High Sierra Topix

We have all gone for days on the trail, perhaps eating only a few favorite items for lunch each day. For 2017, about 60% of my lunch food consisted of Reese's Pieces. (Think about it. Plenty of fat, some protein, and the rest are carbohydrates.) I don't eat a lot of solid food at lunch time. Instead, I am sipping on Cytomax all day long.

Now, we know that if we were going to be out on a long thru-hike, then some aspects of nutrition enter into the food decisions. However, I am seldom out for more than 7-9 days on a single trip. Therefore, my focus is primarily about calories that are easy to digest. It would be nice to have something approximating sufficient protein, but that is not a primary focus.

I'm starting to put together items for 2018, so I need to start sampling my backpacking lunch foods now.
1. One box of Girl Scout Cookies
2. One big bag of Reese's Pieces
3. At least a dozen 1-ounce strips of string cheese
4. One single PB&J sandwich to go for the first and second day lunches

Any suggestions?

A tuna salad packet on sourdough. You can substitute a tortilla and eat two of them. works great!

Try super butter. Eat it straight out of the jar or smear it on a tortilla. You can throw in a few reeses pieces or whatever else is to your liking. I take no responsibility for your elevated cholesterol levels. I also love pepperoni, cheese and crushed fritos on a tortilla for lunch. I call it a fruit burrito. It's an early in the trip option and a bit heavy but it's good for my morale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhrxiqh9TA

rlown wrote:A tuna salad packet on sourdough. You can substitute a tortilla and eat two of them. works great!

Where does one purchase a tuna salad packet? I've never seen it in a store.

apeman45 wrote:Try super butter. Eat it straight out of the jar or smear it on a tortilla. You can throw in a few reeses pieces or whatever else is to your liking. I take no responsibility for your elevated cholesterol levels. I also love pepperoni, cheese and crushed fritos on a tortilla for lunch. I call it a fruit burrito. It's an early in the trip option and a bit heavy but it's good for my morale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhrxiqh9TA

Fruit burrito? Where does the fruit come in?

Super butter sounds fattening, but my cardiologist would shoot me if I was eating that stuff.

bobby49 wrote:

rlown wrote:A tuna salad packet on sourdough. You can substitute a tortilla and eat two of them. works great!

Where does one purchase a tuna salad packet? I've never seen it in a store.

Well, Lucky's started to carry it (after my last trip.) I supplemented my straight tuna packets with mayo and relish packets. Convinced most of my cohorts to do the same.

We used to bring mini sourdough rolls, spray cheddar cheese and summer sausage, which we still do once in awhile.

Sorry I call it a frito burrito. Darn spell checker. Dried fruit is something I always bring to snack on.

You guys must have studied under Julia Child or something. I never get that fancy with my trail food.

I could probably go a long way on a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

bobby49 wrote:Where does one purchase a tuna salad packet? I've never seen it in a store.

I bought some of these at Walmart and have been using them for day hike lunches.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/StarKist-Tun ... h/40711460
Various flavors of salmon are also available. I would expect that they are available at other stores, but I haven't looked. I think that they are a fairly new item.

I really really like the Epic salmon jerky strips, but mostly only use them for backpacking trips, as they are a little expensive.

RSC wrote: I bought some of these at Walmart and have been using them for day hike lunches.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/StarKist-Tun ... h/40711460
Various flavors of salmon are also available. I would expect that they are available at other stores, but I haven't looked. I think that they are a fairly new item.

It seems like you are carrying a lot of foil and plastic weight, and the tuna doesn't have that many calories.