BACKPACKING FOOD

A sample food list spread sheet. (For my 2000 Rockies Trip — 5 days 4 nights.)

A few personal quirks

My thoughts on backpacking food are not for all. I tend to take simple, inexpensive trail food that requires little or no preparation. If you are interested in a lot of hot meal ideas and delicious gourmet trail food, you may do better to check with others. But if you are still interested read on.

First, when I solo, I don’t take a stove or cooking equipment. I eat cold food. I take caffeine pills for my morning buzz. I can deal with this. Not cooking does limit my food choices a bit. Most ultralight backpackers do take stoves. Just small light ones. (When I hike with others, I usually take a stove, and do civilized stuff like make coffee & tea and hot dinners.)

I do not carry extra food. I figure I can make it at least 3 days without any food. I’ve had to do this before and feel comfortable with my choice. This is not a recommendation for others to do the same. You’ll have to make your own decision on this point.

How I “skip” one days worth of food:  I eat a huge breakfast or lunch before I start hiking the first day and I eat a huge meal when I get out. By boosting my off trail calories on the first and last day I eliminate carrying a whole day’s worth of food in my pack. So for a weekend trip (three days and two night) I might only carry 3.5 pounds of food. This assumes a figure of 1.75 pounds of food per day.

What types of food should I take?

Try within reason to get the most calories per unit weight in your food. Obviously you want to have a balanced diet, with protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, fruit (dried), etc. A good target to shoot for is around 125 to 135 calories per ounce. Some ultralight hikers try to get in the 150 cal/oz range, but in my opinion their food is too high in fat and too low in almost everything else. I don't think this is a realistic or healthy way for most people to eat. On most of my trips even if I try to pump up the high fat foods, like peanut butter and chocolate, I always seem to end up around 125 to 130 calories per ounce.

• My basic food is the old standby gorp. I custom mix my own, getting most of my ingredients from Trader Joe’s. If I hike with others I mix to their specifications. I can eat almost anything.
• Peanut M&M’s are still great. Cheap, tasty, high in calories, easy to pack and eat.
• I bring Bear Valley Pemmican bars. They are a bit cheaper and more like food than most energy bars. My kids wouldn’t be force fed one.
• Energy bars are compact and have reasonable caloric density and nutrition. They are expensive though. I like Cliff Bars but end up taking Power Bars a lot of the time because I can get them cheaper at Price Club.
• Peanut butter boosts my caloric density. Cheap and easy to pack in.
• Crackers or dense bread add grains. Good vehicle for eating the peanut butter.
• Grape Nuts. Add grains. Use for breakfast with powdered milk.
• I used powdered milk (Milkman, other brands taste really bad!) and meat jerky in combination with grains (grape nuts, crackers, flour in pemmican bars) as a source for complimentary proteins. Milk boosts my calcium.
• Cheese is a treat and adds calories, protein and calcium. But doesn’t keep as well as some other foods. Cheddar cheese is around 115 cal/oz and keeps fairly well. Parmesan is around 130 cal/oz and keeps very well.
• I sometimes bring hard, dry salami on a short trip or on the first few days of a long trip.
• I bring dried fruit to add fiber, variety, and as source of minerals and vitamins.
• I bring chocolate (as needed), to add fat and calories. Boost my cal/oz. Total.

• I do not bring vitamin supplements.
• Fresh food, although attractive, is not a good choice. It weighs a ton, and doesn’t keep well. I don’t take it, even for the first day.
• Freeze dried dinners are bulky, expensive, and have low caloric density. Better to avoid them, or minimize their use to a few dinners. Just my opinion. I know others will disagree, and I do bring them myself occasionally. Due to their bulk, if you are limited in pack volume (or using a bear tin) they are not a good choice.
• Canned foods. A disaster. Why carry a metal can around with you? Ultra low caloric density, and you have to carry the empty can back out. Ouch!

How much food should I take?

