The Lightest Backpacking Food

Those who like to travel light in the wilderness arearound 2,900 calories. You'll likely burn a little more
always looking for the lightest backpacking food theythan that each day on the average hiking trip, but
can take. Of course, light doesn't mean crackers orlosing a pound or two is no disaster for most people.
other things that have little weight for their volume.Skip The Backpacking Stove
When hiking you need calories above all, so theAnother way to save weight with your backpacking
lightest foods are those that provide the mostfood is to bring only meals which don't have to be
calories for the weight. Here are some to consider,cooked. This will be a problem for those that can't
as well as two other ways to cut the weight of theget comfortable without a hot dinner, but some of
meals you carry with you.us enjoy the break from cooking and washing pots.
Nuts And SeedsThere is no reason you can't have a healthy diet
By far, one of the healthiest and most calorie-packedwithout cooking, and most backpacking is done in the
foods you can take with you are nuts and seeds.warmer months, so why not try a no-cooking trip?
Mixed nuts, for example, typically have 170 caloriesYou will save the weight of the stove, as well as the
per ounce, as well as the protein and amino acids youfuel. There is a compromise that gets you one hot
need. Sunflower seeds are similar (a bit lower inmeal, without carrying the equipment. Just put a few
calories if raw). That compares to only 110 caloriesfrozen hotdogs in a sealed plastic bag and wrap them
per ounce for pure sugar, or 75 calories for bread.in the clothing in your pack to insulate them. In this
Olive Oilway it should take them a full day to thaw out, so
Olive oil is not only one of the healthiest (and moston day two you can cook them over a fire.
delicious) oils you can eat, but it comes with 240More Radical Weight Savings
calories per ounce. This is the most calories you canIf you really want to go light on your backpacking
carry for the weight, making this the lightest of thefood, there are two other tricks to use. The first is
backpacking foods. It can be carried safely in a smallcalled carbo-loading. You essentially avoid
plastic bottle, and used for salads made of wildcarbohydrates for a week or so, and then eat a lot
greens, on pasta, or just for dipping bread into. Anof them in the two days prior to your trip, causing
added advantage in cooler weather is that fatsyou body to store them. With this routine, your body
produce heat as they digest.can store up to 1,800 calories of carbs in your blood,
Other Lightweight Backpacking Foodsliver and muscles, in the form of glycogen. That
Some crackers have 120 calories per ounce, andmeans you can pack less food (okay, it only gets
chocolate has about 150. Look at the nutritional labelyou half-day's worth).
and try to carry foods that have more than 110The other less extreme and perhaps more enjoyable
calories per ounce. That is the average, by the way,technique is to learn enough about wild edible plants
for any basic carbohydrates, whether in the form ofto supplement your diet. I have eaten hundreds of
sugar, pasta or potato flakes. You can certainly mixcalories of wild raspberries in a twenty-minute break
the higher energy foods like nuts with a few carrotswhile hiking in the Colorado mountains. If you know
or other low-calorie foods brought for healththe seasons of the various plant foods where you'll
purposes, but try to keep the overall average upbe going, you can essentially replace some pack
there if you want to go light.weight with your knowledge. Even if you don't want
What should you aim for with your calorie count? Ito plan on eating wild edibles, knowing them well
try to keep my average above 120 per ounce. Withmeans you can more safely carry the minimum
a pound and a half of food per day that meansamount of backpacking food you think you'll need.