Food - High Adventure

Disclaimer

The following information includes common products and practices used by backpackers. 

These products and practices may violate food handling practices or expose the handler or consumer to pathogens or chemicals that may be unhealthy.

How Much to Pack for High Adventure?

Ask a lot of experts and you'll get a lot of different answers.

If you are canoepacking, you might bring a giant grill.  If so, you may also wish to pack all sorts of gourmet foods.  This section in NOT about that type of meal planning.

If you are carrying all your food on your back and plan to travel 50+ miles, then minimizing weight is the key.  The best way to minimize weight is to pack calorically dense food and add water as needed. 

Consideration for Meal Planning

• Hikers will need around 2,500 to 5,000 calories of food per person per day

  • This is a WIDE Range

  • There are methods for more precisely calculating your caloric needs

• Trekkers will often plan for about 2 pounds of food per day

  • This is also variable as foods range in caloric density

  • Food selection also needs to be balanced

    • 2 pounds of Pop-Tarts and ramen is NOT a healthy daily meal plan

• For those want to plan out their food in a more scientific manner, see our Ultralight Food Page

What to Pack for High Adventure

Rule Number One

• Pack what YOU like to eat

• Don't copy meal plans made by people who are OK with eating cardboard

Rule Number Two

• Variety

• Even your favorite meal and snack will get old and boring if ingested day after day

Rule Number Three

• Select Calorie dense foods

• Weight adds up fast!  

• Less is more 

  • Carrying less weight means to can move faster, easier and with less risk of injury

Rule Number Four

• Cheat a little

• Having some fresh foods, cheeses and other goodies is OK

• Eat these on the first few days so they don't go bad and to reduce your daily average weight

For more on the specifics of what you should pack and how much of it you should pack, see our Ultralight Food Page

Meal Ideas

You should plan for a Breakfast, Snacks, Lunch, Dinner and a Treat/Dessert.  Some very serious trekkers will also plan for a Recovery Mix to be consumed 15-30 minutes after your hike.

What's important is planning for and packing enough food for your trek and spacing out meals and snacks so your fuel tank is always topped off.  

Drinks

• Drinks can replenish lost nutrients, be stimulating or just be refreshing

• Many have a drink at breakfast 

  • Some have a drink with every meal

• Whatever you like

  • Starbucks Instant Coffee

  • Tea

  • Gatorade 

  • Cocoa

Image: paleonola.com

Breakfast

• This is an important meal for performance

  • Trekkers will have more energy during their hike if they eat breakfast

  • Some long distances trekkers (20+ miles per day) will start off with a quick snack, walk a few miles and then have breakfast

• Gear Skeptic

  • Julie's Real - Paleo Granola - Cacao Coconut or Cinnamon Vanilla Bean

    • 3.5 servings = 665kcal

    • 73% fat

    • 2.5 Carb/Protein Ratio

  • Consider:

    • Bob's Red Mill - Paleo Style Muesli

    • Paleonoia - Cinnamon Blueberry

• Mr. M

  • Oatmeal

  • Bacon

  • Honey Bun

• Mr. B 

  • Whatever is left in the gear pantry

    • Mountain House Granola or Breakfast Skillet (purchased on sale)

    • Peak Refuel Mountain Berry Granola - if I plan ahead and get it on sale

  • If gear pantry has been raided - Oatmeal with dried cranberries or blueberries

    • Maybe add some Pork Fu (dried, shredded pork - Asian thing)

• Other Options:

