Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board What is the "best" food to bring for a day hike?

I have my own opinion, but before I share it, I'd like yours:

What is the "best" food to bring along for a long day hike like a climb of Mount Whitney from the portal/Main Trail?

Am I wrong or does it make little sense to eat healthy food all year while conditioning yourself and then to load up on junky, salty/sugary food for the hike?

Of course, energy delivery, weight and convenience are all considerations.

What is the best?

The 'best food' is the one that gets eaten. I've witnessed many a well intentioned 'good food' get packed back to the trail head because the hiker couldn't 'stomache' it. Also, a study showed that carbohydrates facilitate water absorption, and water absorption is probably more important than that 'best food'. Just my .02 cents.................steve

Passinthru has it right. I normally eat very healthy, but when I go from home at 300' above sea level to high elevation, my interest in food dwindles dramatically. There are many things that I enjoy at home that I just can't stomach at elevation, so I have to take those foods that I can eat. I don't take a lot of true junk food, but there is a fair amount of sugar in what I do take. But it is still better health-wise than what a lot of folks I know eat at home.

I think that everyone is different as far as food goes. I think food tastes different at higher altitude, especially when you are physically tired. Healthy food might be OK, but it probably should be somehting that tastes good. On one of our last hikes my brother bought some of that goo junk. While it may be a good energy boost, it tastes bad at sea level and worse when you're tired at 12,000 feet. I'll take trail mix or a Payday over goo any day. My favotite is a Clif Mojo bar.

On a camping vs. hiking note: spaghetti is an awful idea above 8,000 feet. (A lesson learned at 24 while cooking for a group of 10).

I like mac and cheese with tuna in it, its my go-to meal for when i'm out and about

Agree that it needs to be eaten, which means it needs to taste good - at altitude.
At the summit of Mt. Rainier last summer I almost puked when I peeled the foil from my cold pizza. The idea of even an iota of grease did not set well with me.
Think about what you might like when you are recovering from nausea.

Yesterday hiking up the MR I ate 1) salami and cheese sandwich, 2) spicy tuna packet with wheat crackers, 3) asian nut mix, 4) small bag of jalepeno Chex Mix, 4) Life cereal and 5) a sugar free Red Bull (prefer Monster). Tomorrow I am bringing the salami swiss cheese sandwiches again, along with peanut butter on English muffins and Goldfish and fat free fig Newtons.

I'm a walking garbage bag, I'll eat anything, anywhere, anytime...even off the floor. I don't have any issues with altitude. Good for me, I eat the food of others. It's a wonder I'm not obese.

Bring Pizza. A big one. As an added bonus, as you're carrying the box up the MWT, you'll make lots of new friends. And if you run into a ranger, you may not even need a permit!

Isn't there a Starbucks on the summit? Why take food?

i always liked banana bread. it carries well, doesnt spoil, rich in potassium. also, the kind i make tastes SO GOOD, lol.

MRE's are my favorite. Beef Stew or Chicker cavatelli are my favorite. Has everything you need.

Because if weather turns you around a quarter mile from the summit, the next day someone will find your emaciated corpse, your hand clutching a note appealing, too late, for a muffin and cappuccino.

Lately I have found that the best food is whatever my friends bring. I love my friends. I'll eat anything, anytime, anywhere and even off the floor. The mother of one of my students told me last year that her daughter had learned the five second rule from me. Naturally I beamed with pride. Under a critical life saving situation I might even eat a friend.

Rafael...

On a day hike why eat at all? A few Power bars works and a few tubes of energy goo for back up. The totally PIG OUT when you get down.

jerky peanuts cashews m&m's and a really fat ham sammich

Raf, congratulations teaching your students something really useful! I'll bet you are a great teacher.

I hope you can somehow work in your enthusiasm for hiking into your teaching, too. Kids need that. You could sponsor a hiking club and take kids on a dayhike or two.

...Only one thing: I would withhold that part about being a Donner Party descendant.

Bumble Bee makes this great tasting Albacore steak (flavoured) packet that goes well with crackers and gives you tons of healthy protein (build your muscles, don't just carb up).

I also recall Rick Kent bringing up seedless red grapes. They sooo good up high - refreshing!

Yesterday, I enjoyed some Vodka (thanks Gabriella from the Czech Rep (I'm 1/2 Czech)) on the summit (of Whitney). Maybe that's why I dozed off and napped for 45 min. after Gabriella's group descended. The weather was perfect on top...nice and sunny (I summitted around 1015)!

Also, it's good to eat off the floor - introduces outside germs to help build your immunity. I just limit myself from taking up the sticky/wet foods, to a degree. Hey, I watched Myth Busters...

The difficult part about eating a friend in a critical life saving situation is selecting the friend and preparing them for the table before starvation has reduced their fat and protein content. If you remember the soccer players in the Andean plane crash, the bodies of those killed by the crash were much more nutritious than the bodies of those who died later.

Pick your friends carefully.

Dale B. Dalrymple
http://dbdimages.com

The solution to this is simple. Encourage setting up more Starbucks franchises at decent intervals.

They can be set up one every quarter mile.