One of the most difficult tasks in preparing for a backpacking adventure might not be navigating mountainous terrain, reading topographical maps or even hauling a quarter of your body weight in gear on your back. For many backpackers and through-hikers, the greatest difficulty of any trip lies in the task of figuring out just what to eat along the way.
On one end of the backpacking spectrum is Twinkie-eating Stephen Katz in Bill Bryson’s Appalachian Trail memoir, A Walk in the Woods. On the other exists the likes of alpinists Conrad Anker and Jimmy Chin, who ate not much more than olive oil with a side of couscous for 12 days as they attempted to climb Meru Peak in the Himalayas. Most of us seeking a few days in the wilderness or even a through-hike on the Colorado Trail, however, fall somewhere in between these two extremes.
For average backpackers, local experts agree, the challenges center on selecting nutrient-dense foods for fueling and proper nutrition on the trail.
According to sports nutritionist Ashley Lucas of PhD Advanced Nutrition, backpacking is generally an aerobic activity in which the body burns fat as a fuel source.
The best thing that any hiker can do to prepare before hitting the trails, she said, is to focus on their diet and become “fat-adapted.”
To become fat-adapted, or encourage the body to go into a ketogenic state and begin to convert fat into glucose from triglycerides rather than from carbohydrates, a hiker must adhere to a low-carbohydrate diet.
“The process usually takes about four to six weeks. Ideally for backpackers or any endurance athlete, they should be on a fat-adapted diet for two to three months before beginning their trip,” Lucas said.
“By doing so, they can go for longer durations and with greater intensity without the dependence on carbs. Even the leanest person usually has about 60,000 calories of fat stored within the body.”
Many hikers, on the other hand, recommend a steady “drip” of carbohydrates throughout the day. This is sound advice for anyone who is still, as Lucas calls them, a “sugar-burner.”
Nutrition therapy practitioner Beth Winter of Namaste Health Center said people who depend on carbohydrates as their main fuel source have roughly 2,000 calories of glycogen available within their body at any given time.
A person will need to replenish those glycogen stores frequently. This means eating a lot of energy gels or starches.
If you teach the body to burn fat for fuel, though, there is a near endless source, with the average body storing at least 60,000 calories of fat, she said.
“Proteins and fats are essential ... but carbohydrates are really not essential,” Winter said.
“We don’t need them. We want them and are addicted to them and yes, high-performing athletes do need them, but the body can make the glucose it needs from fat and other sources.”
What does this look like in the real world? For Dustin Partridge, owner of Zuma Natural Food in Mancos and Triple Crown through-hiker, it was trial and error. For his first attempt at backpacking and the Triple Crown (the Pacific Crest, Appalachian and Continental Divide trails), he focused on carbohydrates and packed Lipton’s sides, bagels and beans.
He lost a significant amount of weight and felt so bad that he called his nutritionist while on the Pacific Crest Trail. She recommended he eat more carbs, but that didn’t work for Partridge and left him looking for better sources of nutrition.
“I was just eating garbage really, and now I am eating more nutrient-dense foods,” Partridge said.
“On a big through-hike and the days you’re in town, look to eat more greens and sure, eat the burger and fries that you lusted for on the trail, but make sure to eat a lot of salad, good fats and get those nutrients.”
On Partridge’s food list now is homemade granola made with cashews, pecans, almonds and maple syrup for a source of fats and some carbohydrates.
The list also includes sardines packed in olive oil, hard cheeses like Parmesan or cheddar, homemade fruit leather, cashew butter, dark chocolate and food bars. He even brings an avocado or can of coconut milk for the first days of a long trip. For shorter trips, he brings lighter, freeze-dried meals on occasion, knowing that he can get better food within a day or two.
“Coffee is essential, too,” Partridge said.
“I like to add a protein powder to it for breakfast. The biggest thing, really, is to keep your diet and the foods you bring varied.
“Salty and sweet, different flavors and just make sure you’re getting enough healthy fats.”