Food, Part Two

When we got off the trail for a few days in June for a wedding, the most common question I got was about food. “How are you eating enough? What are you eating?” Well, the answer depends on when in the hike you asked us.

Month 1:

Breakfast was oatmeal (remember that huge pile from my first food post? THAT.), then we would hike about 5-6 miles. At this point, our stomachs would be growling for sustenance, so we would stop for a snack break. Typically this meant trail mix, dried fruit, and/or granola bars. Then we would hike another 5 or so miles and stop for lunch – peanut butter on pita plus more snacks. Afternoon snacks were a repeat of morning, but we could usually get a few more miles in and to our usual 20 mile mark. Dinners were any of the 14 varieties of pasta/rice/potato I prepared ahead of time. Hunger came and went with a regularity that felt expected. Satiation wasn’t difficult.

Month 2:

Breakfast was still oatmeal and still surprisingly tasty. I had made about 5 varieties so we wouldn’t have to eat the exact same kind every morning. The rarer dehydrated eggs & potatoes weren’t as appealing as they had been, despite their better “staying power.” I chalk it up to the addition of cheddar cheese powder, which has an off-putting orange hue that seemed extra neon first thing in the morning. Instant coffee made an almost daily appearance into our morning routine. We were hiking harder miles now in the Sierras and our breaks were similar, but the consumption larger. Sometimes we would only take two breaks a day since our mileage was diminished, but we would sit for a solid hour and eat almost the entire time. Tortillas replaced pitas for better portability and instant hummus was a welcome break in the peanut butter routine. Water wasn’t as much of an issue as it was in the desert, so we regularly took an afternoon break for tea & chocolate. In retrospect, this wasn’t sufficient intake even though it was enjoyable. Snickers made its first steady appearance.

The biggest food lesson was during the second month, seeing that although we were eating to fullness during our breaks, this wasn’t providing sufficient calories to sustain us. Big hiking requires constant consumption, not just big consumption.  9 times out of 10, bad attitudes were due to low blood sugar, even if our stomachs weren’t giving us the expected cues. Also, you cannot regain enough calories in town to make up for what you lost during your backcountry forays between resupply stops.

Month 3:

“Hiker Hunger” hit. Within an hour of breakfast (still oatmeal!) we were hungry. However, we had also learned that our dismal attitudes from Yosemite were primarily hunger-driven, so now we took to stashing bars in our pack hip belts. Requirements of this snack were only that it needed to be compact, handheld, and easy to eat while walking. That snack (or two for Jan) carried us to about mile 8-10 of the day, when we would stop for lunch – tortillas with peanut butter, hummus with crackers, and a variety of high calorie snacks (read: junk food). We would restock our hip belts for the afternoon and hike another 8-10 miles, take a break that looked just like the first, and finish out the day. Our town stops became opportunities to stock up on the high calorie/low weight junk food as much as refueling with burgers, fries, milkshakes, and beer.  Towards the end of our trip, I dusted off an entire bag of Pirate’s Booty and an entire bag of Doritos in one sitting and felt just fine (perhaps even a sense of accomplishment!).

Snacks for only 4 days (not pictured: bread, 2 avocados, a roll of Ritz and some Oreos). Yes, we ate all of this.

If I could offer one main takeaway of feeding yourself on a long-distance trek, it would be that variety really is the spice of life. The range of oatmeal additions (and occasional instant eggs & potatoes) and mix of dinners saved us from getting burnt out too quickly on any one food. There were certainly hits in the mix (Beefy Noodle Bowl) and duds (Indian Dal with rice & veggies), but we never had to eat anything more than once a week. That saved us from some serious food misery. Being excited to eat makes breaks all the more enjoyable on the trail, and conversely, being put off by your options makes the break seem like a chore. I might not reach for a bag of trail mix anytime soon, and Jan won’t even look at a Clif bar, but we both still love peanut butter.