  • Oats/Oatmeal

    • Oatmeal with cranberries or other dried fruit

      • Add Pork Fu if you are a carnivore 

    • Instant Oatmeal plus

      • 2 packs of instant oatmeal

      • 1 mini box Raisins

      • Emerald 100 calorie pack of almonds and walnuts

    • Rolled oats soaked overnight in water

    • Add Milk for flavor and protein

      • Milkman powdered milk

    • Homemade Oatmeal mixes

      • Hillary-Pride Recipes 

        • Savory Parmesan, Herb, Hemp Heart, and Sun-Dried Tomat-Oats

        • Cocoa Cappucin-Oats

        • Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie D-Oats

        • Cranberry Proteins Pistashi-Oats 

  • Granola/Cereal with nuts and berries and powdered milk

    • Bear Naked Granola

  • Eggs and Tortillas

    • 2 Tortillas

    • Eggs

      • Powdered Eggs 

      • Dehydrated Breakfast skillet

      • Fresh scrambled eggs

  • Bagel and Topping

    • Peanut Butter and Jelly

    • Cream Cheese

  • Self-stable or precooked bacon 

  • Savory pancakes

  • Liquid Breakfast

    • Breakfast Drinks

  • Breakfast bars

  • Apple quinoa porridge

  • Pop-Tarts

  • Instant mashed potatoes or instant hash browns

  • Instant grits with bacon bits or cheese

Snacks

• These provide fuel during the day

• Some Hikers will break this down into 4 different snacks

  • 2 between breakfast and lunch

  • 2 between lunch and dinner

• Ultra hikers doing 20+ miles a day may start with a snack and stop for breakfast later

• Some hikers don't eat a lunch and instead snack throughout the day

• Gear Skeptic

  • 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein 

  • Examples:

    • Honey Stinger waffles (different flavors) + Oberto Classic Recipe Smoked Sausages

    • Heather's Choice Packaroons

    • Nature Valley Wafers (Peanut butter chocolate and others)

    • Yes bars (Strawberry almond coconut and others)

    • Green & Black's 85% chocolate

    • Walkers Pure Butter Vanilla Shortbread + Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter (different flavors)

    • 88 Acres (seed nut butter) 

• Mr. M Snacks  

  • Carbs:

    • Trail Mix

    • LaraBar

    • Cranberries

    • Chocolate

    • Coconut

    • Ho Hos 

    • Little Debbie Swiss Rolls

    • Little Debbie Honey Buns

    • Jelly Belly

    • Hostess Fruit Pie

  • Protien:

    • Landjäger (meat sticks)

• Mr. B Snacks (Carnivore diet)

  • Packed in hipbelt front pockets for easy access

  • Landjäger (meat sticks) or Beef Jerky

  • Custom Trial Mix - Almonds, Walnuts, dark chocolate covered blueberries

    • Peanut free in case it needs to be shared

  • Dried Mangos

    • Carb profile isn't great (mostly just sugar and almost no complex carbs)

    • Selected because they taste good

• Other Options:

  • Dried Fruit (mangos, apples, cranberries)

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

  • Emerald Breakfast To Go Trail Mix

  • Energy Bars

    • Clif Bar

    • Granola Bar

  • Nuts

    • Almonds

    • Honey Roasted Cashews

  • Banana chips

  • No-bake energy bites

  • Chocolate-covered cashews or almonds

  • Fruit leather

  • String cheese

  • Crackers

  • Fig bars

  • Peanut butter pretzels

  • Cookies

    • Grandma's Cookies

  • Chex mix

    • Bag of favorite cereal 

  • Sesame sticks

  • Pumpkin seeds

  • Candy

    • Peanut M&Ms

    • Gummy Bears

    • Licorice 

    • Snickers

Lunch

• Some hikers don't pack a "lunch", they instead snack throughout the day

  • Lunch can just be another nutritious snack

• Ideally something that does NOT need cooking or much preparation

  • Pulling out your stove and cooking slows down the entire group

    • Cooking at lunch increases your the amount of fuel you will need to pack for your stove

  • Pulling out the Charcuterie Board and putting on an extravagant lunch is also time consuming

• Gear Skeptic

  • He snacks through lunch

• Mr. M

  • Carb: Triscuits or Tortilla

  • Protein: Salami or Peanut Butter or Tuna

  • Topping: Cheese or Honey or Mayo

• Mr. B 

  • Snacks through lunch

  • Packed in hipbelt front pockets for easy access

• Other Options:

  • Pita/Tortillas/Bagels/Sandwich-Thins and toppings

    • PB&J (small tube containers)

    • Cream cheese

    • Hummus (dehydrated or fresh)

    • Meat

      • Tuna 

      • Chicken

      • Salami 

    • Mayonnaise 

  • Meat and Cheese

    • Summer sausage and cheese

    • Salami and string cheese

  • Crackers and Meat

    • Smoked salmon

    • Salami 

  • Hummus bowl

  • Ramen noodles

  • Sandwich (Day one or possibly two - depending on contents)

