What are we going to eat? How will we prepare what we eat? Is it necessary that we eat? What did you have for dinner last night? What will you have tonight? Did you send me an invitation?
Bird says you really should be more considerate.
But I’ll be the bigger person and find a way to love you and walk with you and camp with you. And I’ll be happy to share what I know about eating in the desert.
First off, food is not necessary. It is very nice, though. But if none of us had any food we would be fine. Super grumpy, but fine.
I’m not being funny. I’m contextualizing things. Remember the Rule of Threes?
We can get really anxious about this stuff, so we need to really take a look at what food is for us. And once we realize that it is not a necessity in the context of a three-day, 30-mile journey, we can hopefully relax and figure out how we can bring enough to enhance the experience without undue frustration.
What we’re looking for primarily is the greatest number of calories for the least amount of weight. We’re also looking at what it takes to prepare the food we’ve brought. We also need to consider our budgets. And as a final consideration, what kind of waste will we be generating in the process? By this I mean packaging and wrappers. I don’t mean how much crap you’ll produce after a meal, but if we want to maybe do something for the science fair I’m down.
You should be so enterprising.
Here’s the fun part. We’re going to be trudging, packs loaded, for days. That means everything we’ve learned about nutrition to support our ridiculously sedentary lives, like cutting fats and carbs, TOTALLY goes out the window on the trail.
When I ran an ultramarathon back in 2013, there was a rest station about every five miles or so. And they loaded these rest stations with JUNK FOOD!!! Cookies and chocolate milk and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and candy bars along with a bunch of bananas for the potassium, I guess. Point is, we are going to be TORCHING calories, so we need foods that will replace those lost calories quick and easy. And carbs help us retain water (carboHYDRATE), so totally good for us on the trail to help us from drying out. Fats and carbs are our friends!!!
Ounce for ounce, fats offer the most calories by weight. I know of backpackers who pack olive oil to dump on whatever else they’re eating just to fatten it up. I had a hiking partner who would always bring an avocado. It’s a good choice. Loaded with good clean fat, an avocado offers massive calories for a fairly small portion. A big one will net you something like 300 calories. At 6+ ounces, they’re heavy, though. And they don’t pack real nice. But still awesome.
Nut butters are my favorite. Justin’s makes some great nut butters in these cool little packets. Topping out the calorie density list at 210 calories for a mere 1.15 ounces is their cashew butter.
Not the greatest flavor or consistency, likely because of the addition of palm oil, but that added oil nudges up the fat content and caloric value. Two of these would be 420 calories for just over 2 ounces! That’s a meal, yo.
I’m not suggesting we slurp nut butter for three days. What I am suggesting is that incorporating pureed cashews into your meal plan (or peanuts or almonds) is worth considering.
And why not add a packet of honey, such as those offered by Nature Nate’s?
That’s an extra 30 calories and some nice, sugary carbs. Slather the honey and cashew butter on a soft taco tortilla (around 130 calories) and you’ve got 370 calories for just over 3 ounces. About half the weight of the avocado.
But not quite as tidy a package as a good old Snickers bar. Two of those will get you 430 calories for the same weight as your cashew honey wrap.
But it’s not all just calories and ounces. Some of us like a cup of joe to start the morning. I haven’t found anything better than Trader Joe’s Instant Coffee packets with the cream and sugar already inside!
You can do lots of different things for dinner. The key is to keep it simple. Some people aren’t afraid of cooking on a backpacking trip. I’m not that guy, so I don’t want my “cooking” to be much more than boiling water. Pasta is a good choice. Easy to prepare and lots of carbs. You can flavor with oil and salt and chunk it up with hydrated jerky. Mac and cheese is an old standby.
Your most expensive, and possibly most convenient option, is to go with one of the dehydrated meal services tailored for backpackers, like those of Good To-Go. Clean ingredients and you can sort meals by dietary preference.
I showed you my list in our email group, but it’s best if you take these concepts and build a plan that works for you. When you make it out of the desert, I don’t want to take any credit. I want you all to put in the work, the planning, the commitment, and the follow-through. I want you to be center stage in your great adventure. But I also want to be there to see you take the stage.
Think about oils and nuts and chocolate and dried fruit. Some combination of that and you’ll be fine, God willing.
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