[pct-l] Food on the trail

[Vic Hanson]

You're making it way too complicated Jeff, just Jeff.
   
  Here is what worked for me.
   
  Breakfast: Grape Nuts (generic is fine) with powered milk, whole if possible (all the Walmarts I have been to had it, also available in Mexican food stores or the Mexican section of large super markets). If I used non fat milk, I added instant non dairy creamer - mix the dry ingredients first and then add the water as creamer doesn't mix well in cold water. For variety and more flavor, add instant pudding mix, banana was my favorite.
   
  I also ate some instant oatmeal, especially if it was in the hiker boxes, but usually didn't "cook" for breakfast. If I did heat water for oatmeal, I also had tea or hot chocolate.
   
  Lunch: Small (3 3/4 oz. I think) packages of sandwich meat - ham, turkey or beef - put on 2 bagels or flour tortillas, with cheese. The meat packs are less than $1.00 and usually on sale if you buy store brands. The name brand is Bud something. They will easily keep for 5 days or more as long as they are unopened. I had 2 packs go bad at just over a week's time, on the whole trip. When I had to mail food ahead, I used jars of dried beef (Hormel is one brand, can't remember the other). The problem with this is that you have to leave it in the jar. If you repackage it, it won't keep, so you have to pack out the empty jars. Use within 3 or 4 days after opening. 
  IMPORTANT NOTE: Take a little plastic jar of honey and put it on tortillas and cheese - I wouldn't try it at first but finally did and it was great!! Thanks Swiss Miss.
   
  Dinner: Instant mashed potatoes, add powered milk, a bunch of cheese and bacon bits, real or imitation. Or save a little meat from lunch and add that. Don't forget the salt. If I didn't have cheese to add, I got tired of instant potatoes real quick, with the cheese, I never got tired of it. I did use Butter Buds some as well as liquid margarine at the beginning.
   
  I usually took cheddar cheese, 2 lbs. for 5 or 7 days, but also bought Swiss if it was on sale, or Monterrey Jack. It can be mailed ahead for at least a month if you don't open the package. As Jeff said, Parmesan is nice too, use it in the potatoes or mac and cheese.
   
  I took some mac and cheese and usually ended up carrying it for weeks or until I ran out of potatoes.
   
  Repeat the above every day you are on the trail! Variety comes at the town stops!
   
  Snacks: The 2 most important words - LITTLE DEBBIE!! The creme filled oatmeal cookies (pies?) are the best. They come in 2 sizes. The small box has smaller cookies, the large box has bigger cookies, I think they had 390 calories each. Walmart and large super markets have the large boxes. I ate 2 - 4 a day. I also ate Little Debbie's fudge brownies, not great but kind of like fudge, got to tasting a bit like plastic after a few months.
   
  Generic (store brands like Albertertson or Vons) chewy oatmeal bars with chocolate chips, I liked them better than the Quaker Oatmeal ones, which usually came in a variety pack. Also ate some generic raspberry bars for variety. I also ate a lot of Honey Bunches of Oats (usually generic) cereal dry, just as snack food through out the day.
   
  Fig bars were great but too expensive for me unless I could get generics in a large super market. Walmart's are real cheap and my favorite taste/texture.
   
  For all of the above - Be Very Careful not to get the low fat or reduced sugar variety!! It happened a few times. You need the calories and taste, why carry the weight if it doesn't have the calories?
   
  I started with Pay Day candy bars, lots of nuts and caramel, salty, and they don't melt in the heat. However I got tired of them after a few months and switched to mostly Snickers. Ate one or 2 a day, after awhile it was the king size bars. The only power bar type things I ate were those found in hiker boxes.
   
  What am I missing? Drink mixes, I used some generic Kool Aid mix and whatever was in the hiker boxes, otherwise just plain water. My favorite tea was Celestial Seasonings Raspberry tea, great in the evening with dinner as the caffeine in regular tea sometimes kept me awake.
   
  In town my favorite was to go to a super market with a deli and have a roast beef and cheese sandwich. About the same price as Subway and much better (IMHO). Usually $4 or $5 for a large sandwich. Really hungry? Get a whole hot roast chicken for about $6 in most super markets. Top it off with a 1/2 gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
   
  Another great snack was the large muffins, usually chocolate chip or banna nut, like the ones Sam's Club or Costco have. Many large groceries stores have them too, as well as some to the smaller places. We got them at Kennedy Meadows, Hyat Lake Resort and Ollalie Lake Resort to mention a few places I remember.
   
  I lost weight the first 2 months or so and then started eating more, mostly the same food but more snacks, and gained some of it back. We stopped every 2 hours for a short break and to eat. Eat on the go if you don't need or want to stop but we found we needed to eat every 2 hours, even after breakfast or lunch.
   
  HYOH, YMMV, EYOF (eat your own food), IMHO of course. For what it is worth, eating is not an adventure for me, I find what I like and stick with it. I ate Grape Nuts for breakfast every morning for about 15 years. Had to switch to Angel Zuck (frosted corn flakes) here, no Grape Nuts available.
   
  Sugar Daddy


  Interested in a South American Adventure? I have started an Adventure Travel Business in Peru.
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  Check out my yahoo blog for stories and pictures of my PCT hike:
  http://360.yahoo.com/vichansonperu
   
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http://spaces.msn.com/members/vichanson/
   


 
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