I'm through hiking the JMT in July.

I've done it once before, and my meals were as follows every day:

Two packs of instant oatmeal
Three chewy granola bars
One box of couscous

What can I say, I was in college, it got the job done.

I realize now, I probably was far short on needed calories, thankfully though I was and still am a bit pudgy.

I'd love to hear what you guys pack for trips.

I'm looking to eat well, but still lose weight on the trail, as well as not carry too much weight in food. I'd be happy to pack and eat the same again, but at the same time, wouldn't mind eating in a way that keeps my energy up.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Sample Menu for 3 Day Hike

3 100 gram museli bars

300 grams bread
9 slices (200 grams) cheese
Pack of sprouts
150 grams snow peas
2 big carrots
3 handfuls rocket

400 grams fruit/nut

2 soups
1 pasta pack
1 noodle pack
ginger
6 mushrooms
4 freddo frogs

600 ml Scotch
2 cuban cigars

Nuts: almonds,peacans,macadamium,pumkin,sunflower
Dried fruit: rasins,cherries, mangos,pineapples
GU energy gels
250-300 calorie enrgy bars
Bagels,PB,honey,humis
M&M's, skittles, starburst
Cheeze sticks, cheeze balls in wax
Mary-Jane dehydrated meals
SINGLE-MALT SCOTCH!
Small carrots,apples
Kornchips,pringles,grahm crackers
Powdered gatorade

I don't eat much breakfast. Usually I tank a quart of beverage and some crackers. Then I pack a bag of snacks to eat all day. I pack things like dried fruit, potato chips, nuts - a balance of potassium, protein and fat. Chocolate as well. I often pack in shelf stable cheese to munch and servings of soup that make 1 cup. I tend to eat all day, grazing.

For dinner I make a meal of choice with chocolate or cookies for snack.

To up my fruit I often carry freeze dried fruit and make ice tea (herbal) I float the fruit in it.

I always carry olive oil to add to dinner.

I also like instant (homemade) hummus and crackers or tortillas.

Oh yea, Don't foreget the new and improved tuna packets- you gotta get your protien!! plus Salmon packets

Hit up www.harmonyhousefoods.com for dried veggies, fruit, cooked dried beans and flavored TVP :-) Their stuff is very good and as well is all uniformly small - so it works well in trail meals.

I just picked up the some things, including a few trials of TVP from Harmony House. I'm still looking at the bags of TVP asking myself if I'm really going to eat it.
The dehydrated strawberries make powdered milk tolerable. I think adding some granola will make a decent breakfast.

The flavored TVP is actually pretty good! Just start small - 1 Tablespoon per person. If not used to it and you eat tons it can cause gas ;-) But otherwise the Beef one tastes nearly identical to hamburger gravel!

Hi Tim,

We eat pretty well on the trail and I have put many of my recipes into a cookbook. Basically I dry meals at home so they are lightweight and I simply have to add water at camp. I'm not one for mere sustenance as I look at good food as part of the whole experience. I think I'd get pretty sick of the same fare over and over.

Some great books are....

Lipsmackin' Backpackin'
Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin'
Backpack Gourmet
A Fork in the Trail < shameless plug
and Freezer Bag Cooking

Breakfast:
5 oz. granola
1 Snickers bar

Morning Snack:
2 homemade energy bars

Lunch:
One can Pringles (crushed and in Ziploc)

Afternoon snack:
Energy shake (Hammer Perpetuem, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Powdered Milk)

Dinner:
900 to 1000 calorie homemade/dehydrated meal (typically rice, bean, or meat based with veggies and heavy on oil).

Desert:
1 Snickers bar, cookies, et al

I prefer to cook only in the evening, so my current regimen includes:

breakfast: 1 Larabar, 1 Probar
snack #1: 1 Larabar, 1 Granola Bar
snack #2: candy bar
snack #3: mixed nuts
dinner: pasta or rice-based meal with protein
dessert: chocolate bar

24 ounces, 2650 calories (23% fat, 64% carbs, 13% protein).

This is a shot for a trip with my son. Two days, around 30 miles:


It is a good combo of everything with some junk thrown in.

wow... ok guys! This is a great start for me to start switching things up, I really appreciate it!

I'll let you know what I come up with.

Someone mentioned the taste of milk on the trail. I like to use Carnation Instant Breakfast in the morning with milk. However, powdered milk that is freshly made tastes bad. So, what I like to do is make my milk up at night and let it float in a stream. By the morning the milk is cold and tastes great. Try this at home. Mix the milk real well and then let it relax in the fridge overnight. Tastes much better.

It's interesting to see everyone's choices.

thinking about doing a decent number of almond snickers bars, I've seen these bars repeated over and over and feel like it's something that'll help keep me eating and moving...

My long trips these days are only around 2-3 days unfortunatly, but here is my basic menu for a 30-40 mile weekend

5 oz Mixed nuts
5 oz dried fruit
12 oz bag PB M&M's
1-2 Freeze dried meals
Bag of precooked Spanish rice and beans in tortilla's
Hammer gels
baggie of Gatorade powder
4-5 Natures Harvest granola bars

it is alot of food, but I always end up eating it all.

I made the big mistake of thinking I'd eat 1 pound of gorp/trail mix each day on the trail.. yikes.

Thankfully I did a test run earlier this week and am starting to get things sorted out.

I'll post up a list of my final food plan hopefully early next week after I get it all packed and shipped out.

Thanks a ton for the great ideas!

Just don't forget fiber. A lot of people do....and it sucks to be feeling icky cause you cannot go :-(