Food for Hiking the Appalachian Trail – Part 5, The Real Plan

We’re five posts into my Appalachian Trail hiking food series and I haven’t said what I’m actually eating. Having packed my first 15 days, I can now say what the plan is. Some of this will come in mailboxes and I plan to buy what I can affordably get along the way. I have classified the food by breakfast, snack and dinner. But I often have breakfast for dinner and vice versa.

Breakfast

I have really struggled to have variety at breakfast, but thanks to my dear neighbor, I have achieved at least some variety.

• Oatmeal: mixed with berries, nuts and various cereals such as chia and flax.
  • Replenishment: city and mailbox
• Poha Mixture – Video on how to make it: https://youtu.be/VF0aEHiEg4k
  • Replenishment: mailbox only
• Semolina
  • Replenishment: city and mailbox
• Instant breakfast – every other day
  • Replenishment: city and mailbox

Dinner

My goal with dinner is to not eat the same thing more than once every 5 days. I’m going that route with couscous, but I think the seasoning differences will provide enough variety.

• Cous cous (5 different recipes)
  • Replenishment: city and mailbox
• Italian pasta soup with melon seeds
  • Replenishment: city and mailbox
• Dal (3 different recipes)
  • Replenishment: mailbox only
• Bean Floss Soup
  • Replenishment: mailbox only
• Refried beans and rice
  • Replenishment: mailbox only
• instant potatoes

Dinners are made primarily with dry or dehydrated ingredients premixed in Ziplocs. To cook, I put them in my silicone, pour them in boiling water and seal them.

Appetizers

• Snack bars (Clif, Luna, etc.)
• Nuts (many, many nuts)
• figs
• waffles with syrup
• rice cakes
• granola
• Cookies
• Amaranth seed bars
• sesame bars
• Peanut butter

Using this list, the first 15 days have been packed into three containers: my bag of food, a grocery bag for my aunt to deliver, and one to mail. Adaptability is a big issue among successful hikes and I don’t intend to do the entire hike with the level of planning we did during the first 15 days. The first 15 days should help me determine which of the above things are working and what I need to change. Who knows. We’ll see how it goes on the ground.

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.