There is no exact answer to this question. How much food you need depends on who you are and what you do. In an example below, in order to not loose weight, a 160 pound male hiking 10 miles a day, with a 3,000 elevation gain, would need around 4,000 calories per day, or 1.9 pounds of food per day (assuming a caloric density of 130 calories per ounce). This is a very rough estimate, and should not be taken too seriously. You will need to some experimenting to determine you own caloric needs for on the trail.

I do know that it's unrealistic to assume that 1.5 pounds of food per day (a figure often used by ultralight hikers) will work for all situations, and for all people. Also, just because you can get by on 1.5 lb. of food per day, doesn't mean that it's the best way to eat. In my opinion, running a caloric deficit, especially on longer trips, is not a good idea. See my example below for more details.

Factors to consider for how much food you pack:

• How much do you weigh?
• Does your metabolism run high or low?
• How far will you hike each day?
• For how many days?
• How much elevation gain?
• At what altitude?
• At what temperatures?
• How difficult is the terrain?
• What type of shape are you in?
• What are you used to eating?
• How much excess body fat do you have?
• Do you want to loose weight? Etc., etc.

A  recent experience: I took 1.6 lb. of food per day (Approx. 125 cal/oz.) on a recent 5 day trip in the Rockies. I was hungry on the days when I hiked 8-10 miles mostly on trails. But I could deal with it. I would have felt better, and in the long run hiked faster, on 1.75 to 2.00 lb. of food per day. One day, I did an 18 mile hike, most of which was off trail, with elevations over 13,000 feet. Boulder fields. Class 3 routes etc. By mistake, I brought only 1.6 pounds of food with me. By 7:30 PM, when I got in to camp, I was almost psychotic with hunger. My fault, I realize. I could have easily used 2 to 2.5 lb. of food for that day.

-Adventure Alan

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An over simplified example. An estimate! (see Note 1):

A 160 lb. person has a base metabolism of approx. 2,400 cal/day.

10 miles hiking at 100 cal/mi is another 1,000 calories.

Assume 3,000 elevation gain is another 600 calories.

Total caloric expenditure = 4,000 cal/day

1.5 pounds of food at 125 cal/oz = 3,000 calories. (see Note 2)

Caloric deficit = 1,000 cal/per day. Or around 1/3 lb. of hiker per day.

Under this very simplified estimate, our 160 pound hiker runs a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. They would loose about 1/3 lb. per day or around 2 lb. per week. If our hiker was a bit overweight and didn't mind being hungry this might be OK. It's probable that they would feel better and hike faster if they weren't running a caloric deficit.

For someone near their ideal weight, running a 1,000 calorie a day deficit might not be all that great. It might be OK for a few days, but not for long outings. It's not that you can't do it if you have to. I've hiked 3 days without food. But is it a good idea to hike running a caloric deficit? Is it good for your health? Will you feel great and enjoy your outing? Will you hike your fastest? Will your body have the nutrition to recover after a hard day of hiking? Will you be more injury prone? Will you be alert and make safe decisions? What will your moods be like around others? After answering these questions for myself, I'd say that hiking with a daily calorie deficit is not a great idea.

-Adventure Alan

Note 1: I realize that this is a this very simplified estimate. Base metabolism, hiking efficiency, etc. are variable. The best approach is to do some on or off trail testing and see what caloric intake works best for you. Note that you may be able to get by on a low calorie intake but your athletic performance may go down as well. I know that I can eat 2,200 calories a day and ride my bike 175-200 miles per week. I also know that if I do this, I feel terrible, I loose around 2 lb. per week, I can be cross with those around me, and my overall riding speed drops 1-2 mph. At around 3,200-3,500 calories a day I feel great, don't gain weight, and can train at high intensity.

Note 2: I believe that most of us will end up averaging around 125-130 cal/oz even when packing high fat items like chocolate and peanut butter, etc. as part of our food. I know that many try to hit the 150 cal/oz range, but I don't think this is a realistic or healthy way for most people to eat. Just my opinion.

-AA