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Collective Wisdom:

You've been on the trail for some days now. You know you have a hard push tomorrow. What meal do you most hope is in your pack. What makes that meal work for you?

Andrew C Wheeler Pasta with homemade sauce. This propelled me on my 1992 PCT thru-hike.

Eric "OneMan" Jensen For me, I would consider this question from two perspectives: what meal would give me that psychological boost to attack the trail the next day, and what meal would obviously give me the adequate amount of energy in which to do so. Typically in this circumstance, it is always a hot meal and usually a well-spiced large beef and noodle meal (Lasagna and Stroganoff in particular). These types of dishes are enjoyable to eat, fill me up, and give me that stay-with-you stick-to-your-ribs feeling. I also look more forward to fixing and eating these types of meals while I am hiking rather than my other potato, soup or turkey (and such) dinners. I do not often bring my own homemade freeze-dried dinners; instead I rely on the better quality manufactured meals.

Henry Shires Anything high protein and reasonably high fat. Dried chili (with meat), rice & veggies are good meals. On hard days, or hard days are coming up, you have to get protein into the body, and I can really feel the difference in muscle performance after a good shot of protein. Snacking on a lot of beef and homemade fish jerky is another good way to get the protein needs taken care of.

Roy "TrailDad" Robinson I'm most energized by a hearty, high-protein breakfast in town before starting that long climb up out of the valley. But the question doesn't allow that happy solution, and I don't carry bacon and eggs in my pack. My favorite "jet fuel" on the trail is a steady diet of M&M's with peanuts.

Wyatt Shudlick Answering the collective wisdom question, it doesn't matter what kind of food I have with me, as long as I am running out! I tend to hike faster and longer when I know my food bag is down to crumbs and wrappers. Fig Newton crumbs and a half a block of week-old cheese are good motivators!

Ensminger & Spirek Our favorite, high-energy trail meal is our modification of an extremely processed, industrial farmed, and corporate product. It is neither organic nor is it very natural, but dang it, it works wonders for our bodies and our spirits while we are on the trail. To make this meal, we "doctor" a couple of envelopes of Lipton's Cajun Beans and Rice mix. First, we dig deep down to the bottom of our food bag, into our "pantry" and our "spice cabinet." Our pantry always contains a small bottle of olive oil (6 to 8-oz in every food drop), a tiny fist of garlic cloves, a small onion, a few fresh jalapenos and several small bags of dehydrated veggies that surely include tomatoes, red peppers, and New Mexican green chilies. Next we chop up a couple of garlic cloves, some onion, and jalapenos and fry them in a generous dollop of olive oil. When the onions and garlic are golden, we pour the requisite amount of water into our single cook pot. We dump the contents of the envelopes into the cool water and then add a selection of dehydrated veggies. We bring this concoction to a boil, and then drop the heat back to a simmer. Stir occasionally. The meal is ready when the beans reach the texture that suits your palate. It takes about 7 to 10 minutes for "al-dente" beans. Stir in some dried cumin, hot cayenne pepper, oregano, or cilantro, depending on your taste. We often carry a small block of cheddar cheese. Generous slices of cheddar are always a welcome topping for this meal. We have experimented with other brands of beans and rice and we have even tried to make this meal from scratch. These efforts have achieved only limited success. The best thing about Lipton's is its relatively quick cook time. Other brands take more than 20 minutes. Lipton's is also rather salty, which probably adds to its trail appeal. This recipe is scrumptious, caloric, filling, and warming. It is always welcome on a cold evening. We've carried this meal during all of our thru hikes. It was always our favorite and we have never grown tired of it. We still carry this meal on weekend hikes with our preschooler son. He loves it too, but without the hot peppers. Ken Maddox A fat-laden meal. For me, that means lots of peanut butter, some pasta with olive oil mixed in, and some dessert such as instant pudding.

