by Algy Moncrieff

Created on: July 24, 2009

When you are going to be walking long distances, potentially in cold weather, with a heavy load on your back food becomes more important than when you are living your day to day life, and there are a number of factors that you should be considering during the planning stages. The most important aspect of food that you carry is that it is simple and compact - it has to fit into your rucksack, so complicated meals made of a thousand different ingredients are definitely out, even if you did feel like making something elaborate after a long tiring day's hiking! So the main things to think about are:

1. Dried or not? This is an important choice to make. Freeze-dried meals are not nearly as bad as they sound, and have the major advantage that they are very light, and so will add almost nothing to your overall weight, especially if you remove excess packaging. Their major disadvantage is that they require water to hydrate them, something which may be in short supply. Remember that since you will be boiling the meal for a good length of time on your stove you can use river water as long as it isn't full of dirt, but still whether you want to take dried meals or not will depend heavily on the availability of water. Other good dried foods include pasta and rice.

2. Length of time. Think about how many meals you need. This will depend on how often you will be near civilisation where you can buy more supplies, but remember that you may end up taking more time than you expect. Of course this has to be balanced with the need to not make your pack too heavy.

3. Calorie content. The amount of calories you will be burning will be far greater than you usually would, especially if you are walking in a cold climate. Think about eating lots of carbohydrates for slow burn energy release, as well as more fats and sugars than you usually would eat. A supply of sweets, chocolate, nuts and other snacks are excellent while walking since you will inevitably get hungry.

4. Hot or cold? Hot food has the advantage that it keeps you warm if you are in a cold climate and boiling water gets rid of bacteria, but it does mean that you will have to be carrying enough fuel for your stove to keep it burning. Food need not be hot all the time if you are walking somewhere that is a bit warm, but after a long day's hiking a hot meal tends to be very welcome. For lunch it is probably easier not to bother with digging out your stove and cooking equipment so think about easy, high energy foods that don't require cooking. The classic combination of sandwiches, crisps and some other sweet snack always works well, although crisps are not the most practical of foods to be shoving into a packed rucksack.

Most importantly, bring something that you won't mind eating! It is important to keep your energy up if you are walking, otherwise you will quickly become tired and the smallest problems will seem like mountains to climb. Keeping well fed can easily be the difference between an enjoyable trip and a miserable one, but remember that it really isn't rocket science; you just need to remember that you will be in a very different situation to usual and adapt the menu accordingly. For short trips allowing fruit and veg to go out the window except when you get back to civilisation is no problem. Always concentrate on carrying the most calorific foods for the lowest weight, and you won't go too far wrong!

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