Intro to Backpacking Lesson 3: Food while backpacking
Things to Consider:
~How many calories burned in a day doing absolutely nothing?
~How many calories burned hiking 30 miles at 3.0 miles per hour?
Bonus: Up to how many calories can be burned per day in a chess match?
Depending on: gender, weight, height, metabolism, ect.
~1,700
~6000-8000
~6,000
Two general approaches to backpacking
Camp to hike: hiking-centered experience
Hike to Camp: camping-centered experience
Decide what you want your goal to be before your trip and agree upon with any others on trip!
Stove Options
Iso propane butane canister stove
White gas stove
Propane stove
Campfire
Cold soaking
No soaking
Camp to hike food (for hiking the big miles)
CALORIES CALORIES CALORIES
Calorically dense foods: ideally 5 calories/gram or 160 calories per oz
On PCT people eat 4-8000 calories/day
ALWAYS SNACKing
Cold soaking? No soaking? Light Stove?
Junk food is easy and arguably necessary, buttt so are nutrients!!
YOUR BODY IS A FERRARI! PUT IN THAT PREMIUM FUEL!
Define: Cold Soaking
Slow-cooking your food in water without using an artificial heating system
How do you do it?
Add dehydrated food + water to your cold-soaking jar about an hour before you want to eat. Keep hiking, and let time + sun + shaking work their magic
You get to keep hiking while your food cooks in your backpack. When you’re tired and ready to plop down for the day, your dinner’s ready!
Example of what I ate on trail (stoveless)
Breakfast: 6 packs of oatmeal, CHIA SEEDS, a pack of hot coco-powder mixed together in my cold soak jar.
Morning snack: CHIPS!!
Noon snack: ½ bag of dry cereal/granola
Next snack: Tortilla with sausage, cheese, mayo x2
Pocket snacks: fruit snacks, trail mix, bars, candy,
Dinner: 2 packs of top ramen with 2 tablespoons of olive oil cold soaked
Calories ~ 1300
Calories ~ 700
Calories ~ 600
Calories ~ 1000
Calories ~ 1000
Calories ~ 1000
Total ~ 5,600
Foods to Cold Soak (all estimates / opinions)
Oatmeal + chia seeds + coconut milk powder -- add a little water, eat immediately
Dehydrated refried beans --------------------------- add water to cover beans, 30 min soak
Couscous (small not pearled) /Minute rice ---- water 2x the amount of food, 30 min soak
Vegetarian chili ---------------------------------------- water to your taste, 5 - 50 minute soak
Ramen ---------------------------------------------------- fill the jar with water, 20 min soak
Hummus ------------------------------------------------ add water to taste, don’t overwater (ew)
Mashed potatoes + mushroom gravy ------------ add water to taste, don’t overwater (ew)
Curry powder + coconut milk powder ----------- we’ve never tried it cold but you should!
Thanksgiving dinner! Stuffing + craisins -------- we’ve never tried it cold but you should!
SEASON ‘EM UP!! Make a bag of seasoning before you go, put it on EVERYTHING
(SALT, nutritional yeast, garlic + onion powders, chili flakes, etc.)
More Stoveless Options
Tortillas
Peanut Butter
Fried fruit (some of it can be ~~~rehydrated~~~)
Trail Mix
Jerky
Protein Bars
Bags of cookie dough!
Pack out a pizza for first 2 days!
FROZEN BURRITOS!
Avocado if you’re feeling fancy
Short trip? Bring a sandwich!
Other Tips/Ideas
BOOST YOUR MEALS:
AVOID FAT FREE/LOW CALORIE
Water=one of the heaviest items you will carry. Avoid foods with high water weights (ex. Canned foods, whole fruits and veggies)
Hike to camp food
Similar ideas, but fewer snacks, fewer sugars.
STOVE!!
You can make a good amount of dishes you’d make at home, but with modifications for weight/storage (dried veggies, sub bacon bits, make sure meat doesn’t spoil, etc.)
Comfort over speed
3000ish calories/day
Andrew Skurka’s recipes: https://andrewskurka.com/tag/backpacking-meal-recipes/
Cold Soaking
Lighter // less equipment
Less time spent cooking = more time to hike!
Can make some pretty delicious meals
Foods always medium / outdoor temp
Limits your options of food you can cook
Heavier // more equipment
More time spent cooking = more time spent at camp
Can make some pretty delicious meals
Hot food
You can cook just about anything
Stove Cooking
versus
Let’s take a deep breath
What you’ve done
Next up: food list, safety plan, LNT plan
Let’s take a deep breath
We’ve learned:
1. What backpacking is
2. Wilderness/open space
3. A lot of very specific info about gear
4. Food to bring
In the future: Trip safety + Leave no trace