Backpacking Food

[mammynunswife]

I'm taking a Crew of Venture Scouts backpacking in a few weeks and I was wondering about food. Since these kids are teens, and we are a new Crew we don't have alot of money to spend on the fancy dehydrated stuff. I was wondering if there were any seasoned backpackers here that could offer some advice? I'm going to be feeding 5 teenage boys, 3 teenage girls, 2 women and our token adult male!

 

[GARANDGUY]

get some hamburger and potatoes,butter,buns,aluminum foil and make "hobo meals" in the coals of the fire! Dont forget its not camping w/out smores!!!! Good luck and have fun but most of all be SAFE!
Rep for the "token male" comment,lol.

 

[sadclownwp]

If you are going on something long distance, slim jims provide much needed protein and fat, and a pack of Raman for each person. keeps the weight down on the long trips, if you are only doing like a 2 or 3 day trip, then 1 5 pound bag of rice, some gravy mix, and some peanut butter will get you a long way. oh and go to a butcher shop and buy some thick beef sticks, that will provide you with more than enough protein and fat. Thats what we did when I took my scout troop to Knobstone Trail for a week. The meals were not the best, but they sure tasted like 5 star meals after carrying a 50 pound pack for 10 miles.

 

[westfork]

how much of this do you have to do? i guess what i'm asking is are you in charge of making up the menu, doing the shopping, distributing the food amongst the backpackers, etc?

brainstorming within your group before shopping might give you a better idea about the specific needs/wants of the people you are 'catering' to.

i use the fancy stuff sometimes, but also go without it just as often. think about things in the store that don't necessarily need refrigerated. think about how many days/how many meals you need to come up with per person.

i like using tortillas or pita bread, cheese (those string cheese snacks work well), tuna, jerky, pepperoni, spam, dried fruits, instant potatoes (the kind that you only have to add boiling water to), gummi fruit snacks, nutri grain bars, etc...

i pretty much just go to the store a couple days before i pack and search for things that don't need refrigerated and can survive being squished and bumped around in my pack. allow yourself an hour or so to really scour the shelves and i guarantee you'll find plenty of backpacking food for cheap.

single serve pouches of tuna/spam are handy for some 'meat'. avoid things in cans as they weigh a lot and you have to deal with packing the can out as opposed to the pouch packaged versions.

my wife doesn't eat red meat, so i've been experimenting with a lot of alternatives for making tacos, chili and things like that. we recently discovered 'fantastic world foods' brand taco filling. boil some water, dump in the fake meat, simmer for about 5 minutes and you've got some decent taco filling or universal camping meat product that didn't require you to lug the cooler along. we haven't used this stuff backpacking yet, but plan to trick our friends with it soon. oh they also make sloppy joe mix.

make the food shopping into part of the adventure for your crew. it's a good exercise and i'm sure they will come up with a ton of ideas none of us here will even touch on.

think it all out, pack as light as you safely can, and you are sure to all have an enjoyable trip. remember lighter loads = higher morale!

 

[pjcalla]

Mac and cheese with the cheese packet, so you don’t need the milk. Ramen noodles are good (light). Beef jerky, dehydrated fruit, nuts and granola bars for "on trail" lunch. Same for breakfast. That has always gotten me by. Also, the flavor packets for water are good for a change of pace. Go to Wendys or Chick-fil-a and stock up on the little packets of salt and pepper. I usually take the mac & cheese out of the box and put it in a ziplock bag, it makes packing it easier.

Whatever you choose to take, just remember that you will need to carry everything to make it. The lighter, the better. Sounds like fun. Where are you going? Good luck.

 

[mammynunswife]

Great advice guys!!! Thank you!!
We are just taking a short 2 day trip into Red River Gorge in KY. It's our first backpacking adventure as a Crew. Some of the boys are Boy Scouts and have done some backpacking with the troop. Our girls are newbies and so are the adults. We will let the youth plan a menu together next week then my daughter and I will do the shopping. I'm thinking we will have the kids buddy up in pairs and have one carry food and cooking gear, and then have the other carry the tent. Not sure who's going to carry me yet! Guess they will have to draw straws on that one!

 

[Jerry D Young]

Gonna be heavy if you can't use some dehydrated of freeze-dried items

2 dozen eggs (in protective carriers)
1 pound hard frozen ground chuck packed w/dry ice (1st evening meal - spaghatti)
1 pound spaghetti
10 large hard frozen steaks packed w/dry ice (2nd evening meal)
2 loaves hard crust bread
5 pounds potatoes
2 pounds carrots
5 large onions
2 pounds dry cure bacon, pre sliced
2 pounds summer sausage
2 pounds hard cheese
5 pounds gorp
5 pounds jerky
1 large box instant oats
12 cans roast beef
12 cans tuna
2 large cans salmon (for fish cakes)
6 boxes mac & cheese
3 small boxes Nido dried whole milk
1 pound crisco
1 large bottle pancake syrup
1 large box Bisquick
2 cans butter
2 pounds flour
3 - 5 boxes Grape Nuts or granola cereal
1 pound sugar
1/2 pound salt
1 box pepper
1/2 pound cornmeal (if fishing is an option)
5 pounds dried fruit
48 single servings Coffee/tea/hot chocolate
Assorted sweets (hard candy, M&Ms, Tootsie Rolls, other chocolate in cool weather)

With the appropriate cooking kit this should last 11 people several days. The weight would need to be split up several ways.

