PCT Food and Resupply Strategy (AKA The No-Plan Plan)

What would you do for a Klondike Bar? Well, after a few months in the woods the answer to that might surprise and terrify you..

Few things can delight and destroy a hiker like food can. The thought of it can make you jog a mile into town to make it to a burger joint before closing, and not having it (or watching from a distance as a bear eats it) can be enough to make you cry and cuss and kick stuff. When I think of how hungry I got on my little week-long hikes I shudder to imagine what it will be like crossing the Mojave. So I've put a lot of thought into making sure I am prepared for this aspect of my hike, and I think I've settled on a plan. Well, maybe more of an outline..

RESUPPLY:

Of all the planning and prepping I've done, this was the most intimidating to tackle. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone has different motivations so after hearing out other hikers' plans and also taking into consideration that I am nowhere near as picky about what I eat (I could literally eat only Oreos or ramen for 50 miles no problem), I made my plan. It's very basic: Hike the first 700 miles on locally bought (buy as you go) supplies. Starting after that it will be a mix of mailed boxes which will be sent from on-trail stops a couple weeks earlier. My rough guide is as follows:

*The green sections represent possible other stops or places that I haven't made my mind up on yet, and I will likely decide on those once on the trail. Suggestions?

STOVE:

As far as what I will be cooking with, I've decided on the Jetboil Titanium Sol stove/pot combo. After adding up all the weight of the other items with the ultralight alcohol stove, fuel/canister, cook pot, lid and windscreen I decided to go with this all-inclusive stove (even though it is 3 ounces heavier) because it is the most convenient option by far! It's stable, wind-resistent (more so anyways), still very low weight at 9.8oz, and has an ignitor. When I'm freezing cold and I want a cup of coffee or hot cocoa I will be thrilled to have this, and I'm sure 3oz won't be a burden on my mind ;) 

 

FOOD:

I will likely do another post on food that has recipes and tips, but here is a general idea of how it's gonna go down..

When you think of a hiker you might imagine this inside their pack:

But you are wrong, mostly.

When it comes to food, literally anything fatty, lightweight and reasonably energizing will do. But like most hikers, those 3 attributes aren't even necessary. Long-distance hikers (maybe more than any other athletes) understand the connection between what you eat and how it effects you mentally and physically. Nutrition will be a factor, and I don't want to have unnecessarily unhealthy food but hiking is one activity that causes you to take 95% of everything you've ever learned about healthy eating and throw it out the window. Calorie counts per day demand to be doubled or tripled to keep you from losing too much weight and becoming sick. When you are hiking with a 30 pound pack for 25 miles a day you NEED fat and high-calorie foods. I'm hoping to incorporate as many dried veggies as I can on-trail and when I am in towns I'll try and eat as many fresh fruits and veggies (otherwise heavy items I wouldn't hike with) as possible. But when you are resupplying in a gas station your options are also further limited. I'll probably end up shoving a multivitamin in a Snickers bar and calling it a day. The more you hike the more creative you try and get but you stick to mainly the easy, light stuff. The more you get to know other hikers the more you realize that 90% of the time the inside of a pack looks more like this:

As for the main staples of what I'll eat, this is the plan:

Breakfast:

Ohhhtmeal. Barf. I wholeheartedly hate oatmeal but it weighs nothing and gives me a lot of easy energy so I usually try to incorporate it, but I always mix it with Nutella, jelly, chocolate of any kind, peanut butter or pretty much anything that will make me forget I am eating oatmeal. One pioneering young man who did a food prep video on his Appalachian Trail thru-hike mentioned that he buys a box of fudge brownie mix to add to his oatmeal. I will do this.. I think he and I could be good friends. Instant grits are going to be another big one but being on the west coast I'm not sure instant grits will always be available. Granola-type bars, candy bars, etc. are all in-bounds. Coffee will be included if I am using my stove for anything else.

Lunch: 

Tortillas with either peanut butter, nutella, hummus, jelly packs, cheese/salami, or maybe a combo of all of those if I am feeling the hunger in a bad way :) Also depending on how motivated/lazy I am there also might be a collection of snacks eaten as I hike. Other reasons for skipping lunch might include avoiding swarms of mosquitos or rushing to make it to a town. Flexibility on all of this is going to be key!

Dinners:

A base of either Ramen noodles, instant mashed potatoes, pasta (not likely often due to boiling time/use of fuel), or a Knorr/Lipton/PastaRoni-style instant side. To the base I'll add dehydrated (or preferably freeze-dried) vegetables, maybe some beef jerky/meat stick or tuna/spam single pack (or pork fu if I am getting a package from my parents!). One favorite is curry and raisins with ramen (recipes will follow in a later post). On rare occasions I will have pre-made backpacker dinners, but due to price these will be rare. 

Snacks:

Anything. Mostly the healthiest possible junk food. Again it's massive calories that you want so I will be incorporating whatever I can find in gas stations here. Candy bars, nuts/seed, trail mix, dried fruit, chips. One thing I usually do is combine salty and sweet things (like potato chips and chocolate) in an evolving snack bag. I just keep adding to it without worrying about the possibility of one stale chip at the bottom being ignored for  months because in all honesty, most of these foods have more than enough preservatives.. Keeps it interesting. Pumpkin seeds are a favorite.

Other things: Salt, pepper, seasoning packs, condiment packets (usually compliments of McDonalds), instant curry cubes, parmesan, olive oil (added to almost everything to add calories), sugar.

Crystal light and kool-aid packs as well as teas, coffee (my favorite instant Vietnamese coffee if possible), tang, gatorade powder and anything else to break the monotony. 8 years at Burning Man have taught me how to hydrate and what works/doesn't work for me. It's also taught me how to function in a harsh desert with a little liquor in the meal plan.

Which reminds me, whiskey. "Ohhh but it weighs all those grams!" said everyone who later enjoyed sharing my whiskey.

I might do another post on food, any comments you have for me would be great! Enjoy!