Make Sure That You Pack The Right Food For Your Next Backpacking Trip

by Ric Henderson 

One of the secrets of having a great backpacking trip is to make sure that you have all of the right food in your pack.  You are not only going to have to have tasty meals to start and end your day, you are also    going to need to pack the appropriate energy snacks to give you that extra boost when you are heading up those trails during the course of the day. 

If you have ever watched an endurance sport like bike riding or a triathlon, you will see that the athletes are constantly eating and drinking during the event.  The reason for this is that because no matter how much you stock up on energy in the morning, you are going to be using up that energy with all of the exertion.  That being the case, you need to constantly replenish with liquids and solids to make sure you don’t “bonk” while you are out on the trail.

The challenge with this is that you don’t want to have items that are going to weigh a lot.  The more you pack, the more you are going to have to carry.  The one advantage that you have when packing food is that the load will eventually get lighter; however, you still don’t want to be carrying a lot of excess weight.

The thing that you need to do is balance nutrition with size.  For instance, things like energy drinks and trail mixes are going to pack a lot of punch for you.  The trail mix will not weigh very much, but the energy drinks will not be light.  If you can find them in a powder form and mix them in with your water when you need a boost, you will be much better served.

In regards to your breakfast and dinner meals, you are best served to throw out traditional thoughts on meals and concentrate on things that are going to keep your energy levels high.  While you may not normally consider eating noodles or pasta for breakfast, you may want to change that thinking during your backpacking trip. 

Not only will you be loading up on energy, things like ramen noodles are very light in the pack and will not weigh you down.  They are easy to fix and again, you already have the water source to use for cooking so you are not being forced to carry extra items in order to have your dinner or breakfast.