|
Backpacking Food - What To Pack
By Steve Gillman, Thu Dec 8th
Weight is always a concern with food you'll becarrying everything on your back. Some will tell you to findyour weight savings in other areas, and argue for the necessityof healthy, meaning heavy, food. My experience, however, tellsme that we can enjoy lighter loads and worry less about healthyfood on short trips. In the Sierra Nevada I ate more than 60 granola bars in fivedays with no ill effects. No stove meant a lighter pack, and itwas very convenient to not cook. Of course, I usually supplementmy diet with berries and other wild foods, so itprobably wasn't all that unhealthy. Different Foods For Different Backpackers Each of us is unique. I don't suffer when I have no cookedmeals, but you may. There isn't a one-size-fits-all solution tothe food question. You have to balance theweight/health/taste/cost issues in your own way. Consider thefollowing points, though, in making your choices. The lightest food is that which has the most calories per ounce.Pure fat wins the contest (oils), followed by high-fat foods(nuts), low moisture carbohydrates (granola bars), proteins(beef jerky), and then bread, fruit, veggies, etc. Nuts, forexample, because of their fat content, have 50% more caloriesper pound than pure sugar. Look at the lables. Choose foods you like, but choose the onesthat are higher in calories for their weight. In that way, youget what you want, what your body needs for energy, and you keepit light. I usually plan
for about 3000 calories a day. Thisisn't quite enough (I'm 6'3", 160 pounds), so I'll lose a poundor two on a weekend trip.Bringing high-calorie foods like mixed nuts (2700/pound) andtortilla chips (2100/pound), I can get by with about 20 ouncesof food per day. For a four day trip I'll carry around 5 pounds.Eat a big meal before you go, and you can carry less food(although you'll carry it inside you anyhow). You can cut weightif you know which berries to eat along the trail. I've eaten anentire meal of rasberries during one break while hiking inColorado. Healthy Food For a healthier trip, try this: Eat a large salad right beforeyou leave, and right after you get back. If you also eat berriesand herbs along the way, you can concentrate on bringing onlylight food, and your health won't suffer. A more obvious alternative is to spend some money. Enough money,and you can feast on nutrition-packed, calorie-rich foods thewhole time you are hiking. Try bee pollen, spirolina, raw nutsand seeds, molasses, dried papaya - I could go on, but you getthe idea.
Finally, don't forget the freeze-dried meals and othertraditional
foods. They are not necessasrilyhealthy, and can be very expensive, but they sure are convenientand tasty. You can always pack ramen noodles if you want cheapfood.
|
