Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Food Menu

I'm getting ready for my first time on the mountain. I'm leaving this coming Sunday morning and staying at the portal Sunday night, leaving out Monday morning to trail camp, and summit Tuesday. I am considering the normal tortillas, bagels, peanut butter, and trail snacks.
Curious of what others take to eat. I will not be taking a stove.

take LESS than you think you need of whatever you like.

it has my experience and many others, that at high altitude and work load that fewer calories are consumed than you need or think you need. Over the years I have progressively reduced and reduced the amount I take. After all, it is just for a day or a few or a week or two.... whatever. It's not a 4 month Antarctic expedition.

Some will quote 4000 calories/day. that's way overkill. You can easily get by on 1500. I recently returned from a Sierra backpacking trip and despite knowing this still returned with unused food. yes, I lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks, but burning your own fat with 1200-1500 of carried carbs per day works just fine. Harvey

As for dinner type foods, I carry a MSR Pocket Rocket Stove and a small titanium pot. I heat water for a Mountain House (or similar) entree that you can hydrate and eat right out of the pouch it comes in. It is nice to have some warm food at the end of the day, and the weight is not enough to cause an issue. It is easy and fast too. The investment in equipment is probably under $100, and it can be used on future trips.

The Esbit dry fuel things were wonderful!!! If you're looking to heat you're dehydrated food (thats what Mom and I carried)... at Trail camp the water was boiling in about 15 minutes...

I don't think it's reasonable to make blanket statements like that. Bodies and metabolisms differ greatly.

If I followed your advice I'd be screwed.

Since you're only going for 2-3 days pack something you really like for that first night. Pizza or fried chicken you bought in town the night before are both good. Or freeze a steak and bring that in. A fresh avocado or a tomato is wonderful. Bring a can of beer. Whatever it is you really like. Peanut butter on tortillas works but food you're used to eating at home will have you feeling much better.

I have to go along with ep on this one. I eat 3000+ calories every day, more when I'm actively hiking or backpacking. And I'm not a huge guy, I weigh in at 180. Without lots of food coming in, there is no energy going out for me. And yes, I usually lose weight on my trips.

Also my morale drops severely when I don't get hot food. So a stove and two hot meals a day are a necessity for me. I carry the dehydrated food pouches that serve two ... and regularly eat all of it myself.

The true test is how your body reacts to all of this. The items you listed are pretty standard fare ... stick with what tastes good to you and after a little experimentation you will be an expert with what works best (quantity and quality).

LonePalm

Thanks for the tips and advice. I have the Pocket Rocket Kettle combo, but wanted to keep the weight down to a minimum. Since it is one night, I figured I could go without a warm meal.
I have been backpacking for quite a few years on and off, but my first time extended at such altitudes. I have read that your appetite diminishes, and I will be at trail camp, which is about as high as I have ever been, and never more than a few hours.
The chicken and pizza recommendations are what I am looking for. What tastes good that high. Spicy, sweet, how does pre-packaged string cheese hold up without refrigeration? I recall someone taking day old McDonalds breakfast sandwiches. After so many hours how does it taste?
I'm just trying to think outside the box, but my mind operates inside of it.

I very much disagree with carrying less than you think you will need. I tend to carry more than I need. What if you run into a problem where you are forced to spend an extra night? What if actually dont feel sick due to altitude and you do want to eat more than you brought. For me personally, I tend to get low blood sugar during the day when Im not on a trek, so I need to constantly feed. The problem for me escalates when Im on a trek. I always, for example, have some sort of protein bar in a pocket for easy access. I also carry high carb foods for easy consumption,such as Pop Tarts and beef jerky for protein. Food is your fuel to a successful trip, dont skimp.
By the way, very cool photos on your site

You should take more food than you need. Lots of folks end up at Trail Camp for 2 nights. The walk up to the summit is tougher than you may expect, given the altitude. And fried chickern, pizza, etc. are much heavier than a pouch of dehydrated Chicken Ala King. So you may end up with the same weight by carrying fully hydrated food versus a stove and dehydrated food.

No stove? Then cold pizza or fried chicken works well. String cheese will be fine unrefrigerated for a few days. Salami is good too.

Or maybe you'll be craving sweets. I once ate a bag of chocolate chip cookies for dinner. I had a week's worth of food but it's what I wanted. It's good to have a little variety because sometimes you'll want sugary things and other times it will gag you and you'll wish for savory food.

Only one night out? You could probably survive on gorp or twinkees.

point well taken.

but even cold pizza tastes better than dehydrated anything -

but seriously, i think the point is also well taken that at altitude, appetite disappears. and anything to help get calories in is a good thing - hence the what-you-eat-at-home line of thinking.