Just my thoughts on the matter

Saw the 2 day trip explanation after I posted. reduce the quantities as appropriate.

 

[theweakerbrother]

Jerry knows how to pack! Reps to him when I recharge!

 

[SmileDocHill]

You probably already know this but your tastes change when you are out hiking for more than a walk down the road. You can go simple by just walking down the grocery isle also. The individual packets of instant oatmeal are great for breakfast. They only require you heat some water. 2 cheap plastic stackable cups per kid (like the ones you used to get sodas in at ball games) are great for eating bowls, cups, and even insulated bowls or cups when you put one inside the other. It keeps the hot water from making the cup too hot to hold. Pop tarts work surprisingly well, even if they get smashed their good and the baggie they come in (plus a zip Lock bag just in case) holds them together well. I've found that getting "up and at'em" in the morning on a hiking or multi day canoe trip is greatly helped by not having to cook an elaborate meal for breakfast. Raisins make a great additive to any trail mix, and can be added to the oatmeal also. One container of squeezable Honey is like the raisins, it gets used in a ton of things throughout the week and really doesn't go bad, just make sure you have quality zip lock bags that you are putting the squeeze bottle in. The "string cheese" or really any cheese that is individually packaged as a snack item will keep for days without refrigeration. I've taken them as snack and lunch add on items in the middle of summer on 7+ day canoe trips in the far north Canada many times and haven't yet had one go bad. Pita bread is great also for sandwiches or to put peanut butter on. You can play football with a package of it and still have it for dinner, the stuff is physically unable to smash and serves as a resilient bread substitute. I'll stop rambling, I love the pre trip planning. I used to take a 5-9 day canoing trip in different rivers in Canada every year that required a pre, and post trip meeting (no outfitters, just 2 guys that have been doing it for 20+ years and me and my canoe buddy tagging along).

 

[westfork]

going to the gorge, eh? can i tag along???

 

[AZ Hunter]

Jerry lives the high life on his trips. I'd backpack with you any day!

 

[mammynunswife]

going to the gorge, eh? can i tag along???

Sure! We can always use another token male!

 

[GARANDGUY]

Watch out for rattlesnakes at RRG. They dropped some in there a few yrs back. Beautiful place! Make sure to get some pics for us of your trip if you would.

 

[mammynunswife]

Watch out for rattlesnakes at RRG. They dropped some in there a few yrs back. Beautiful place! Make sure to get some pics for us of your trip if you would.

RATTLESNAKES!!!!!! Seriously?????? Yikes!!!!! That kinda freaks me out! Thanks for the heads up!
I'm sure I'll have a ton of pix to share! This is turning into quite a little adventure for me. My outdoors experience has been limited to car camping, Cub Scout Camp and a few short day hikes! I'm not exactly a seasoned backpacker!!!! Thankfully Mr.Mammynun won't be going so I won't have to listen to him making fun of me!

 

[mammynun]

Ya never know... work permitting I may go. Someone has to carry the heavy, frozen, turkey!

 

[woodsie57]

Gonna love the gorge! Lotsa cliffs, almost walked off one wandering in the dark- stay on trails,esp at night! Mac 'n cheese, ramens, water treatment pills, so you can restock on h20, some instant oatmeal- my standard packing fare.

 

[mammynunswife]

Gonna love the gorge! Lotsa cliffs, almost walked off one wandering in the dark- stay on trails,esp at night! Mac 'n cheese, ramens, water treatment pills, so you can restock on h20, some instant oatmeal- my standard packing fare.

Note to self....watch out for rattlesnakes and walking off cliffs! Can't wait!

 

[mammynunswife]

Ya never know... work permitting I may go. Someone has to carry the heavy, frozen, turkey!

No fair!!!! Leave the turkey out of this discussion!

 

[TwinSix]

RRG Backpacking

I have hiked / climbed all thru the Gorge. Nice Areas... Be careful on clifflines, and watch the trail "blazes". Some are Etched on the Rocks on the "Rough Trail". You will have a nice time... take Good Water Proof boots, as there will likely be mud and stream crossings.

Foods... I like the Cheesy Raman Noodles w/ tuna or dried/smoked salmon. High Calorie... Hard Cheeses are good.

Noodles w/ pesto (i like the Knorr mix). Take some olive oil in a small bottle, mix up the pesto, and put on noodles or bread.

Think soreness too. Natural antiflammatories such as blueberries, cherries (dried) are good at nite time.

Bagels pack well...

And when you are done in the Gorge, you MUST go to Miguels for Pizza! Great after a hard hike or climb.

 

[mammynunswife]

Thanks for all the great tips! I'll post some pix when/if we make it back!