[seawallrunner]

A question for 14-day backpackers of the NorthWest When you went on your multi-week trips, how did you plan your meals, and what did you bring? What worked for you? what worked less well? Tell me your stories, your thoughts and your opinions. The hike we are thinking of is not too difficult, but will cover a great distance and about 4,000ft a day (on average) when you include the three peaks that we want to reach. Route: around Ross Lake, two Beaver trails, round Diablo - and climb Sourdough, Crater and Desolation. Camping wild and in campgrounds. Walk the entire way except for one little bit by boat.

[greg]

You could set up a resupply then at Diablo or Ross Lake Resort, reducing your load.

[seawallrunner]

That's one option... A hot shower at the resort (how I love that misnomer) would also be welcome

[Brian Curtis]

Here's the formula we use: Dinner-served in courses Nuts (salt and fat taste particularly good after a day on the trail) Soup (Lipton Cup-a-soup, or repackage one of those larger soup cups you can buy) Freeze-dried main course For dessert we alternate between cookies (4) and instant pudding (prepackage with powdered milk so you just add water) or a freeze-dried type dessert) Breakfast-- Freeze dried precooked eggs and freeze dried sausage and instant applesauce alternating with granola (prepackage with dry milk so it is just add water) and instant applesauce. And one quart of Tang between two of us. Lunch--Rye crisp (4) and peanut butter with bacon bar (make bacon bars by vacuum packing real bacon bits) and cookies (4). Every other day we have a hot lunch with one of those soup or lunch cups from the grocery store. We have that with the 4 Rye Crisp and 4 cookies. Kool-aid for drink. Snacks--constantly. That all comes out to a very filling 1.5-2 lbs of food per day.

[Hiker Boy]

Wow, very ambitious! I'm thinking that even with a food cache halfway, that you might want to take a good critical analysis of the current gear your using so you can make space and save weight for all of the food you will be carrying. For saving some space on food, you might want to look some lightweight solutions which will give you the most calories per ounce. I highly recommend reading Beartooth Mountain Press's, Lightweight Backpacking 101 for some of the great ideas on high caloric/low weight trail foods.

[jenjen]

Although fresh veggies are heavy, consider carrying a couple of bell peppers or a cabbage along. They'll get crunched, but on day 7 that bell pepper will be the best thing you've ever tasted - no matter what it looks like. The cabbage can be chopped up gradually, a little olive oil and some spices make it into a salad. Again, not the sort of thing I prefer at home, but after a couple days eating glop on the trail? Anything salad-like is just heaven.

[Slugman]

I add up all the calories that I bring, and make sure it comes to 2,000 per day, counting the first and last days as a single day, since I eat breakfast before leaving (first day) and usually have dinner after I'm done (last day). Volume is not that important to me, since I have a large pack and usually go for just three days at a time, so I mainly concentrate on the ratio of weight-to-calories. Many non-hiking foods have ratios similar to dehydrated backpacking foods. Rice-a-roni, saltine crackers, noodle side dishes by Lipton or Knorr, pop tarts, power bars, dried fruit, tortilla chips, all these are about the same as a Mountain House dinner. Chocolate, cashews, oatmeal cookies and Tim's sea salt and vinegar potato chips are my treats of choice. Anything low in moisture will probably be a decent choice. I also like to bring a couple of apples. They are not weight-friendly, but they travel well, and fresh food is much appreciated in the backcountry. Remember, you will not be taking your packs up to the peaks you will be bagging, probably, at least I wouldn't. Make sure to take your food out of your pack before stashing the pack, even if the food is in a bear cannister or Ursack. An animal will tear into your pack, only to find it can't get your food, but you will still have a ruined pack. I just got an Ursack for my birthday, and I'm chomping at the bit to try it out. No more hanging food or carrying a heavy bear cannister. My Ursack weighs just 6 ozs, and carries food for up to a week with careful selection and re-packaging of items. And I also got the optional aluminum insert that converts the "sack" into a true cannister that is approved even in the Sierras. It still weighs only 1/2 of a typical cannister with the insert (20 ozs as opposed to 40 for the standard Garcia). Plus a supply of smell-reducing liner bags, to keep the critters away in the first place. Sometimes it's possible to drive to a point partway along your trip, then you can cache your own resupply. My plan for the hike from Third Beach to Oil City and back goes like this: Drive to Oil City, and leave a bear cannister filled with food in the woods near the trailhead, also a bag with some clean clothes. Then drive to the Third Beach trailhead, and hike the three days down to Oil City. I would then exchange garbage for food, and dirty clothes for clean. Then after hiking back to Third Beach, drive back to Oil City and retrieve the garbage, dirty clothes and bear cannister. I realize this method will often be unworkable depending upon the hike you choose.

[Seracer]

I like to keep it simple for food. Usually my stove is used only for dinners. Breakfast is usually granola cereal or grape nuts with powdered milkman. I can have it hot or cold that way. Sunrise Crystal lite or hot coffee (or cocoa) added for liquid top off in the morning sometimes. Throw down a multi-vitamin too. Day eating is a hodge podge. Dried fruits and nuts (very partial to the Cosco brand), Baker Breakfast cookies, somekind of cheese and meat (like to keep my protein level up), tortillas, etc. Peanut butter and Nutella is a killer combo on bagels (like a Resees PB cup). Also like hummus and feta cheese mixed up with some olives in a Gerry Tube with pita bread. Obviously, the spoilable stuff needs to be eaten first, but it's surprising how long that stuff will last if you keep it insulated with clothes or stuff. Dinner is also pretty quick. I am a freezer bag convert, so all my dinners are carb/protein mixes. Rice, pasta, cousous, potatoes or stuffing with either freeze dry or packet meats. I add some freeze dry vegies and a squirt of olive oil to jazz it up. Slugman is right on about calories. The best I could do was about 2000 to 2500 a day. I have read that you can burn up to 4000 a day, so you are probably gonna lose a pound or two.

[gary]

I subscribe to Seracer's KISS method. But a few things I always include on longer trips are 1] lots of bulgar wheat (it's a great meat substitute), 2] some spahgetti noodles (w/ #1 it makes a great back country dish) and 3] some corn flour for making tortilla's and subsequently meat flavored burritos (see #1 again :). Not the lightest weight items in the world, but high in protein with some carbs... as others have mentioned. Have you looked at Sarbar's web site. Lots of good stuff there. Longest trip I've been on was 23 days, and it was in the winter. Pack weight started at over 70#. Not counting skis, axes (need 2 for ice climbing), and avalanche poles. Gawd, what a trip that was... I usually just schedule all meals beforehand. Alter along the way as my mood suits, with some priority for perishability and weight. Have fun on your trip!

[Phil]

Breakfast: Bear Valley pemmican bar Fruit 'N Nut Lunch: Bear Valley pemmican bar Carob-Cocoa Dinner: Bear Valley pemmican bar Coconut Almond repeat for 14 days. Comes to around 10 pounds of food total, about 1200 calories per day.

[Larry]

[seawallrunner]

>repeat for 14 days. On day 10 I'd devour my hiking companion on a regime like this

[Odonata]

I like the Bear Valley bars, not as much as Phil tho. A little dry, but at 400 - 440 calories a pop they are a great compact food.

[sarbar]

[Phil]