Nutrition on the Trail

Nutrition of hikers, especially long-distance hikers, is both a fun and serious subject to review.

We should all learn from the insight of the earliest writer on AT nutrition, Earl Shaffer, on the first thru-hike: "Getting over, under, or around these [blowdowns] was a tiresome business, but this alone could not account for the fact that my strength was waning. At times it was necessary to stretch out on the ground for a few minutes to recuperate or to sit on a tree trunk momentarily while stepping over. Something was definitely wrong. . . .The nagging problem was my growing weakness. . . .About noon I stopped to cook. Considering that meals had been missed altogether because of rainy weather, I decided to cook a double amount so that some could be kept and eaten cold if no fire was available that evening. To my amazement the entire kettleful of 'sawdust pudding' [probably cornmeal mush—VGV] disappeared like magic, along with half a pound of brown sugar, a can of milk, and some raisins. Almost instantly my legs lost that leaden feeling and I felt like hiking again. It had been a case of starvation pure and simple, despite no unusual sense of hunger. From that time on my strength increased and so did my food bill." (Walking With Spring, p. 19.)

If you consume about 2,000 calories daily in sedentary living, you will probably need at least 4,000 calories daily during a long hike. Shaffer found this out the hard way. The goal of nutrition on a long hike is to balance caloric intake with energy expenditure and not incur any vitamin or mineral deficits. This includes water and electrolyte intake, which vary with heat and humidity. The observed capacity of long-distance hikers to eat when food is available is legendary and results from their many miles and heavy loads. AYCE (all you can eat) is the magic abbreviation for eateries along the trail in information books. Not only economy but physiological need gives AYCE drawing power, and most important are the pounds that don't have to be carried.

What to eat for breakfast, snacks, lunch, snacks, and dinner? I carry about two pounds of food per day. I start the day with one package of Pop-Tarts with Instant Breakfast dissolved in coffee (I like Folger individual bags). My midmorning snack (about 9:00 a.m.) is a Snickers, gorp (heavy on the peanut M&Ms) and dried apricots with some Gatorade. Lunch is crackers and cheese (or sausage), fruit, and cookies (especially chocolate chip). The secret is finding and packing crackers and cookies that don't easily crumble (I like Wheatsworth and Famous Amos). Midafternoon snack includes Kudos or granola bars and gorp. Making gorp is fun, but don't put in dried fruit which has some moisture that softens up the M&Ms. Honey-coated peanuts are great. Sunflower seeds and chocolate-coated raisins are fine. No prunes!