need both (energy and nutrition), so my solution is to eat junk food on the trail, and then on my days off eat a bunch of healthy foods in town to try and make up for any deficiencies. (Plus take vitamins and supplements)
Admittedly this advice is geared more towards thru-hikers and long distance backpackers who have to deal with major fat loss and sustained high energy output for weeks or months of hiking. If you’re only hiking for a few days or a week, you can eat whatever you like. Any shortcomings from your food will be deducted from your stored body fat.
Personally, I still prefer to eat junk food even on shorter hikes, just because it weighs less.
fun read. The main reason i’m a backpacker is so i can eat all the junk i can’t eat at home.
My favorite trail lunch so far , or dinner for that matter, is the Near East brand Parmesan or Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil mixed with one of the Starkist Tuna Creation Pouches. Tasty and filling.
In the context of long walks, I can add a few thoughts from the European/African end of the puddle. These are not exhaustive, but rather complementary to what has already been said.
To my mind, food planning for long-distance treks is not primarily about high calorie/weight or water reconstitution ratios, but about protecting your body from malnourishment, which can take many forms. This is an extremely complex area, with many unknowns and “unexpecteds”.
I invariably begin to lose a lot of weight after around a month’s walking. This I regard as normal (alone the easing off of compulsions -biscuits with coffee, beer and crisps with a film, ice-cream when hot, hot chocolate when not- can make a huge difference).
However, given the body’s dramatically increased efficiency -and hence reduced food needs- during a long walk, the wrong diet can easily drive the it into so-to-say cannibalistic behaviour: muscle rather than fat loss, calcium loss from teeth, or vulnerability to ulcers.
Furthermore, with many vitamin preparations not properly absorbed by the body, all-too exact planning with weight, vitamin or calorie charts is perhaps of little avail.
Forgetting factory foods -for which I feel there is no real need- I have only a few basic tenets: sufficient protien, as far as possible water-reconstitutable foods, wide variety, dramatically(!) increased fuel economy through slow cooking in a thermos, and en-route replenishment with whatever comes to hand.
Lentils, beans, rice, bulgar and the like can, as a base, cover a lot of your protein and carbohydrate needs, but are far, far easier on your stomach than endless factory processed foods. Mixed with wild herbs, local cheese, olives, dried tomatoes and vegetables, you can end up with a meal to do justice to -say- a fine italian restaurant.
Other good sources of protein are soya flakes and nuts, which can be added to any muesli.
A tip from nomads of north Africa: couscous (in principle just tiny wheat pellets) can be “cold-prepared” (no cooking) by letting it soak up the moisture of edible water-bearing plants found en route. These might be as simple as -say- dandilion leaves or wild cress. If short on donor plants, just sprinkle on a little additional water. Again, I often add broken-up goat- or sheep-cheese (which shepherds are invariably glad to sell), olives, and wild herbs such as oregano or thyme.
Often, seed, fruit or nuts (such as chestnut) can be pulverised to make flour, which can in turn be used to make stick bread over a fire, or baked in an earth oven.
The oils so essential to the body’s distribution systems can be had from locally-bought cheeses, or from nuts, pesto, fish/tomato/onion puree or mayonnaise.
Well-known to dancers, magnesium sachets (very light, and available in most stores in Europe) bind the acids that form in your muscles during long, hard climbs, quickly relieving cramps and restoring much of your strength. As with any vitamin supplement, though, use with restraint: magnesium can also manifest itself as a toxin..
One last but impassioned word: CARE! The junkfoods that some contributers are stuffing into themselves on day-tours would, on a longer trek, make them very, very sick indeed. Don’t believe me? Try eating nothing but chocolate for a day..
Also try SAVI SEED product from Sequel. Can buy on Amazon, fully Vegan, 170 cals/oz. The Cocoa Kissed ones are great and, ounce for ounce, have 13 times more Omega 3 than wild salmon, are a complete protein and fully organic.
Another favorite of mine are the PRO BARS. Available at Amazon, Whole Food etc, they typically run 370 calories for a 3 oz bar, 100% organic and 100% Vegan. They don’t perform very well when cold so keep them in your pocket for a while before to warm em up a bit.
Patrick
Yes, Patrick!! I have been buying Pro Bars for my very slender 13-year old son to help him put on weight – they are THE highest calorie “meal bar” I have been able to find for his late-night snack attacks!
Also, since Lindsay posted the recipe for Peanut Butter play dough, I have made that as after-school snack sometimes for the younger kids and they love it! Like Erik says, I don’t eat stuff like this as a daily habit – it’s just for highly aerobic activities.
Hi Erik, Here’s another lightweight healthy alternative. They are called Dale’s Raw Protein Bars. They come in a 3″ x 3 1/2″ pouch and weigh @ 60 grams or just over 2 oz. They range from 240-280 calories, 22 g protein, 12-28g carb, 12-16g fat depending on which flavor you choose. They are like cookie dough consistency. I have tried the blueberry macadamia and the cafe mocha ones, both really good. They are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, no artificial preservatives or sweeteners. He uses all fresh ingredients and actually makes them after you place your order. This guy started this biz less than a year ago and it has exploded. He owns a gym in Florida and started making these protein bars for himself. Once a few people tried them they convinced him to make them to sell. You can’t buy them at any store just at his website (link below). A little pricey but worth it. Rather than bash some of the other products I have carried in my pack I suggest you take whatever you currently like and compare ingredients. These have found a permanent spot on my backpack checklist. Kevin
Dale’s Raw Protein Bars – Best on the Planet!