Pekbagger My fave on-trail dinner has been carried on every overnight hike I've ever done. On the AT, PCT, CDT, and section hiking the Ice Age Trail, this dinner has taken up space more times than I can count. It's rather simple really: A Lipton noodle dinner called Cheddar Broccoli. Throw in some home dried 'srooms, tomatoes, carrots, and a can of chicken, turkey, shrimp, crab, or salmon (I never take tuna), add a dash of red pepper and Voila!, the dinner I'll eat even if it falls onto the floor of the shelter. Then to top it off I bake fresh brownies while I'm chowing down and add gobs of frosting. Now that's my most desired meal while thru hiking. I haven't really given much thought to the more savory foods I could be taking on my overnighters. But that will all change when I move out east (or is it west?). Wisconsin sucks when it comes to backpacking. I need my mountains!!! One more thing: Due to doubts about my car making it to VA and back last June I never made it to the AT. I really wanted to provide something nice for the thru hikers heading northbound. Well, this year I'm definitely gonna be out there cuz I got me a new Blazer. She and I have already been out to Colorado doing 13ers and 14ers (13 peaks in 4 days, including Long Peak). So the invitation is out there again to all members to provide suggestions as to what I should do for those weary hikers coming off the trail. Thanks Everybody!!

"Camper" Dave Black beans and couscous. For some reason it fills my up and gives me energy the next day.

"GRIZZLY" My favorite meal for preparing for the hard push is a mac-n-cheese dinner, and what would top that would be if I had a pack of tuna fish to add to it...

Flyin' Brian My favorite dinners are always the ones with the most fat calories. That's why I started adding up to 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil to all my dishes. It has more calories for the weight than any food I carry. It also adds a lot of flavor to dishes like curried couscous and cashews or garlic mashed potatoes. Noodle dishes don't do so well with a ¼ cup of oil; they get too greasy. So I use only a couple tablespoons but make up for it with about a ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese. Yum.

Bill & Phyllis Davies Think of this dinner as its equivalent: A nice big salad, 8+ oz of steak, or a roasted turkey breast, BBQ Tofu, your favorite beans, ear or two of corn, whole grain roll and cheese. Peanut butter and chocolate mousse for desert. Bill would take: bean/corn soup with home dried veg and lots of jerky flakes, a little bag of Parmesan cheese and RyKrisp. He feels, unlike Jardine, that high protein gives you more hike for weight than carbs do and the meal stays with you longer. A Snicker Bar for dessert. To prepare on trail: Re-hydrate with 2C boiling water. Top with cheese and enjoy. This is easy and inexpensive and you can make it yourself. Cook beans, mash them, add mashed cooked corn, lay out on plastic wrap on dryer tray. Dry till it crumbles easily. Dry veg, leafy greens of any variety, lettuce, Kale, turnip, collards on the dryer screen, dry till crunchy enough to break in small pieces. Store or ship greens in one bag. Carrots, turnips, rutabagas (chop in processor till 1/4" chunks at most, store dried yellow veg in another bag. Store and ship bean/corn mix in another. Jerky in another. Cut in 1" pieces and blend till very fine in a blender, tiny flakes reconstitute immediately and don't get stuck in your teeth. Bill makes up little bags for each day he will be out. Never got tired of this in the 3750 miles he has hiked in the last two years. It mixes with mashed potatoes, pasta almost any thing in a main dish unless it already has fish in it. Even works well in peanut butter on RyKrisp for a great lunch. A bag of tuna on RyKrisp and a hard-boiled egg is his favorite lunch. If you are not a purist, canned refried beans and canned creamed corn are a passable taste-comparable, somewhat acceptable (for many folks), substitute to growing and cooking all this. It can usually be purchased in large cans on sale in discount grocery shop. Turkey or beef jerky can be purchased in large bags quite reasonably. Blocks of dried Tofu are harder to find (health food stores and co-ops will order this wonderful product for you if it is not on their shelves). This is a very light way to get high protein. Tiny bags of soy, hot sauce, and BBQ sauce make a nice difference in the taste of these blocks as you re-hydrate them. Vegetarian and non-Vegetarian variations Bill likes: add: Dried pasta sauce, blend it in the blender; Bacon bits; Rice; Corn or Angel Hair Pasta, Ramen. Thanks for helping make a kinder healthier world as you hike and live.

