LA’s Guide to Summiting Whitney, Part IV – What to eat on the trail.

There are three main considerations about trail food. Any food that you bring should be high-calorie and contain lots of energy; the food should all fit in the bear canister; and it should not be excessively heavy to carry. Generally, for an overnight hike, I recommend something simple to prepare, or even not prepare, such as things like energy bars, or freeze-dried food. Sandwiches or other pre-cooked items also can be good after a long day of hiking. What you really want is something that can be prepared easily and tastes halfway decent. One of the advantages to freeze-dried food is that all the preparation it requires is hot water. This allows you to save on weight by carrying a single burner stove to heat water. Even easier alternatives are as mentioned above, pre-cooked foods or energy bars which require no cooking at all. When I’m on the trail, I usually eat some sort of fresh fruit or energy bar because I don’t usually like to deal with making something crazy like soup for lunch. For dinner, and sometimes breakfast, I’ll usually go with some type of freeze-dried meal for the calories, and not for the taste. Although I will admit, the quality of freeze-dried meals has become much better in recent years.