For short hikes, food is more of a nice to have rather than a necessity. But, on long hikes, an adequate food supply is critical to success and safety.
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Food Needs Whether going on a 5-mile walk or a 500-mile long-distance trek, you should have some food along. If for no other reason than just-in-case. Having a good idea about how much food will be required to provide the energy to complete the hike is part of good planning. |
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Dayhike Food A day hike requires simple, tasty, cold snacks. Pausing for a rest, munching on a handful of fruit or trail mix, and then continuing your hike is all it takes. Food that packs well and tastes good is the goal. |
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Trek Food Multi-day hikes require much more planning and preparation than a simple day hike. Planning food needs and a diverse menu is important to ensure adequate energy is available for your body. Running out of food 30 miles into a 70-mile trek is not a good thing. |
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Food Supply Options Carrying all your food for shorter treks makes sense, but as the length increases the food weighs more. For long hikes, resupplying food along the way becomes a necessity. Depending on your style and discipline, there are many options for planning food along the way. |
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Cooking Sure, you can live for days and weeks eating crackers and cheese and jerky, but at some point, you'll be ready to kill for a hot, steaming meal. On long-distance hikes, there are quite a few options for cooking your food so you can choose which works best for your trek. |
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Menu Planner Oatmeal for breakfast, peanut butter for lunch, and Mac-n-Cheese for dinner - now that's a good outdoors menu. But, not five days in a row. It's not that hard, and certainly not expensive, to create a tasty, easy, nutritious, diverse menu for any length hiking trip. Use this menu planner to plug in your food items, figure the calories, and even print a shopping list. |
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Comments:
Aug 20, 2012 - mcperson
There is a great amount of info here. Thanks
Sep 04, 2012 - Mel Would anyone recommend any vitamin supplements for a 3 week hike ??
Sep 04, 2012 - Hiking DudeMel - I take a one-a-day pill every day when I'm out for a week or more.
Dec 11, 2012 - Don MattucksI'm preping for my first long hike,50 miles, info on what kind of food to bring is hard to find. I was thinking MREs. What do you think. there will be no resuply spots on the way. Any advice will be helpfull thank you.
Dec 11, 2012 - Hiking DudeDon - Best of luck on this adventure of yours!
MREs are very heavy for the calories, have a ton of waste that you still need to pack out, and are expensive.
50 miles could be a 2 day or 10 day trek - the real question is how many meals do you need to carry?
I've found that food right out of the grocery store works great, tastes fine, and is inexpensive.
My typical day of food is:
2 PopTarts or Granola bars
2 Snickers bars
about 10 ritz crackers with peanut butter and honey
1/4lb trail mix of raisins, sunflower kernels, peanuts, M&Ms
couple handfuls of dried fruit
1 Knorr noodle side
1 pouch of salmon, tuna, or chicken
lots of water all day long, sometimes Gatorade mix
There are lots of kinds of Knorr noodles - teriyaki, scampi, garlic, italian, ... Also, instant mashed potatoes or minute rice work well for the dinner base.
I just cook a meal in the evening, not the morning or lunch.
May 11, 2013 - Georgia is bossMREs are very heavy for the calories, have a ton of waste that you still need to pack out, and are expensive.
50 miles could be a 2 day or 10 day trek - the real question is how many meals do you need to carry?
I've found that food right out of the grocery store works great, tastes fine, and is inexpensive.
My typical day of food is:
2 PopTarts or Granola bars
2 Snickers bars
about 10 ritz crackers with peanut butter and honey
1/4lb trail mix of raisins, sunflower kernels, peanuts, M&Ms
couple handfuls of dried fruit
1 Knorr noodle side
1 pouch of salmon, tuna, or chicken
lots of water all day long, sometimes Gatorade mix
There are lots of kinds of Knorr noodles - teriyaki, scampi, garlic, italian, ... Also, instant mashed potatoes or minute rice work well for the dinner base.
I just cook a meal in the evening, not the morning or lunch.
I'm going on a two night hike soon and it's going to be freezing, I really want to have a warm lunch but I'm not sure what, can you help?
May 14, 2013 - Adventurer@ Georgia is Boss,
For two night hikes Im your you'll want to bring a portable propane stove. These can range from a big one for campers to small one pot stoves. Bring couple canister of propane if you are planning to eat/drink hot stuff for breakfast and lunch. which most people like to do. You can save some gas by having a bonfire at dinner but that will be too much work in the morning and at lunch.
Have Fun
For two night hikes Im your you'll want to bring a portable propane stove. These can range from a big one for campers to small one pot stoves. Bring couple canister of propane if you are planning to eat/drink hot stuff for breakfast and lunch. which most people like to do. You can save some gas by having a bonfire at dinner but that will be too much work in the morning and at lunch.
Have Fun