That's not what I meant by it. Altitude and appetite aren't mutually exclusive. I know people who can't eat in the mountains but there are plenty of us who are very hungry at the modest elevations of the sierra. The only times I've lost my appetite were when I was hammered and dehydrated from overexertion.

The idea behind feeling better if you eat foods that are more normal for you is a pretty straightforward one. It usually means carrying a little more weight but for one night out on a non-technical trip you're probably already carrying a pretty light pack.

Peter Croft writes about this in his book on Sierra climbing:

"Food -- As much as possible, try to bring normal food. By that, I mean stay as close as possible to the type of food you would eat at home. The stress of a different diet when added to the stresses of altitude and burly exercise cause a lot of people to shut down. Many people carry loads of gorp, which is a mixture of peanuts, raisins and chocolate. In other words, candy. Remember when you were a kid at Halloweeen? After a big night trick or treating you'd sit down at home with your stash and start eating your way throught it. A couple of hours later you were writhing about on the living room floor making little whimpering noises while your parents shook their heads and said 'I told you so'. So what makes you think candy for lunch is gonna work now?"

Take whatever you REALLY like. Something you'll eat no matter how crappy you feel. Last hike I took Twinkies. (and other stuff) I just put them in one of those cheapo zip lock containers to keep from smashing them. Even when I felt my crappiest I was able to eat one. And always take a little extra - a candy bar, power bar etc. I've been stuck overnight before and it was damn nice having an extra Milky Way. I also eat just before I take off - usually In and Out or something..........................DUG

The advice to take along food you like is right on. My appetite is surprisingly enormous when I get camp set up. I'm 6'0 and weigh about 210 so my calorie intake is high around 4000+. I like a few of the dehydrated meals but much prefer soups and noodles like top ramen for meals to which I sometimes add tuna (from the foil bags). The dehydrated meals on the other hand usually have alot of calories and are for the most part balanced in terms of carbs and protein so I'm usually always taking some of my favorites for dinner. For the trail I love fruit rollups, slim-jims, and snickers bars (colder weather only for the snickers. I'm also getting some carbs from a carb replacement powder like vitalyte or endurance as I re-hydrating. I try to keep the calories (mostly carbs) going into my body all the time I'm exerting myself on the trail otherwise it seems like I'm playing the catchup game with food if wait 'til camp.

Another suggestion is cup o' noodles which I suppose you could rehydrate without hot water if allowed the time. As a final note I always carry an extra ramen noodles and package of chicken soup "just in case" and when I've planned my meals carefully ie. calories per day, carb to protein ratio, etc, those are the only two items I'm carrying back to my truck at trail's end.

As a final note I'll add my 2 cents worth. With all of our efforts to shed pounds and ounces from our backs food is one area I choose not to screw around with. The food we take in is the fuel we need to keep going strong and ultimately reach our goal(s) and if we decide to cut back in order to shave some weight well then we are only making our goals that much more difficult and our time spent in the mountains miserable.

Thanks for all the input.

I decided to take my pocket rocket and Ti kettle, so its dehydrated mac & cheese (its pretty good) for supper at Trail Camp. Found foil packed spam, gordita bread, picked up some individual packed cheddar/jack cheese, snickers, svenhards bear claws. Best of all, my daughter baked me some oatmeal raisin cookies. This is totally out of my regular diet but it is all stuff I really like and will be a treat to eat, albeit a guilty treat.

So anyway, I'm checking every thing twice and will be off to the portal in the morning.

I concentrate on two things for short trips - water and calories. Water's easy, just keep drinking during the day. As for food/calories, forget the 'balanced diet' mantra and concentrate on calories.

For me, those pre-packaged freeze dried meals bought in outdoor stores are inedible at altitude; too much salt, too many spices. Exception is some of the dried veggies - peas work pretty good. The closer I can get to fresh food, the better.
For a simple overnight trip I like to go with 'snack' type stuff. Stuff that works for me includes cheeses, crackers, salami, Canned tuna or chicken, some dried fruits (dried pears are great, banannas are crap), maybe bring a piece or two of fresh fruit for the evening. If taking pasta, look for the thinner types that'll cook faster. It tastes great with a little cheese on it, maybe cut in some small cubes of salami, too.

Just in case I forgot - drink plenty of water.

I have not eaten a decent prepackaged meal that you just add water to, the effect after eating is always nausea.
The food tastes like a salt lik.
I experimented with energy and weight gaining powders that you add water and mix like a shake, it tatsed great and lots of calories and carbs.
To each his own.