    •  Spam Musubi

  • Energy bars

  • Dried fruits and nuts

  • Jerky

Recovery

• Many serious hikers will pack a recovery drink 

  • Use 15-30 minutes after your daily trek

  • Tops off your glycogen stores for the next day

  • Helps your muscles recover (limits muscle wasting)

  • See our Ultralight Food for more on this

• Gear Skeptic

  • 310 kcal mix

    • 1/2 scoop chocolate Platinum HydroWhey (15 protein)

    • 3 tblsp Dextrose powder @10g each (30g glucose)

    • 1 Starbucks Via sweetened Iced Coffee (25g sucrose + 1g protein)

    • Carb/Protein ratio: 3.4:1

• Mr. M

  • Great addition o f 200kcal of pure fuel

• Mr. B 

  • Tailwind Recovery Mix - Chocolate

    • 245 kcal for one packet

    • 4g fat / 43g carbs (39/4g sugar/other) / 11g protein 

Image: mountainhouse.com

Dinner

• This should be something nice for the end of the day

• Freeze Dried meals are popular but expensive

• Gear Skeptic

  • Dinner: 800-1000 kcal

  • Favorites:

    • Peak Refuel - Chicken Alfredo Pasta

    • Peak Refuel - Beef Pasta Marinara

    • Peak Refuel - Chicken Presto Pasta

    • Peak Refuel - Beef Stroganoff

• Mr. M

  • Main entree

    • Stroganoff

    • Pad Thai

    • Lasagna

    • Chicken Pad Thai

    • Chana

  • Cider

• Mr. B 

  • I go easy and light

  • Don't spend a lot of time prepping for meals prior to trek 

  • For diner, I heat up some water, mix it with something freeze dried and enjoy

  • Mountain House or something similar

    • Whatever flavor is left over in gear pantry - I'm not picky, just lazy

    • Gear pantry is refilled with random meals when they go on sale

    • If gear pantry has been raided - I'll make a trip to Fred Myers or REI

• Other Options:

  • Often a Rehydrated Meal in a Bag

    • Freeze dried meals are light and easy

    • Homemade dishes can be dehydrated and bagged for the trip

  • DIY Meal

    • Starch

      • Instant Rice

      • Couscous

      • Macaroni & Cheese

      • Knorr Pasta Sides 

      • Instant Mashed Potatoes 

    • Protein - tuna, salmon, chicken or TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) protein

    • Veggies - fresh or dehydrated 

    • Seasoning

      • Spices

      • Olive oil (extra fat calories)

  • Macaroni and cheese with bacon bits or tuna

  • Dehydrated risotto

  • Pasta with pesto and parmesan cheese

  • Ramen noodles with dehydrated vegetables

  • Instant soups

  • Instant mashed potatoes and beef jerky

  • Instant stuffing with cooked chicken (pouch or fresh)

Treat or Dessert

• Treat yourself to something nice at the end of the day 

  • You earned it and you probably need the extra calories

  • Something high in protein before bed will give your body temperature a small boost 

• Gear Skeptic

  • Dessert: 200-300 kcal

  • Autumn's Gold - Grain Free Granola - Cinnamon Almond

• Mr. M

  • Oatmeal pie or Crème Brûlée

• Mr. B 

  • Doesn't pack dessert

• Other Options:

  • This is personal and something you really like

  • On day one you can have something extra special and potentially heavy

    • Banana Bread

    • Slice of pie or cake

Example Meal Planning

Example Meal Plans:

• Blackwoodspress.com - Ultralight backpacking meal plan

• Backpackingchef - 6-day backpacking menu

• GearSkeptic - Planning an Ultralight Backpacking Menu for Optimal Trail Nutrition 

Rule Number One: Food must taste good!

If food doesn't taste good, it won't be eaten by a Scout.  They will go hungry, will be tired and hangry, and will carry a bunch of extra dead weight, unless they give away their uneaten food.  

We have seen Scouts rehydrate a meal, take one bite and then place rest of meal in their trash bag.  Their pack weight actually increased during the trip!

