[pct-l] Food preps/advice for newcomer

[Melanie Clarke]

It is usually a little bit chilly in the morning so all I want to do is
break camp and hit the trail.  I would start out eating a trail bar as I
take off hiking to warm up.  Before I leave camp, I put some water in my
"cereal ziplock" (anything from ground cheerios, oatmeal, rolled wheat,
muesli type stuff).  Then yes, I learned from my journeys with the Hobbits
to eat a second breakfast after the sun has warmed the earth (and my
disposition he he he) and need a break.  I have my sit down breakfast with
my cereal ziplock and spoon.

t


On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Barry Teschlog <tokencivilian at yahoo.com>wrote:

>
>
> Scott wrote:
>
> I'm trying to hike the pct from southern border of California to
> Washington and would appreciate any meal plans/recommendations.
> Any extra pointers for a newbie to the trail would be great too.
>
>
> Reply:
> For lunches, what worked for me was to make bagel sandwiches with dry
> Italian Salami and cheese (1 ounce each per sandwich).  The salami and a
> medium or sharp cheddar cheese (or a harder cheese, like Parmesan) would
> hold up fine in the pack for 4-6 days in desert heat, although they'll do
> better if wrapped in a jacket in the cool of the morning before going into
> the pack.  Sure, they'd "sweat" a bit of grease, but both are too low in
> moisture and high in salt to get any growth.  Consider adding some mustard
> packets for extra flavor.  Bagels hold up better than typical loaf bread to
> the abuse in the pack.  Get a major brand (e.g. with preservatives) as they
> seem to hold up better - the fluffy organic brands seem to spoil more
> quickly when in the pack.
>
>
> Powered milk, preferably the Nido brand (full fat, non fat is fine, just
> lower calorie content), is a great way to add calories to a breakfast of
> oatmeal without adding bulk.  Its also another great source for calcium and
> complete protein.
>
> For the coffee drinkers - add a envelope of hot chocolate mix to make a
> "field expedient" Mocha, and make your coffee loaded with ~150 calories,
> instead of practically nothing.
>
>
> Consider doing the 5 "main" meal a day plan, plus snacks.  Once I started
> doing this, I was finally able to physically eat enough food to get the
> calories I needed.  I'd tried doing larger B-Fast, lunch and dinners to get
> more calories, but couldn't physically eat all the food.
>
>
> Have a 2nd Breakfast and 2nd Lunch at your first break in the morning and
> early afternoon (for me, that was about 1 1/2 hours after leaving camp, or
> the same after lunch break).  This was plenty of time for either breakfast
> or lunch to have digested, making room for the "2nd" meal.  I used a
> combination of power bars (yeah, yuck, but they worked for me - find what
> works for you) and either a fruit pie or a Hostess type snack cake
> (Zingers, Cupcake, Ho Ho's etc) for the "2nd" meals - a power bar is about
> 250 calories and the fruit pies are about 450, so that's a 700 calorie
> "meal" that (mostly) tastes good and can be slammed down in a few minutes
> with no prep.  If you need more calories, then throw in a hand full of nuts
> (peanuts, pistachios, cashews, etc) at about 140 calories an ounce and
> you're well over 800 calories per "2nd" meal.
>
> YMMV.  IMO.  HYOH.
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
>