Selecting food for a backpacking trip requires careful consideration, especially if you are heading out on the trail for several days. Fortunately, you can choose from a wide selection of commercially available backpacking foods. Preparing your own food opens up even more possibilities. With forethought and planning, meals on the trail can be tasty and nutritious.
Trail Mix
Trail mix, also known as Good Old Raisins and Peanuts, or GORP, is a sensible choice for backpacking, with good reason. Most nuts are very calorie-dense, providing a lot of calories in a small package. Dried fruit is a good source of complex carbohydrates, which take longer for the body to process, and provide longer-lasting energy. Most stores sell many varieties of trail mix, and you can make your own from ingredients you like. Pick a variety of fruits and nuts, as well as additional items like cereal bits, so you do not get bored with the mix.
Cold Foods
In addition to trail mix, there are many foods that keep well and do not require cooking on the trail. Peanut butter is an old standby of backpackers. You can keep peanut butter in a zippered baggie, and cut off one corner to spread the peanut butter on bread or crackers without using a knife. Then keep that baggie inside another baggie to avoid making a mess. Tuna fish is available in lightweight, easy to open packets. Tuna is a good source of protein and calories. Hard sausages and hard cheeses will keep for a few days on the trail, especially if you pack them tightly and store them in the center of your pack, where they will be less affected by heat.
Dehyrated Foods
Dehydrated food can be prepared with boiling water. Most outdoor stores sell prepackaged, freeze-dried foods that you reheat by adding water directly into the package, which makes cleaning up very easy. However, these meals can be a little expensive, at $8 to $10 for a two-person meal. Regular grocery stores sell a wide variety of foods, such as parboiled rice, instant mashed potatoes and instant soups that can quickly be made on the trail. Another alternative is to prepare your own dehydrated foods, but this requires a dehydrator and a vacuum sealer.
Nutritional Requirements
It can be challenging to bring balanced meals on your backpacking trip using only prepackaged, instant food. Dried fruits and meals with freeze-dried vegetables can help. For short, one- to two-night trips, this usually will not be a problem. For longer trips, you may need to bring more freeze-dried meals that include vegetables. Bring multivitamins to help you meet daily requirements for vitamins and minerals. Hiking long distances and up steep elevations will cause you to burn more calories than you normally do, meaning you may be hungrier after a day of hiking than usual. If your trip involves very long hikes, it may be difficult to pack enough calories to make up for what you burn in a day, so pack food that has enough calories.
Member Comments