| Weight is always a concern with backpacking food | | | | a day. This isn't quite enough (I'm 6'3", 160 |
| you'll be carrying everything on your back. Some | | | | pounds), so I'll lose a pound or two on a weekend |
| will tell you to find your weight savings in other | | | | trip. |
| areas, and argue for the necessity of healthy, | | | | Bringing high-calorie foods like mixed nuts (2700 |
| meaning heavy, food. My experience, however, | | | | pound) and tortilla chips (2100/pound), I can get |
| tells me that we can enjoy lighter loads and | | | | by with about 20 ounces of food per day. For a |
| worry less about healthy food on short trips. | | | | four day trip I'll carry around 5 pounds. Eat a big |
| In the Sierra Nevada I ate more than 60 granola | | | | meal before you go, and you can carry less food |
| bars in five days with no ill effects. No stove | | | | (although you'll carry it inside you anyhow). You |
| meant a lighter pack, and it was very convenient | | | | can cut weight if you know which berries to eat |
| to not cook. Of course, I usually supplement my | | | | along the trail. I've eaten an entire meal of |
| backpacking diet with berries and other wild | | | | rasberries during one break while hiking in |
| foods, so it probably wasn't all that unhealthy. | | | | Colorado. |
| Different Foods For Different Backpackers | | | | Healthy Backpacking Food |
| Each of us is unique. I don't suffer when I have | | | | For a healthier trip, try this: Eat a large salad right |
| no cooked meals, but you may. There isn't a | | | | before you leave, and right after you get back. If |
| one-size-fits-all solution to the backpacking food | | | | you also eat berries and herbs along the way, |
| question. You have to balance the weight/health | | | | you can concentrate on bringing only light |
| taste/cost issues in your own way. Consider the | | | | backpacking food, and your health won't suffer. |
| following points, though, in making your choices. | | | | A more obvious alternative is to spend some |
| The lightest food is that which has the most | | | | money. Enough money, and you can feast on |
| calories per ounce. Pure fat wins the contest (oils), | | | | nutrition-packed, calorie-rich foods the whole time |
| followed by high-fat foods (nuts), low moisture | | | | you are hiking. Try bee pollen, spirolina, raw nuts |
| carbohydrates (granola bars), proteins (beef | | | | and seeds, molasses, dried papaya - I could go |
| jerky), and then bread, fruit, veggies, etc. Nuts, | | | | on, but you get the idea. |
| for example, because of their fat content, have | | | | Finally, don't forget the freeze-dried meals and |
| 50% more calories per pound than pure sugar. | | | | other traditional backpacking foods. They are not |
| Look at the lables. Choose foods you like, but | | | | necessasrily healthy, and can be very expensive, |
| choose the ones that are higher in calories for | | | | but they sure are convenient and tasty. You can |
| their weight. In that way, you get what you | | | | always pack ramen noodles if you want cheap |
| want, what your body needs for energy, and you | | | | food. |
| keep it light. I usually plan for about 3000 calories | | | | |