Backpacking food

[Grumpy]

What's your favorite foods? I am heading out for ten days and don't think I can stomach tuna-mac for that long. Give me some high energy/high calorie ideas? I am fishing for three nights worth of food and eating oatmeal and dried fruits for breakfast. Lunches will probably be trail mix, energy bars, and tuna/chicken with soy sauce in those foil packages.

Whatcha got?

[windyscotty]

I basically used to take a twelve pack and throw my cans out along the trail.

Seriously, we always ate instant oatmeal and raisins with coffee every morning. Then we had to have the mixed dried fruit snacks with nuts, Ak Mak crackers and cheese and salami. That stuff melts fast. What you do is take those little tetra juice packs and freeze them. They serve as coolers for cheese, meat or other perishables like eggs for the first day.

Little meat things like chicken or tuna in small cans or foil are good with the crackers. People will kill for smoked oysters, pickled herring, or any of those choice goodies.

Energy bars are essential and Lara Bars are the best. One of those babies will give you enough energy to do another five miles. Fig bars and dates are mighty good, too.

We couldn't wait for dinner to eat Cha Cha chili made by Fantastic foods. I don't think they make it anymore, but it was the best. So any of those intant soups in the paper cups are good.

You cannot and should not ever depend on having fish to supplement your food. It is better to have more than not enough.

We always took an orange and apple for each day and a banana the first day. Sometimes pears or an avocado.

There was all kinds of other stuff dudes took, but those are some of the basics.

Now, with milk in the tetra paks, you could have granola with milk and raisins. Doesn't that sound good?

The tetra pak can become a cup after using it. I'll bet you could even heat water in it since it is lined with foil.

Oh, it's just all too much fun Grumpy! Have fun out there and give a report.

[Grumpy]

We will always be near a lake that has fish and I have no doubt I can grab some brookies for tacos. If that fails for some reason I know I can skip a meal the last two days I am back there. We will fish every morning and evening and choose to eat fish on the good days. On days that were are peak bagging I will more than likely eat a solid planned meal. If it comes down to it I will trap a marmot and go Bear Grylls on that varmint.

[maxpower88]

What's your favorite foods? I am heading out for ten days and don't think I can stomach tuna-mac for that long. Give me some high energy/high calorie ideas? I am fishing for three nights worth of food and eating oatmeal and dried fruits for breakfast. Lunches will probably be trail mix, energy bars, and tuna/chicken with soy sauce in those foil packages.

Whatcha got?

Right on man, 10 days is a long stretch without a resupply and I applaud you supplementing 3 days worth of food with the fish you catch. That is way more hardcore than anything I did on the entire PCT.

I am just going to tell you what I eat and maybe something catches your eye that will work out for you, good luck.

Breakfast:
Homemade oatmeal:
I add, brown sugar and maple syrup to the oats.

Lunch:
Meat sangwich with cheese on an everything bagel w/mustard (single packets)
Buddigs single serve meats - honey ham & honey roasted turkey
Block of cheddar

Dinner: (remove the dinner from the Mountainhouse packaging and put in a zip-lock freezer bag)
Mountainhouse freeze dried meals - Chili mac w/beef, Beef stroganoff, and spaghetti w/meat sauce.
I add 1/2 cup of instant rice, 2tbs of olive oil and salt & pepper (1100 calories approx)

Dessert:
1/2 Toblerone bar (6 triangles)

Snacks during the day:
2 Almond Snickers bar (most calories & fat for the weight)
1 Chocolate chip granola bar
Peanut and jelly on a whole wheat tortilla
Goldfish and almonds mixed

Happy trails dude.

[Photoho]

Have fun.

[windyscotty]

I also used to take those meals in the plastic that you can microwave. They taste pretty good out there-let me tell you. Turkey with mashed potatoes or some kind of beef deal. I have a large aluminum pot and boil those meals in some water in the bottom. Then I use the pot to boil water to wash up and do all kinds of things.

You can catch fish, but never rely upon it. They could be dead from the drought. I used to take some line, a few hooks, some weights and rig up a pole with a willow stick. Then I would look for worms, grubs, or whatever was under the rocks around the water. Cheese worked good, too. Other times I took my fly rod and went for it. It just depended on the weight I had to pack. If you had to, right now you could scoop fish up with your hands to eat.