Ray Hanson As for the question, I like a good pasta with marinara sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, smoked salmon and a berry crisp for dessert. Plenty of carbs, protein, and good fat. P.S. I really enjoyed the gathering at Lake Wenatchee. I hope to join in others in the future.

Brian Booth I don't have any particular dinner that helps me prepare for the next day, but I have a particular snack that helps me prepare for the biggest climb of a day. I study the elevation gains for the day and if there is a big climb, I stop 30 minutes before the climb and chug a chocolate milkshake (i.e. Jell-O instant chocolate pudding made with powdered milk via the "shake" method). It is power-packed with sugar and calories and gets me over the hump. Note that for the recipe to work, you must first add the powdered milk to water & shake, then add the powdered pudding mix & shake again. Sierracamp I wish I had a reliable meal I could definitively say "is the one"...I'll be interested in seeing what others have to say.

bobcbaker meals for me are never so much a 'head decision' as a stomach one - whatever sounds good at the time!

marmot I want food that I can put in a front pouch so that I can eat while I walk. Protein = Heartline (soy jerky). Carbs = granola, dried fruit. Fat = flax seed oil tabs. I don't stop much. I just move at a steady pace. I use this way of eating when the weather is bad or I need to do a lot of miles to get into town for a mail drop (e.g. I have to do 26 miles before 5 o'clock-when the PO closes). John Hussey Fish Heads N' Rice, as I call it. Really, it is a 4.3 oz package of Rice-A-Roni long grain and wild rice that I simmer on my Trangia alcohol stove for about 10-15 minutes. Then add a foil pouch of tuna or salmon, some powdered milk and black pepper and continue simmering till done in another 5 minutes or so. Very tasty. The whole meal repackaged from box to baggy, with a little baggy of powdered milk and pouch of the fish is heavy at 0.79 pound but I sure look forward to it in the evening on shorter trips. It is balanced carb & protein and is tasty, which is most important for me. They have gotten the tuna from the heavy can to a lighter pouch. Now if they can just get it to an even lighter pouch...!

Roberta Cobb I like to start with an instant appetizer soup of Swiss Chard and sunflower seeds. There are a lot of suitable main entrees, perhaps Big Lentil Chili with cheddar cheese. If it's cold out, I just love being in my tent and sipping on a Hot Almond Smoothie, which is just powdered milk, protein powder, sugar and a lot of almond paste all ground up then hydrated with hot water. I look for high protein and a good helping of fat to carry me through the next day.

Shannon Raborn "WaterGirl" I thru hiked the AT in 1997 and followed some of the nutritional advice from Ray Jardine. My hiking partner and I ate corn pasta almost every day and noticed a lack of energy if we hadn't consumed it the day prior. Now that I backpack shorter trips, I look forward to a hot, vegetarian freeze-dried meal packed with calories to get me up the peak the next day!

Chris Dawes If I've been on the trail for days then often on a final evening little remains from my original menu than ad hoc scraps of surplus rations leftover from more plenteous times. A gruel of porridge oats and sardines in mustard sauce comes to mind. And very nice it tasted as I watched the sunset over Banner Peak from my camp at Island Pass on the John Muir Trail. My last supper in a contingency plan consists of a reconstituted packet of tomato and basil soup fortified by a packet of quick cook rice. It's light in weight, easily prepared with limited fuel, tasty and quite filling. But if all goes according to plan then my favorite meal to finish a trail section is fish cake fried to a crisp brown crust in cooking oil, preferably olive oil. I prepare it by mashing a tin of salmon into reconstituted powdered potato and adding diced sweet pepper to add a fresh tasting tang. I work them into bite-sized cakes small enough to fit into a mess tin. I have fond memories of cooking these at Woody Pass on the final evening on the PCT before the finish at Manning Park.

Jonathan Ley A bunch of "big ones" (you should know what that is & why)

George and Fumiko Copeland "F Troop" We talked quite a bit about this subject and finally agreed that over the years, good old Mac and Cheese has been our most trusted "comfort food".