What Did You Eat?

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

Not enough.  The typical thru-hiker burns 3000 to 4000 calories a day.  I had trouble getting those calories.  As a consequence, my weight dropped from 159 pounds at the start of my hike to 142 pounds after two months.  I ended my hike at 144 pounds.  At 142, I was wiped out at the end of the day.  At 144, I was able to get by.  My preference would have been to keep my weight at 148 or 149 pounds.

As mentioned above, I started my hike at 159 pounds.  At the end of my first segment (two months – Walker Pass to Campo), I weighed 142 pounds.  I needed to increase the amount of food I was eating. 

Having chowed down at home for a week, I started my second segment (Sierra City to Santiam Pass) at 148 pounds.  But once again, I weighed 142 pounds at the end of this segment (two months) even though I was eating more.  I needed to add weight gain supplement to my diet. 

I chowed down at home once again and started my third segment (Santiam Pass to Taboose Pass) at 148 pounds.  I finished that segment at 144.  I don’t know if that was because the third segment was so short (one month) or because I had truly solved my nutrition quandary.  Next year, I’ll find out.

From a practical standpoint, there’s only so much food you can eat each day and only so much food you want to carry.  Food is heavy. You eat about two to two-and-a-half pounds per day.  The goal is to make that weight as calorie dense as possible.  Thus, lots of sugar (carbohydrates) and lots of fat.

Breakfast

I typically ate instant oatmeal or instant grits for breakfast — two packets per day.  I grew up in the southeast which means I grew up eating grits. I like them.  To be flavorful, instant grits need to have butter in them or whatever substitutes for butter in processed food.  My favorite oatmeal flavor is maple brown sugar.  After eating the oatmeal or grits, I’d eat a candy bar.

To drink, I would make a coffee mocha every morning out of instant coffee and instant hot chocolate.  I’d use two hot chocolate packets with one coffee packet.  I often fortified this drink with milk powder or weight gain supplement.  My favorite milk powder is Nido.  It’s a fortified milk beverage made by Nestle, primarily intended for children.

Snacks

I would stop for a snack, two or three times a day.  I’d eat some combination of candy bars (usually Milky Way or Baby Ruth), snack bars (either granola bar or protein bar), and dried fruit (usually raisins or apricots).  During the third segment of my hike, I added weight gain supplement mixed into water.

Lunch

Lunch included the same things I ate for snacks, but I would add cheese and dried meat (jerky, sausage sticks, or salami) to get the fat (calories) I needed.

Dinner

Dinner usually included a meat or fish and a starch.  Meat or fish meant two foil packets a night of either tuna, salmon, chicken, or BBQ.  (Wal-Mart sells pulled pork BBQ in a foil packet.  It’s delicious.)  Starch tended to be instant mashed potatoes, instant rice, or cous cous.  Once or twice a week, I substituted instant ramen for the meat and starch.  I’d fortify whatever I was eating with olive oil, since it is so calorie dense.

After eating, I’d enjoy a cup of hot chocolate supplemented with milk powder or weight gain supplement.

Hydration

Having experienced heat exhaustion on an day hike several years ago (dizziness, nausea, incapacitation), I now add electrolyte powder to the water I drink each day.  If I’m slumming it, I add Gatorade’s Propel powder in single serve packets.  Otherwise, it’s Liquid IV powder packets purchased at Costco.  I use these electrolyte powders at half strength instead of full strength.

Resupply

I began my hike relying entirely on in-town food purchases.  I would stop every four to six days and walk or hitch into a nearby town to buy groceries. 

At the end of the hike, however, I was relying mostly on food packages I’d sent ahead, either to a post office near the trail or a business that would hold packages for hikers.  Most trail towns have at least one business that will do this for a fee – usually a motel, restaurant, outdoors store, RV campground, general store, or small grocery.  Small groceries do this because hikers almost always buy additional food when they pick up their package, particularly snacks and drinks (sodas and beer).

I made the switch from in-town buying to mailed packages because the towns near the trail were getting smaller with more limited grocery options.  By mailing a package ahead, I didn’t have to worry about what was available and how much it would cost.

In-Town Meals

Hikers often fantasize about what they plan to eat when they get into town.  I’m big on ice cream, milkshakes, steak, baked potatoes, lasagna, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Hikers tend to chow down when they’re in town.  That’s because they’re hungry and they want to build up calorie reserves before heading back to the trail.  Pre-Covid, a hiker’s favorite food trough was an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Other Information

I don’t eat freeze dried meals like those made by Mountain House.  That’s because they cost so much.  In addition, they are often unavailable in the small towns you rely on for resupply. 

I tried to stick to food readily available in even a small grocery.  The food has to be light.  That’s the reason for instant this and instant that.  It’s also the reason for buying meat in foil packets instead of cans.  And of course, I don’t buy food that needs refrigeration.  That can be an issue when it comes to cheese.

I eat a lot of sugar because I need all the calories I can get.  Unfortunately, you do get tired of eating candy bars.  I also eat a lot of fat because it has lots of calories – olive oil, dried meat, and dairy products (cheese, instant milk, hot chocolate).  Finally, I eat meat, fish, and dairy products for protein.