Food/Snacks

[supranihilest]

I'm one of those rare people who doesn't mind eating gels and Clif bars all day, so I can't comment on what "real" food I eat on the trail because I don't pack anything like that (except occasionally pizza - great for day trips). Since I don't think anyone else has yet I will comment that how well the food "survives" the trail, so to speak, is an important factor. If the food is prone to getting soggy, which I find particularly disgusting, or simply smashed into oblivion you'll be less likely to eat it even if it's something that's good. Stuff like PB&Js, burritos, etc. will be soggy, at least in my experience. Food like that is also likely to be smashed unless you pack it in some kind of crushproof container, which increases weight and packing difficulty. Stuff like potato chips taste great and are easy to eat but if you've ever just thrown them into your pack you're going to end up with a bag of smashed bits, not full chips. Everything that's soggy or smashed to bits/paste is hard to eat with your hands and might be better with utensils, if you're carrying them, so you don't make a mess. Things to think about when designing a backcountry menu.

[LURE]

The cheese has a tendency to offset the Santiago's, IME.

shouldn't the cheese in the burrito make it an all inclusive off set?

[mtree]

Since I don't think anyone else has yet I will comment that how well the food "survives" the trail, so to speak, is an important factor. If the food is prone to getting soggy, which I find particularly disgusting, or simply smashed into oblivion you'll be less likely to eat it even if it's something that's good. Stuff like PB&Js, burritos, etc. will be soggy, at least in my experience. Food like that is also likely to be smashed unless you pack it in some kind of crushproof container, which increases weight and packing difficulty. Stuff like potato chips taste great and are easy to eat but if you've ever just thrown them into your pack you're going to end up with a bag of smashed bits, not full chips. Everything that's soggy or smashed to bits/paste is hard to eat with your hands and might be better with utensils, if you're carrying them, so you don't make a mess. Things to think about when designing a backcountry menu.

I can't agree more. Same with food that should be kept cold (summer months). Nothing's more disgusting than warm, slimy cheese sticks or melted peanut butter cups.

I left overnight trips off this topic because that's a totally different setup.

[SkaredShtles]

The cheese has a tendency to offset the Santiago's, IME.

shouldn't the cheese in the burrito make it an all inclusive off set?

I don't think they generally put *enough* cheese in the burrito to offset the mystery meat... and chile.

[jrbren_vt]

Stuff like potato chips taste great and are easy to eat but if you've ever just thrown them into your pack you're going to end up with a bag of smashed bits, not full chips.

One word : Pringles !

I also put my food in a tupperware type tub for this reason.

Nothing's more disgusting than warm, slimy cheese sticks or melted peanut butter cups.

How about me eating melted peanut butter cups anyway because there is no such thing as disgusting peanut butter cups ?

I often order a full sandwhich from Oliver's on Friday, eat half for lunch. The other half is my trail lunch for the weekend. Supplement with granola bars and cookies. Sometimes candy bars if it's not a hot day.
Pop Tarts work well for me too. But it changes over time what I like to bring. I also like Gorp sometimes.

Overall I have a diminished appetite at altitude as others stated. So bring food that you love to eat, any calories are generally a good thing.

[oldschool]

Some input from my personal experiences....

In the early 2000's I started to run ultra marathons. I didn't understand a lot about how the body processes the foods we eat, how the actual energy is created, and so on. In the beginning I was of the mind that I had to replace the calories one for one that I was burning. Big mistake. If I was burning 800 cal/hr I thought I had to consume 800 cal/hr. It doesn't work that way.

Fat is the preferred source of energy. That doesn't mean we consume fat. It means we want to burn the fat that's in our body. Even if we are lean we have so many calories of stored fat available for energy. Fat has 9 cal/gram. Carbs and proteins have only 4 cal/gram. Aerobic vs non aerobic heart rates do this.....tell the body to burn fat instead of carbs. Plenty of info on the internet for people to dig deeper into this. Burning carbs is like burning newspaper. Burning fat is like burning a big oak log.

I do understand that what works for people works for people. I ran across some runners during my ultra days that survived on coke and pizza during a race. That was not me. I spent lots of time educating myself with solid science about the body systems that are in play for activities of less than 3 hrs vs activities that are more than 3 hrs. A few basic parameters I came to understand and employed into my race and long distance activities(over 3 hrs). I am 5'10" and weigh 160 lbs.

16 -20 oz of water/hr
No more than 180 cal/hr
Protein intake. I use a powder product as well as a tapioca based carb product that I mix together with water that gives me 3 hrs worth of complex carbs and protein
No simple sugars. Move towards maltodextrin and tapioca based maltodextrin instead of corn based. Complex carbs are the ticket.
Use a full spectrum electrolyte replacement product. Avoid salty foods and salt tablets as they only replace sodium and chloride

I used to bring cookies, honey waffles, GU, Clif Bars, almond butter packets, and all the stuff. My experience with those was stomach distress, lack of appetite or ability to eat, fits and starts of energy, and crashes, especially if my intake was heavy on simple sugar products like GU. I completely rethought my refueling program. Long story shorter....I don't eat any solid foods while I am on long/longer bicycle rides, climbs and hikes, and longer distance events. All my calories, protein, and electrolytes are in liquid form. I am not endorsing but I will say Hammer Nutrition became my go-to company for refueling knowledge and products. They work so well for me.

I found by gaining knowledge, trying different things, not liking how I felt using certain refueling strategies, that I came to find what works for me.

Mike

[madmattd]

My usual day trip loadout these days looks like:

• GORP (Peanuts, M&Ms, raisins in a rough mix I do at home)
• Granola Bars (these can get hard in winter so get eaten less then)
• Fruit/Grain Bars (Nutrigrain/similar)
• Fruit Snacks
• Gummy Bears
• Sharp Cheddar, cubed
• Pepperoni, slices

For backpacking trips (which are rarely more than 3 days for me) I bring all the above (cheddar and pepperoni keeps just fine for a couple nights, though as noted the cheese can get a little slimy after a day or so but not enough to bother me - I think the hard cheeses fare better on this front than the soft cheeses used for cheese sticks), plus:

• Oatmeal packets (breakfast)
• Rice/Pasta sides or freeze dried meal (dinner supplemented with whatever from above)
• Small Tortillas

I vary this now and then and will have a sandwich for lunch, or bring different candy-type items, or a thing of chips, etc, but 95% of the time the above is what I bring, and it's worked well for me.

As noted, it has to be food you want to eat on the trail, and a little trial and error is needed for each person to figure out what works for them and what doesn't.

[druid2112]

I started climbing 14ers right after I quit doing marathons, so figured using up the last of those little goo gel things would be a smart idea. Then I remembered that unlike marathons, I could carry food instead of pinning gels to the waistband of my shorts. I also remembered how gross those things are, and how delicious Snickers bars are. So short answer: Snickers. Unless you are in the Andes, then Snickers and coca leaves.