by Gena Reddoch

Created on: April 12, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

After a long, hard day on the trail, it's nice to look forward to a delicious, easy meal. For me, organization and variety is important, especially if I am going to be out for several days.

I always bundle the days portion of food together so that meal planning is one less thing that I have to think about once I'm out there. For example, before I leave home, I figure out how many days I will be on the trail, and add one full meal and two snacks for emergency backup. I figure that the day I set out, I will eat breakfast at home, so for day one I need only a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and bedtime tea. For the last day, I usually eat dinner at home or in a restaurant, so that day I need breakfast, lunch and snacks, but no dinner or bedtime tea. For each day, I use a clear, gallon-size zip-lock bag. I mark the bags "day one" or "Monday" or with the date, so that each morning when I am trying to break down my camp and re-pack, I don't have to fuss with food. I simply pick up the bag I have labeled for that day and put it somewhere easily accessible. The following day, I use the empty bag for my garbage. Subsequent bags may be used for dirty clothes, muddy equipment, etc. It may seem wasteful to use so many bags, but I have found that except for the ones used for trash, they can be used over and over again.

I prefer to plan meals that require only hot water to reconstitute. The reasons are as follows:

1. There are many tasty options to choose from, including vegan.
2. Many are packaged as two servings, so if you are traveling with someone else, it is easy to split the meals. If you are traveling alone, there are individual-serving meals available.
3. They are lightweight and don't take up much space in your pack.
4. You need only one pot...for heating water.
5. You use less fuel heating water than you use cooking a meal.
6. Clean-up is a breeze, and you are left with a minimal amount of garbage to haul out!

For breakfast, I would rather give up my hiking poles than go without coffee. If the trip is a long one, I use instant, because it is so light-weight and does not require an additional piece of brewing equipment. For shorter trips, I take fresh-ground and a tiny drip filter. Either way, I measure it out at home and put it in a baggie for each day. That way, I am sure not to run out before the trip is over! For my morning meal, I prefer individual packets of instant oatmeal, malt-o-meal, cream of wheat, etc. They come in various flavors, so it needn't

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>