Day 1

• Special Notes

  • You won't have to carry this weight very far (just first leg of trip)

  • You don't need to fit this in your bear bag since you will eat it prior to hanging your bag

• Breakfast

  • Eat at home or trailhead - load up

• Snack #1

  • Dried Fruit

• Snack #2

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

• Lunch

  • Sandwiches and fresh fruit

  • Alternate: Spam Musubi

• Snack #3

  • Energy Bar

• Snack #4

  • Meat Sticks

• Dinner 

  • Dehydrated Meal

• Treat/Dessert

  • Something brought from home

  • Banana bread to be shared

Day 2

• Breakfast

  • Eggs and Tortillas 

• Snack #1

  • Dried Fruit

• Snack #2

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

• Lunch

  • Crackers, Salami, and Hard Cheese

• Snack #3

  • Energy Bar

• Snack #4

  • Meat Sticks

• Dinner 

  • Dehydrated Meal

• Treat/Dessert

  • Chocolate bar

Day 3

• Breakfast

  • Bacon and Tortillas

• Snack #1

  • Dried Fruit

• Snack #2

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

• Lunch

  • Bagels and topping

• Snack #3

  • Energy Bar

• Snack #4

  • Meat Sticks

• Dinner 

  • Dehydrated Meal

• Treat/Dessert 

  • Apple Crisp 

Day 4 - Hump Day

• Breakfast

  • Oatmeal with cranberries

• Snack #1

  • Dried Fruit

• Snack #2

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

• Lunch

  • Crackers and Meat

• Snack #3

  • Energy Bar

• Snack #4

  • Meat Sticks

• Dinner  

  • Dehydrated Meal

• Treat/Dessert

  • Dehydrated Treat

Day 5

• Breakfast

  • Eggs and Tortillas 

• Snack #1

  • Dried Fruit

• Snack #2

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

• Lunch

  • Pita and topping

• Snack #3

  • Energy Bar

• Snack #4

  • Meat Sticks

• Dinner 

  • Dehydrated Meal

• Treat/Dessert

  • Dehydrated berries and cream

Day 6

• Breakfast

  • Oatmeal with dried berries

• Snack #1

  • Dried Fruit

• Snack #2

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

• Lunch

  • Crackers and Meat

• Snack #3

  • Energy Bar

• Snack #4

  • Meat Sticks

• Dinner 

  • Dehydrated Meal

• Treat/Dessert

  • Chocolate bar

Day 7

• Breakfast

  • Breakfast Skillet and Tortillas 

• Snack #1

  • Dried Fruit

• Snack #2

  • GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts)

• Lunch

  • Pita and topping

• Snack #3

  • Energy Bar

• Snack #4

  • Meat Sticks

• Dinner 

  • Eat at home

• Treat/Dessert

  • Eat at home

Extra Food

• Extra meal just in case

• Part of 10 essentials

Mr M Example Meal Planning

For Mr. M, this runs about a 200kcal/day deficit.  That's not ideal for a Scout but OK for an experienced adult backpacker. 

Mr B Example Meal Planning

Mr. B's strategy is based on simplicity.  It is so simple, it may be lazy, but it works for him.  Of note, this is NOT an economical approach to food planning. 

• Pack meals daily meals into separate 1 gallon freezer bags

• Add one Breakfast (except day one)

  • Freeze dried granola breakfast or breakfast skillet (alternate for variety)

• Add one Dinner (except day last)

  • Whatever is in pantry (purchased on sale)

  • Lasagna is good, but ANY meal is fine as long as it has a little meat in it

  • Try to avoid peanut meals in case they need to be traded or given to Scout

• Add Recovery Mix

  • Tailwind Recovery Mix - seems like a good idea

    • Supposedly replenishes glycogen reserves in muscles

    • Reduces muscle wasting on trail

  • Not added to last day bag

• Pack snacks into separate snack baggies for each day

  • Custom trail mix (no peanuts in case it needs to be shared)

  • Landjäger 

  • Dried mangos

• Assembled daily bags and weigh them

• Add Landjäger (except day one and day last) until daily bags reach 1pound 10oz

This method worked well on the PCT

• Never hungry

• Plenty of energy

• Gained a small amount of weight on trail

• Gave away a small amount of leftover snacks to Scouts

• No left overs at end (did give away extra snacks)

• Minimal trash (carefully packed and sealed in an empty dinner bag, in a gallon sized freezer bag)

  • Trash, bulk and weigh could be reduced by repackaging meals into freezer bags

  • Repackaging is too much fuss for Mr. B for short trips (7 days or less)