Backpack Training: Week 9 - Food

Right Buddy strained her lower back on Thursday, so we canceled our long hike for the week. While she was resting her back, we decided to practice making backpacking meals, trying out different products and testing out our backpacking gear.

To save money, we didn't want to pay the prices of prepared backpacker meals, such as Backpacker's Pantry or Mountain House. However, we also didn't want to take the time to dehydrate food ourselves. So we settled on something in between. We took ideas from our research of websites and YouTube videos of other backpackers.

We went to the store to stock up on things we wanted to try:

• Pouches of Knorr pasta and rice sides

• Pouches of Idahoan flavored mashed potatoes

• Pouches of chicken, tuna, salmon and Spam

• Bacon crumbles

• Pepperoni

• Summer sausage

• Dried fruits and raisins

• Whole wheat tortillas

• Individually packaged cheese sticks

• Granola bars, fruit & nut bars

• Peanut butter

• Peanuts and cashews

• Ritz crackers

• Individually packaged instant Quaker Oats

• Individually packaged Swiss Miss hot chocolate

• Instant coffee packets

• Powdered milk

• Avocados

On Saturday, we prepared and ate only what we could have on the trail, all day. OK, Right Buddy had an iced tea and Left Buddy had a beer, but, other than that, we stuck to it. For breakfast, we had oatmeal and raisins, instant coffee and hot chocolate prepared on our backpacking stove, using our long handled metal sporks. Right Buddy added dried blueberries to her oatmeal which she felt was a good addition. Left Buddy added powdered milk to his oatmeal; Right Buddy was jealous because she forgot about the dried milk.

For lunch, Right Buddy had a couple of tortillas with peanut butter and dried banana chips, a cheese stick, an avocado and some dried fruit. Left Buddy had a cheese stick and summer sausage on Ritz crackers and a tortilla with pepperoni and another cheese stick. Right Buddy liked the crunch texture that the dried banana chips added to the peanut butter tortilla. She also really liked the dried mangos. The jackfruit was also good. However, the dried pineapple was too sweet and the dried apricots too sour for her tastes, so she gave them away to our daughter (college students will always take food). A little later in the afternoon, we both had a granola bar.

For dinner, we split a Knorr pasta side that we had added a pouch of chicken to. That didn't seem like enough food, so we also split one of the pouches of Idahoan potatoes. For dessert we split a cherry pie Lärabar. Right Buddy also helped herself to more dried mango. We felt both the Knorr and Idahoan sides were very tasty, filling and easy to prepare. To prepare them, you basically add water and boil. The Knorr side did call for milk, but we just increased the water and added powdered milk. The backpacker's stove was a little touchy and was not easy to adjust in small amounts, so we did spill some of the Knorr side as it boiled over while trying to turn the stove down. We are using a BRS Portable Folding Ultralight Camping Stove Outdoor Gas Burner Cooking Stove Titanium 25g (paid link). Our tip: remove the pot from the stove, adjust the stove, then place the pot back on the stove. We did not burn ourselves, but we could see how it would easily happen trying to adjust the stove directly under the pot. Right Buddy finished off the day with another cup of hot chocolate (this is when Left Buddy had a beer).

All in all, we thought the food was tasty and filling. Of course, we were not hiking that day, so we would probably eat more if we were on the trail. We think we could mix it up enough for a multi day backpacking trip that we wouldn't get tired of it. Our longest backpacking trip planned so far is the Grand Canyon, which we plan to be five days long, and we might be able to get a reservation at Phantom Ranch at the bottom for a meal or two. We don't plan on becoming Thru-Hikers (completing several hundred to a couple thousand miles in one season, such as the ADT, CDT or PCT), but, then again, we only decided to become backpackers within the past year.

We plan to keep trying out different options once a week and report back anything significant that we like or don't like. What are your favorite backpacking meals?

(RB)