Food

Food can be the heaviest thing in your pack. Dialing in the amount of food you take is a great way to reduce your pack weight. Most people end up with way too much food that they have carried for their entire hike. This section includes;

Foods I enjoy on the trail
A table of the fat, carbohydrate and protein contents of many common foods
A sample 6 day menu

During my 2017 Boulder to Durango thru-hike I planned the food I carried and kept track of the food I had left over at the end of each segment. The excess food left over at the end of each segment was very close to what I had planned. During the 29 day thru-hike I lost 5 pounds and from this I could calculate how many calories I actually needed to maintain a constant weight. I averaged 18 miles and 3000 feet of climbing each day. From this I determined that this particular hike required 3100 calories per day and I have dialed in my quantities to match this number.

Breakfast

During high school I pretty much survived by having a Carnation Chocolate Malt Instant Breakfast each morning. After years I never got tired of it. For breakfast on my hikes I follow this tradition. Since Carnation no longer makes Chocolate Malt flavor in bulk I prepare my own. I mix equal parts of Carnations Chocolate Breakfast Essentials with Carnation Malted Milk powder. I add 1/2 part Nestles Nido dehydrated whole milk. Nido is a fantastic product that has been around for decades in foreign countries but i found it more recently in my local super market in the Hispanic section. Nido tastes great and it dissolves in cold water better than any dried milk product I have tried.

I package a 1/2 liter serving of my Instant Breakfast in long thin plastic bags that are easy to empty into my water bottle without making a mess. I consume this 1/2 liter first thing in the morning while I am packing up to give me some early morning energy and hydration.

Lunch

the foods I enjoy on the trail and gives a breakdown of the fat, carbohydrate and protein content of many common foods.