Dan's AT Food
or
"How to Get Every Calorie You Can"
I re-supplied in grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations
along the way. Many hikers send maildrops via the US Postal Service.
I consider the advantages to "on the fly " re-supplying to
be:
- Flexible scheduling
- Flexible quantities
- Flexible variety
- Post offices are closed on Sunday
Disadvantages (which had little impact on me):
- Occasional poor selection
- Hard to buy small quantities of some items
- Cost
Some guidelines I consider useful are:
- If you don't like a food off the Trail you won't like it on the Trail.
I never saw a hiker box without oatmeal in it.
- If you don't like elaborate cooking off the Trail, remember how you'll
feel after a day of hiking.
- Better to carry it than to be hungry.
- You cannot get enough calories, fat, and protein on the Trail.
Never buy low-fat foods.
- Try to avoid smashable foods and foods that make you unusually thirsty.
So enough pontificating. A typical day's consumption for me:
- Water: Over a gallon a day. 1 qt. before I started hiking. 2-3 qts.
while hiking. 1-2 qts. after hiking. Varied greatly depending on
temperature.
- Breakfast: 2 Pop-Tarts (1 package) and 1 other "bar" (see
description below). I saved time in the morning by not cooking. It
was summer and I did not miss hot food.
- Bars: I rarely went more than 2 hours without eating during the
day and often would eat every hour. Every day I would eat 4-6 bars
not counting breakfast. By bars I mean just about anything that comes
in plastic (helps with sweaty hands). Granola bars (regular,
chocolate chip, peanut butter, Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Nutter Butter),
cracker sandwiches (with cheese, with peanut butter, bacon-flavored,
jalapeno-flavored), beef sticks, cheese sticks, Fig Newtons, Kudos,
etc. As you can see, variety is key.
- Lunch: One of the following (in order of preference): Bagels and
peanut butter, English muffins and peanut butter, Ritz crackers and
peanut butter, graham crackers and peanut butter, Saltines and peanut
butter. Also GORP (M&Ms, raisins, peanuts, occasionally random
snack mixes, Combos, etc.). Important notes:
- I was going through 18oz. of peanut butter in 4 days.
- ANY STORE WHICH PROVIDES PEANUT BUTTER SHOULD BE LEGALLY
REQUIRED TO PROVIDE CRUNCHY!
- If I had it to do over again, I would probably carry cheese from
time to time, but peanut butter is just so easy and convenient.
- Dinner: God bless Lipton Pasta and Sauce! I would usually eat
Lipton Pasta (favorite flavors: alfredo, sour cream and chives,
stroganoff, chicken, butter and herb). Occasionally I went for Lipton
Rice (favorite flavor: cajun beans and rice). And occasionally I had
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I would always mix in one of the
following: tuna, Vienna sausage, canned chicken. An artificial
brownie and a multivitamin served as dessert. And I would often eat
more GORP. All of these dinners call for milk and butter. By using
only 2/3 of the recommended amount of water, I was able to make the
dinners with neither. Unlike my intake of peanut butter, I continue to
eat pasta regularly.
- Almost every day I would either eat 2 lunches or 2 dinners or
both. On a 2-lunch day, I would stop once around 11AM and once around
2PM. On a 2-dinner day I would usually make 2 dinners together and
just eat them both at once. During the first summer, eating 2 lunches
was common. During the second summer, I never ate 2 lunches, but
almost always ate 2 dinners.
- Eating in town is the time to make up for lost calories. 4 or 5
plates of food at an all-you-can-eat buffet is a very good thing.
Also in town I would try to find 3 bananas, a pint of ice cream, and a
couple of cold beers. And nothing can beat a big greasy cheeseburger.
Dan Grossman Focus, Ga->Pa '96, Pa->Me '97
danieljg@cs.cornell.edu