The Foundation of Your Trail Diet: Dry and Lightweight Foods
The ideal choice for a backpacker is freeze-dried and dehydrated foods with a long shelf life: instant cereals, mashed potatoes, and ready-made expedition meals. Many of these simply require adding boiling water. Here are a few simple and hearty dishes easy to prepare in the field.
Energy-Packed Oatmeal with Honey
Oatmeal is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates. To prepare it, mix oatmeal with water in a 1:3 ratio, add honey, and cook, stirring, to the desired consistency. Honey is convenient to carry in a plastic container and can also be used to sweeten other dishes.
Quick No-Yeast Bread
Its recipe is based on a simple 3–2–1 formula: three parts of whole-grain flour, two parts of powdered milk, and one pinch of baking soda. Add salt, knead the dough with water, roll it into a flatbread, and bake it on a hot skillet, in an improvised camp oven, or even on campfire coals.
Simple Trail Pancakes
You can use a ready-made mix or make your own: combine flour, powdered eggs, and powdered milk (roughly 1 cup of flour to a couple of tablespoons of dry ingredients). Dilute with water to a sour cream consistency and fry on a skillet. Finished pancakes go great with honey, sugar, or cinnamon.
To add variety to the taste of dry rations, assemble a minimal set of spices: salt, pepper, curry, cinnamon in small airtight containers. Two small plastic bottles—one with vegetable oil and one with honey—will also prove indispensable.
Organizing Food Storage at Camp
At a stationary camp with supply drops, you can expand your menu to include fresh produce. However, remember: it spoils quickly. Consume perishables first, and to extend the shelf life of other items, create proper storage conditions.
Designate a separate tent as a pantry. It should be kept in the shade, well-ventilated, and items inside should be moved to follow the shade throughout the day. Overnight, store them in the western corner so the morning sun doesn't heat your supplies.
How to Keep Food Cool Without a Refrigerator:
1. Using a Stream. Flowing water is a natural cooler. Milk, butter, meat, or fish in sealed containers can be submerged, weighed down with a rock or secured to the shore. Ensure raw meat does not come into contact with ready-to-eat food.
2. A Pit with Insulation. If there's no water source nearby, dig a pit, place your sealed supplies inside, and tightly pack the gaps with hay, dry grass, or paper. This layer will act as thermal insulation.
Protection from Uninvited Guests
The smell of food attracts not only people but also insects and wildlife. To protect yourself and your supplies, follow strict rules.
The Cardinal Rule: In bear country, store all scented items (including toothpaste) at least 100 meters away from sleeping areas, suspended in a backpack from a tree. Never leave food in your sleeping tent.
General Precautions:
* Protection from Flies. Cover meat with cheesecloth or mosquito netting, ensuring an air gap. Flies are carriers of dangerous diseases and can lay eggs on food.
* Storing Vegetables and Fruit. Don't keep them in sealed plastic bags—they will rot quickly. Store them in an open, ventilated area and sort through them regularly.
* Pantry Cleanliness. Meticulously clean up all crumbs. On an earthen floor, periodically remove the top layer of soil.
* Waste Disposal. Immediately burn trash and food scraps or pack them securely and store them far from camp. Remember your responsibility to nature: do not litter the area.
Next guide: What You Need to Know About Water on a Hike Previous guide: Why Hot Food on the Trail is a Necessity You can view the full list here: Survival Guides for the Mountains