In the old days it used to be Ramen until you were sick of it. Now, we have much better food choices. We used to use powdered milk in the old days and it puked. Now you can use real milk. It goes on and on.

Then there is the vegetarian route and that is a whole different story. We are talking brown rice, carrots, soy sauce, vegetables, fruit, dried fruit, nuts, organic oatmeal, loaf of bread, peanut butter and honey, tea, soy snacks, Ak Mak crackers, cheese, and a bunch of other good stuff. There is a lot more cooking involved but it can be worth it. They have the instant brown rice now in the cups.

[windyscotty]

Don't forget the lemonade mix. There is nothing better when you are super hot and thirsty.

Safeway coffee singles are real good and hot chocolate.

[windyscotty]

I forgot to mention that if you are in an area where you can have a small fire, which is below 10,000 feet in wilderness, you can cook many things in tin foil in the coals. Wrap a sweet potato, summer squash, or zuch (with cheese in the middle), corn or any number of things. You can even cook trout in the foil with some lemon and corn meal.

It gets very deep Grumpy, and as you know, it is all about food out there.

These are just some of the things I remember. Some people even bake things in the coals in cups or pans with tin foil over the top like a mini dutch oven. It all depends on how much skill and ingenuity you can muster with the food you have at hand.

[Grumpy]

Going to buy all my food this afternoon. thanks for the suggestions. WS, I may be stubborn like a mule but I surely don't pack like one. If this was a three dayer I would everything and the kitchen sink. Since we are heading in with heavy packs I will keep it light with lots of pasta, rice, and beans. No beer just a quart of whiskey for sipping under the stars.

We will probably be burning about 3-5k calories per day when we are peak bagging and only 2-3k on days we walk into different basins. There will be plenty of down time and the trip will only be about 50 miles total.

I am going to go pretty light and don't care if I run out of food because I will never be further than a days hike out to the trail head. It may be a long day but I have no reservations about making it out hungry. I will definitely be packing in some salami and cheese as that is great to munch on on the go. Add a little hummus with wheat thins and you are good to go for hours.

Lemonade does sound good but I will have to find some that isn't sugar free. Crystal lite tastes like a chemical cocktail with that fake sugar crap. Personally I like the powdered gatorade. Shot Bloks are really good for a long day on the trail as well. If you never had them get them. Just be sure that you drink lots of water with them.

[windyscotty]

Tin foil doesn't weigh much but reaps big rewards. I hiked for ten days at a time with a lot of the food I have told you about. On the trail crew we not only had to carry all our food but tools, too.

I forgot about beans and split peas, but that was a big one. My buddy just ate mac and cheese in the cup all the time. Squirrel on a stick is good in a pinch. Convert your fishing rod tube into a blow gun.

Anything that you can add hot water to is the ticket.

Wylers lemonade mix was the best. I don't know if they even make it anymore.

Take one little frozen juice pak to keep your salami and cheese cool.

You can pack in a little heavy, because you will eat a bunch of food quickly. There is always spam and trading or robbing others of their food stash.

Good luck mountain man!

PS: Those little packets of jam and honey like at the restaurants works good and weighs less. Jeez Grumpster, I could go on for pages.

[Grumpy]

If I were a mountain man I wouldn't have the interweb and only bring a bed roll and a knife with me.

[onegoodturn]

Convert your fishing rod tube into a blow gun.

[windyscotty]

What's an interweb? Check out what Muir and Galen Clark used to take. Tea and bread and not much else. Galen slept on the ground and never even removed the rocks to make a flat spot. He also never wore a hat and hiked breathing through his nose to get the heart pumping more. You try that some time junior mountain man.

They may have liked that Wylers lemonade though, except for the fact that there were no plastic water bottles.

[onegoodturn]

Grumpy, I could bring you some of my smoked trout to take with you. It's really great on a hike and it lasts for days. Let me know I'll drop some off for you.

[Grumpy]

That would be very kind of you. Mutated or powerbaited out I will give it a try. Like I said, I love Cheez-its. I will trade you some beers for it. If you happen to be in Mammoth today or tomorrow stop by. I work tonight at 8 or day shift tomorrow. 10;30-3:30. We are heading out early Saturday.

pm sent