Food, oh the weight of it all
Food. Sustenance. Provisions. Pleasure. Weight. That last one, always the weight. Remember, walking alone in the wilderness you will carry every decision you’ve made down here. If you’re out in the backcountry for more than five days then food is often the heaviest item in your pack. The good news is the farther you travel the lighter your pack becomes. Every trip I do I experiment with different food. It’s a fine balance between caloric requirements, taste, weight and cooking. You can’t do much better than 120 calories per ounce, whether it’s a protein shake, candy bar or quinoa. And of course not all calories are treated equally. 120 calories of sugar will be gone and used faster than complex proteins but both are needed and at different times of the day. This trip I’ve altered my food quite a bit based on experience and wanting to try something new. I don’t particularly like oatmeal, staple of backcountry fare, so I ditched it in favor of three other no-cook breakfasts:
Granola mixed with powdered milk, powdered coconut milk and dried fruits in a baggie. Add a cup of cold water, enjoy.
Chia seed pudding. A baggie filled with 1/4 cup dry chia seeds, dried fruit, sugar. The night before, add a cup of cold water and let it soak overnight. It has a weird consistency but I love the flavor and chia seed energy is legendary among long distance athletes.
Fruit Stew. A baggie filled with freeze dried strawberries, apples and bananas. Almond flour, flax seed powder and powdered coconut milk. Add 1/2 cup water to reconstitute.
Lunches are snack based and consumed throughout the day. Individual bags are filled with a combination of jerky (which I love), 2 Picky Bars (only bars that don’t make me gag after eating them for days on end), maple syrup tube from Untapped, almond butter tube, apple jerky (homemade), Pistachios.
Dinners have been a great experiment over the years. I stopped all cooking in favor of freezer bag meals. Add whatever dried dinner to individual freezer bags and when it comes time to cook, just add a cup or more of boiling water and let it sit for a few minutes. This serves several functions. With no cooking there’s no need for pots/pans and a variable flame stove, so I got rid of them in favor of a $5 aluminum grease pot to boil water in and a homemade ‘cat food’ tin stove. It’s actually made from the bottom of an aluminum atomizer but if you google ‘cat food tin stove’ you’ll see how to make one. The fuel is denatured alcohol, which burns clean and can be purchased virtually anywhere. I put mine in a simple 20oz water bottle and through experimentation I know I can boil 2 cups of water with 1oz of fuel. This means I can measure exactly how much fuel to bring, no more shaking those red fuel canisters and guessing at how much fuel you have left, let alone having to carry out heavy empty fuel canisters. I’m a huge fan of homemade and DIY outdoor equipment. My dinners are
Loaded mashed potatoes. Bag with instant potatoes, powdered milk, dry parmesan cheese, spices and bacon bits.
Homemade and dehydrated turkey chili
Homemade pasta
Homemade ramen soup with dried vegetables and jerked meat
3 store bought freeze dried meals (had them already in my supplies from last year)
Desert, a simple Apple Brown Betty
Food is hyper personal. For some it’s the luxury item they don’t mind spending the weight on for others it’s just a fuel to be consumed. I sit somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. I certainly don’t cook fancy meals but I also know I couldn’t just eat bars are breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’d say my main food luxury is a morning cup of coffee. Early mornings in the mountains with coffee is about as close to perfection as it gets.