Food Planning

Calories, meal structure, and practical food strategy for 3-4 night trips. Food failure is a trip failure — running low on calories on day 3 makes everything harder.

Calorie targets

A baseline adult doing moderate hiking (8-12 miles per day, 1,000-2,000 ft elevation gain) burns roughly 3,000-4,000 calories per day. Basecamp trips with shorter hikes run closer to 2,500. Most people underestimate this number and pack accordingly — then wonder why they’re hungry and fatigued on day 3. The practical target is 1.5-2 lb of food per person per day, aiming for roughly 100 calories per ounce. Food heavier than 100 cal/oz is consuming pack weight inefficiently.

Food	Cal/oz	Notes
Olive oil	250	Highest calorie density available — add to everything
Nut butter packets	167	Justin’s single-serve — no utensils, no mess
Mixed nuts	160-180	Macadamia, cashew, almond — highest fat varieties
Chocolate (dark)	150	Practical morale item — high cal density
Freeze-dried meals	120-140	Mountain House, Backpacker’s Pantry — easy hot dinner
Instant oatmeal	100-110	Add nut butter packet and brown sugar — fast breakfast
Tortillas	90	Better than bread — don’t crush, last 5+ days
Jerky / meat sticks	80-100	Protein, shelf stable, no cook required
Fresh fruit / vegetables	10-20	Very low cal density — day 1 only if at all

Meal structure — 3-4 night trip

The structure below works for basecamp and light hiking. Pre-portion everything into labeled zip bags before leaving home — one bag per meal. No digging through a food bag at camp.

Breakfast

• Instant oatmeal + nut butter packet + brown sugar — 5 minutes, one pot, high calories
• Coffee — French press, instant (Starbucks Via), or cowboy coffee in the pot
• Optional: hard-boiled eggs on day 1 if carried from home

Lunch (no-cook)

• Tortilla + nut butter or summer sausage + cheese (hard cheeses last 4-5 days unrefrigerated)
• Mixed nuts + jerky + chocolate — eat while hiking, no stop required
• Electrolyte drink (Liquid IV, LMNT) — critical in desert heat, important everywhere

Dinner

• Freeze-dried meal as baseline — add olive oil and hot sauce to every dinner for calories and palatability
• Ramen + packet protein (tuna, chicken) + olive oil — fast, cheap, high calorie
• Instant mashed potatoes + summer sausage + cheese — one pot, surprisingly satisfying
• Mac and cheese (Velveeta shells) + canned chicken — day 1 or 2 when still carrying fresh weight

Snacks (continuous)

• Eat while hiking, not just at breaks — calorie deficit accumulates fast on active days
• Target 200-300 calories per hour of hiking from trail snacks alone
• Nut butter packets, chocolate, nuts, dried mango, fig bars, corn nuts
• Bring more than you think you need — excess snacks weigh little and prevent bonking

Coffee and hot drinks

• Coffee is not optional — it is a morale and function item, treat it as gear
• Instant packets (Starbucks Via) are lightest and fastest — bring one per morning plus two spares
• Hot cocoa mix for cold evenings — Swiss Miss or similar, negligible weight
• Electrolytes in water bottles all day, not just when thirsty