[Matt]

Practically the only thing I eat while hiking is plain traditional chocolate Power Bars, usually at least two per day. They keep me going better than anything else I've tried. I want something I can eat in portions throughout the day to keep myself going. I find the fancy flavors of other bars to be inedible. To each their own. My other favorite is Cliff Shot Bloks (black cherry flavor) for short-term bursts of energy, but I have to ration them carefully because they taste too much like candy. Edit: Regarding cold Power Bars. Yep, they get hard when they're cold. So keep them someplace warm. In winter, I'll usually stick the bar in the waistband of my clothes to warm up before eating it. Leading to the classic joke, "Is that a Power Bar in your pants, or do you just have a weird rectangular shaped appendage?"

[ilsa817]

[Ski]

[sarbar]

On not wanting to eat a lot...something that seems to work for me when I feel nausated/don't want to eat is to sip on a cup of a very thin soup. A lot of times I lose my appetite due to: just plain over using my body, being tired, dehydrated, etc. The soup gives me time to rest, not think and gets me rehydrated. It can help...so give it a try! Even then, I have started packing only small meals now

[bertman]

I like Odwalla bars myself. They have a nice variety of flavors. The old style Cliff bars are dry and become rock hard when the temperature drops. Plus they have too many chocolate or peanut butter flavor combinations and not much else. I recently tried a Cliff protein bar (vanilla almond) that was okay. Luna bars are okay but too many of them have frosting on them. Bertman

[mountaineer ordinaire]

Some people hate these, and they are a bit spendy, but I prefer them over beans, bars, and gels:

On amazon.com, by the case, they're less expensive than local retailers.

[Random Walker]

A few summers ago I found I could purchase those Bear Valley Pemmican bars for $0.95 apiece as long as I ordered 50 or more. Figuring 2 a day I packed up 14 (a total of only 3lbs!) of them for a 6/7 day mosey meander. Well, it took me quite awhile to eat up the rest of them :-) One time I packed up a few pounds of homemade Halva for an adventure. Thats a whole different story, though I have not eaten any of that since. Anyway, Mom just picked me up an industrial size box of Cliff Bars during her last Costco adventure… ?

[ilsa817]

Thanks Sarbar, I'm sure I don't want to eat because of bodily abuse - I can sometimes regain my appetite after a little rest. I will try the soup - that's a good idea I really hadn't thought too much of. I'm still trying to convince Michael (my sherpa) that packing less food for me will be easier on his back.

[Dani]

What I have been eating are those Babel cheeses that you can get at costco. I put them in the freezer the night before and then take them out the day we are heading out. I don't like warm sandwiches so I put them with my turkey sandwich and it keeps it cool! I really like balance bars but if you don't like the protein taste you may not go for these. They have about 20 grams of protein which is important when you are out all day. For a bit less sugar I have been eating the "Think Thin" bars that you can get a Fred Meyer or Trader Joes. Still lots of protein but with less sugar. These don't freeze up either!

[grateful2ski]

those cliff shots are awesome in my opinion...took some before a triathlon and worked like a charm, never needed that much kick for a hike tho

[Jeff R]

During intense exercising, it's hard for a body to process food since its already focusing on moving muscles and cardiovascular. With that said, being adequately hydrated and 'carbo loaded' the day before a trip helps. It seems that after a day or two the body acclimates and the appetite seems to come back. All the while high altitude conspiring against appetite. I personally am 'power bared out'. Tried most all of them and can eat them for awhile until they get played out and I can't stomach any more of them. Luna, cliff, power, odwalla, granola bars, Pemmican, etc. I do however like the shot blocks, guu and the Honey based Stinger packs which are palatable and are easy to process, as well as being a super food. Along with cytomax in the old Nalgene or camel bak. Then I look forward to some real food at lunch and dinner. Will carry a little extra weight for some gourmet grub 4 show.

[grannyhiker]

I often don't have any appetite for dinner when backpacking, probably because of fatigue. I do eat a fairly hearty breakfast and then snack all day. I have resolved that on future backpacks I will bring at least one, maybe two no-cook meals for times when I'm too tired even to boil water or when it's pouring down rain (I don't want to use the stove in the tent vestibule). I love hummus, but I have to make and dry my own--the mixes all appear to contain sea salt (see next paragraph). Tabouli is also good, although a bit crunchy when made with cold water. Nearly all energy bars contain either potassium iodide (along with a zillion other added vitamins and minerals) or sea salt (which contains traces of iodine). Since I'm highly allergic to iodine (legacy of once using it to disinfect drinking water), I can eat only the fruit bars (Larabars or the Clif fruit bars) or Kashi cereal bars. I'm not really into the fruit bars; I'd rather eat plain dried fruit and nuts. I do like the Kashi bars, though, and eat at least one per day when I'm hiking.

[Slugman]

I've only had one kind of Clif bar, the blueberry crisp, and they are moist and delicious. I pick up a couple at Trader Joe's for each backpacking trip. I usually eat Trader Joe's "Go Rah" or Trek Mix bars, also moist and quite tasty.

[sarbar]

Back before I had braces put on I would make this recipe often - it has been very popular on my website - and is often requested. Just cut the bars up and wrap individually, then freeze. Grab when you need one - they thaw fast. You might not save money - due to higher end ingredients - but you will know EXACTLY what goes into them. The "You can make them your way" Bars: Call them a chewy granola bar or an energy bar, either way, these are good! They freeze well also (wrap them up two bars to a bag for an easy trail snack out of the freezer.) Trust me, you will LOVE these bars. Yes, they are high in fat, but if you are hiking hard, you will burn it off. And they are better for you than a candy bar! 2 cups quick-cooking oats 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup dried cranberries (or whatever fruit you prefer!) 1/2 cup wheat germ 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or other nut of choice, unsalted) 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup honey 1 large egg 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1. Preheat oven to 350°. 2. Line a 13x9 inch pan with parchment paper. 3. In a large bowl, stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, craisins,wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, and pecans. 4. In a smaller bowl, thoroughly blend oil, honey, egg, and vanilla; pour into flour mixture, and mix by hand until the liquid is evenly distributed. 5. I use rubber gloves for this. 6. Press evenly into the prepared baking pan. Make sure it is packed in tightly. 7. Bake 25-30 minutes in the oven or until the edges are golden. 8. Cool completely in pan before turning out onto a cutting board and cutting into bars. Makes 12-16 bars. Notes: These bars take well to using applesauce or baby prunes as part of the oil. Brown sugar Splenda® works well as a way to cut back on the sugar content for diabetics. Any nut can be used, and feel free to change the fruit or add chocolate chips, etc to the batter! These bars have been made by a number of hikers on hiking forums, and the consensus is they are good! - no matter how you change the recipe!

[Euler]

A lesser known brand of energy bar is Stinger. I love the ones in the red package - a good mix of honey and chocolate. I treat myself to one per hike. REI stocks them. While REI almost always have some other kind of Stinger bar, they are almost out of these particular ones. For some reason I also like banana Power Bars. Most of the other Power Bars I don't like so much. But the banana ones seem really good to me. Maybe that is because real bananas are mushy to begin with, so a banana power bar is more like a banana than most of the other X power bars are like X (if you get my meaning).