What to eat on the trail... variety is the spice of life!

Good Morning,

In today's post, I want to get you thinking about what kind of food you might pack in your backpack for a hiking or camping trip. There are a lot of different options out there so today I hope to give you some food for thought- pun intended!

Carrying your Food in your Backpack - the Basics:

                              

There's been a lot of talk lately about which foods are best and what to buy and so forth, in reality it comes down to preference. A simple thing known as taste. Some people love MRE's, some love freeze dried, other's yet, only eat fresh food. Me? I've never found it easy to take fresh eggs and milk along on a pack trip, but whatever your choice, buy from a reputable company that carries only the freshest and best products available on the market. My choice is freeze dried. Simply add boiling water and eat. the container is your plate and cleanup is simple and fast. Also, I carry a small snap on pouch for the bottom of my backpack for all of my trash. If your pack does not offer a snap on pouch, simply fashion something of your own design and tie or carabineer it to your pack.  I haul out whatever I haul in, leaving nature as I found it.

Food Choices

Everyone is a wee bit different, I realize, in what the carry to eat. Today, we are going to talk about freeze dried meals. So, let's start with the first meal of the day. I have found that breakfast is the most important meal of a hiking day. It must consist of carbs, and proteins to sustain you till mid day, so I pack along a bacon and egg, or just an egg breakfast and some granola and whey milk. For snacks in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon, I carry a package or two of cornuts, trail mix or some kind of snack to tide me over. A mid day meal should be light, but here again, depending upon the severity of your hike, carbs and protein are once again to be considered, so buy accordingly. The meals I am talking about, are shipped in 60 package re-useable buckets. Now for the best part. Do you remember I talked about hiking being inexpensive? Well, here it is. These meals, work out to just over 85 cents each. You can't eat at McDonalds for that price.

I am not talking about dry, gaggy, stick in your throat tasteless meals either. I am talking about meals made with the finest quality ingredients, blended in the most delicious recipes on the market, you just add water and serve! I have several buckets of freeze dried food, of different tastes, and I keep them on hand for ease of choice. For example, I have a choice of eggs, oatmeal and citrus drink in one bucket, varieties of granola and whey milk in another. The same with my dinner choices.  They have the largest variety in the industry with 19 different just-add-water gourmet meals that provide a full 2000 calories/day.These products carry a 20 year shelf life. Besides, by purchasing meals packet in a re-useable bucket, I know I will have choices on hand for that last minute trip. All meals cook in 15 minutes or less and you only need to add water. Feel free to add a few of your own ingredients to become your own gourmet chef. The company I am talking about here, is in the good old USA once again. They are located in Lindon, Utah. (A bit south of Salt Lake City and a bit north of Provo) Their meals include free shipping on orders over $50, and have an unlimited return policy.

Emergency Supplies

Pretty much back to basics here. Pack accordingly for the locales you intend to hike. For example, you're not going to pack cargo shorts and t-shirts if you're hiking in the snow. So think. But here are some basics. Buy and carry a decent first aid kit. Get one that has more than band aids and some alcohol swabs. Buy something that will allow you to set a broken bone if needed or sew up a bad cut as well as attend to the usual cuts and scrapes. A couple of Ace bandages, water proof matches and/or fire starter, flashlight, rope, (parachute cord is lightweight, strong and available everywhere), camp knife, compass of some kind, (yes, you trekkies can take a GPS device) hydration tablets and a good emergency radio. Also, it never hurts to have a signal mirror and a survival blanket. You don't have to go over board for any of this stuff, as it can all be had for a reasonable price, isn't too bulky or heavy to carry. All of it can be used over and over and is well worth having when you need it.

Take care, and I'll see you on the trail.