Backpacking Foods
When planning a weekend hiking trip, what food items you bring does not matter all too much. Your main focus is to buy the food that you like, that you will be able to cook, and that can go without refrigeration for a few days. However, for trips longer than a weekend, planning the food for your trip becomes extremely important.
There are two kinds of backpacking food. One type is freeze-dried backpacking meals, while the other is buying nonperishable food from a grocery store. There are hundreds of options in terms of freeze-dried foods. These foods can be bought online or in stores or can be made by you.
You want to travel lightly when you are backpacking. When packing for a trip, food could take up a lot of space and weight in your bags, so it would be wise to travel with food that is fulfilling, but light as well. The best backpacking food is lightweight, tasty, calorie-packed and allows for quick cooking. When planning for a longer trip, it is wise to figure out every meal and ration out each meal in little bags. Some people will make “x” amount of breakfast bags, “x” amount of lunch bags, and “x” amount of dinner bags–this makes it easier to pick out a meal to eat as the days go by. You’ll also know that you will have enough food to last you throughout your trip.
Typical breakfast foods include rice, granola, fruit cocktail, raisins, pancakes, and more. Breakfast is a meal that will give you the initial kick to your day and the energy boost that you need. Lunch is also an most important meal. Lunch is usually heavier, bulkier, high energy, and requires no cooking. Some examples of lunch foods are tuna, trail mix, Logan Bread, pita bread, bagels, granola bars, dried fruit, Wheat Thins, etc. Dinner doesn’t have to be heavy; light, cooked, dehydrated meals are typically the type of food that backpackers eat at night.
When going on longer backpacking trips, it is really important that you think about the food that you are going to eat on a daily basis. Planning ahead is one of the most important steps you can take.
