My favorite trail foods

When we hiked the Appalacian Trail, we took the route of preparing our foods and packaging them into mailing boxes. Then we had someone periodically mail them out to us as we made our way South to North. And we would pick them up at the post office when we made it to the right town. We got as fancy as we could with that food. We had textured vegetable protein and we would mix that into soups. It made the soup a lot more substantial. Ramen was good. Lipton sides. For snacks we had dried fruits, trail mix, snickers, cookies and crackers. Vienna sausage never tasted so good! And beef jerky! We had powdered eggs, but I'll tell ya', I'll pass on those. Whole raw oats with powdered milk made a delicious breakfast.

 

That was a smart gesture, mailing the packages to yourself . I would have never thought of that. I would have packed pretty much the same as you but Gatorade and canned fruit would be a must have for me.

 

I never thought about Lipton sides or Ramen noodles. That is something that I could put in a backpack to use in case of a major emergency. Water and matches or a lighter would already be in my backpack. I would need to find a light but durable pan to pack, as well. I hope you enjoyed your hike.

 

It sounds like you had some pretty good food there. I usually eat Lipton sides and trail mix at home. Mailing this stuff to yourself is like getting rations sent to you or something. This sounds like a really nice vacation, being out in nature and having good food sounds like a winner.

 

It was very nice. An exciting adventure that will always remember. And as a bonus, I learned a lot about how to survive in the wild. What amazed me, was that on my back, I was carrying the pure essentials for everything needed to survive, and survive well. When you think about everything that you have in your house, really there are only a few things that are absolutely necessary, and that would be worth taking with you if you had to leave and survive this way for awhile.

 

And I was happy with just good olde peanuts and raisins munchies while hiking or doing another strenous activity. Japanese peanuts are my favorite snack trail food, that are essentially peanuts encased in a hard and crunchy slightly sweet wheat flour shell and a hint of soy sauce. Those are not really made in japan, but was invented by a japanese immigrant in Mexico.

 

Haha, I like the idea of mailing food to yourself. I too have done it but for different reasons. When I was moving to Japan, I knew I'd be stripped of cash at the get-go, especially after setting up my apartment. So I'd sent out a box of American favorites (peanut butter, cereal, oats, hot sauce, trail mix, granola bars and dried rice and other things) to subsist while getting my life together. The true essence of the 'care package.'

For backpacking though (or trailblazing), I prefer some less weighted options: fresh fruit but mainly bananas for the potassium and high carbs; energy goo (in those pouches); fig newtons; lemon water; granola bars (like Kashi Honey Almond); and roasted nuts, salted. I like things that can be digested quickly.

 

That's a great trick you did. But I guess we wouldn't do that here. The first question if what if the supply did not arrive on time? We cannot go hungry on that leisure hike that may turn to be a survival hike. In our case, maybe we would just carry the burden of the entire logistical supply than gamble with the delivery. And for sure, we can only carry what we can so the supplies have to be limited. And since we are not fond of powdered food and concentrates, our cargo would mostly be canned food. Anyway, my husband is good in orienteering and he has experiences in mountain camping so I wouldn't worry much.

Just a note about the instant noodles. There are doctors here who are advising against eating instant noodles because they can harm the kidneys. Oh my, I have been plagued by kidney stones so I am staying away from instant noodles.

 

To be honest, we never thought of packing lunches when out hiking. We never called it hiking either. We called it playing outside after school. We get our bikes and find the nearest mountain, and start hiking for hours on end. We were adventurous.

What we ate was basically what we found growing. We had Guava, Passion fruit, and Mountain Apple. As kids we were already taught what to look out for and it was fun.

 

How many days worth of food did you pack with you at one time? It doesn't seem like anything you mentioned is going to add on that many pounds. So had your situation been a matter of survival you could have been ok for a while. As for space, would it have been feasible to carry enough for an extended time?

 

I would say "cereal bars". They are super simple to carry everywhere, they don't need to be cooked (this is a super plus in these situations ), they are great for health and they are delicious (at least for me, of course... I like most of all the flavors ). So, that's my choice.

 

I think I would take cliff bars, and gorp granola nuts and raisins mixed. For longer periods of time I would bring some of those freeze dried foods they sell at outdoor stores and such. I would think they would be more nutritionally balanced than Ramen or Lipton foods and contain less sodium. I would carry more than I thought I needed as long as it didn't weigh me down too much. It seems like in the survival stories you see on TV and some they don't survive they never have enough food with them...partially leading to their bad circumstances.

 

Where do you hike that you are afraid to light a fire?? I have all manner of small hiking stoves that offer little in the way of light and no smoke. I like the quick dehydrated meal that just require you to boil water. In general I'm not talking about the high dollar hiking food. I like things like the Tony Chachere's Red beans and rice or the dirty rice or gumbo. If I can mange to knock over a little fresh meat this sort of thing can be very good. I also carry the Ramon type soups that I take out of the package and add more dehydrated veggies and bouillon to and then repackage with a seal a meal. The shelf life isn't as good but this thread is about "My Favorite Trail Foods". The taste is good and the price per mean is dirt cheap. I just make them up before I go. Seal a meal type vacuum sealers are great!! I will say though that I have used one of the Ramon Soups that was over a year old and it tasted fine. Idahoian mashed taters are great to add as a side to some critter that you cook over a fire.

 

I guess it is a matter of where you live and what time of year you prefer to hike the trails. The east Texas Piney woods are usually fairly safe to have a fire in as long as you show common sense. Also I prefer to do my camping in the cooler months of the early fall and early spring. Actually right NOW would be a great time to be on the trail here now that Harvey is done and has sucked in a lot of cool dry air. It is amazing how fast the ground has dried after getting nearly 2 feet of rain.

Part of it for me is that the campfire is just an important part of the hiking and camping experience. Without it you are either just sitting in the dark or trying to sleep and then sitting in the dark 8 hours later when you wake up. If I can find an open space though I do love to watch the skies and look around with my night vision.

Back in my younger days though I did go on maneuvers with my militia group and we did cold dark camps. When I am alone though and just camping I like my little fires. I make them very systematically and have everything ready for a one spark fire that will last until I'm ready to bank it and go to sleep.

 

im guilty in that i tend to overpack my food supplies. as in i leave for a weekend and pack for a week!
i know its overboard but i figure if i cant get out with that amount of food if i get lost then i shouldnt be there!!

 

While it is not camping or hiking per se...I find that when I go light on lunch at work...I like to snack on those dried tropical fruit and nut mixes....from Wally World.

It fills the void without going too heavy and they can be resealed and put back in my locker.
They get me through the night and until I can get back home to a more substantial meal.


Thanks,
Watcherchris