Food (What do you take?)

[Erik Johnson]

Hi,

I'm planning a 4 or 5 day solo hike on the cape wrath trail this summer.

Was wondering what food people generally take with them on this kind of walk. Bearing in mind there won't really be many chances to buy some on route.

[irishwasa]

I am not normally too worried about what my food is, just that there is sufficient, so my meals are pretty repetetive, with only small variations.
Generally, I have sachets of flavoured porridge for brekkie (golden syrup normally), some form of cereal bar for brew times, a sachet of something for lunch, such as Ainsley Harriet cous cous. Dinner is pasta or rice, with a John West tuna sachet mixed in. Supper is a Cadbury Brunch bar.
I ususally take dried foods as much as possible to save weight and space, but even so, 5 days supply is a reasonable pile

[Martin 282]

After years of looking for decent light but good high cal foods I offer the following advice. Dehydrated food is light but the weight of loo paper needed later outweighs its usefulness. I take largely fresh pasta - cooks quickly so less fuel required- with pesto. pork pie is high in cals but does not keep long. Fruit breads/cake , muesli with dried milk in poly bags for breakfast, & your favourite cereal bars for snacks.I also take some nuts & dried fruit. Some cheese such as Edam also seem to keep well in your pack. As I am always hungry whilst backpacking most foods taste good but I would sooner stay home than eat the dehydrated stuff sold in outdoor shops.
Enjoy your trip.
Martin.

[bydand_loon]

not long finished a 14 day hike, a 5 day section was the most food i carried at any time on it.

In the good parts of Scotland there is no need to carry water (i see heaps of folk laden down by 3ltr hydration packs that must weigh a ton (or 3kg + pack weight ) ) a simple plastic old water/juice bottle or a light sports bottle are fine and just fill as you go. An empty platypus 2/3 ltr bottle for camp routine.

food wise, wraps are ace, kingsmills do a good 6 pack in a good resealable bag, ASDA do a decent (their own label) chicken and mushroom pasta for about 65p, split 3 of them into 2 freezer bags, one isn’t quite enough, keep one tub for a plate. Same with cup a soups (Tomato ) make two wee bags from every three soup sachets (if your cup can handle the volume) soups are a great hot moral booster at lunch or for supper. foil packed tuna is good, Squeezie cheese tubes, baby bells, beef jerky, mini oreo packs, packs of three lees macaroon bars are energy and morale, ASDA also do two variations of salami sticks for about a £1 for 5, two packs of them give you two snacks a day or something to add to the pasta.

For main meals i always have fresh on day 1, a steak, gammon steak, lamb steak, sausages etc, combined with a wrap and the wee sachets of sauce and mustard you pinch from pubs its a deserved luxury. After the fresh has been used up its onto various boil in the bag meals, i pretty much hate all that freeze dried stuff, and there’s no way im faffing around making my own, cooked chicken lasts a day or two and again is nice on a wrap.

Breakfast will probably be sausages on a wrap for the second morning, with enough cooked to cover a lunch the same day, bacons two much of a scutter, after that its army ration pack boil in the bag breakfasts, they’re fantastic and full of what you need

don’t scrimp on food and take plenty of wee snacks and sweeties, its really important on long hauls and often the best morale going, if it gets to heavy, just eat it. My luxury food was actually a can of diet coke, I carried it for days then sat down one evening with it and a snickers, heaven