I just finished packing food for the BMT speedpacking adventure and the stats are in: 12.5 pounds and 21,000 calories. That only works out to 1,680 calories per pound, which is a little lower than I was hoping, but I know that I have some quality stuff in there, and more importantly, stuff that I know I will still want be able to eat after several strenuous days on the trail.
Almost 40% of my calories will be coming from the new Caffe Latte flavored Perpetuem. Yes, it REALLY is that good!
The rest of the calories will be comprised of various solid foods and a few bars. I tried to strike a balance between finding items with relatively high-quality ingredients and tastyness, but with tastyness receiving a slightly higher priority. The average intensity of this effort will be much lower than most other events, so I should be able to digest foods that just wouldn’t work for something shorter (24-48hrs).
I briefly considered an all liquid nutrition plan, but I could be out there for up to a week and prefer to supplement with solid foods during really long efforts.
Here is a list of what is in the bags, for those who are interested:
- Caffe Latte Perpetuem (the most important of all!)
- Organic Toaster pastries (aka pop-tarts)
- Bear Naked granola
- Snyders multigrain pretzel sticks
- Snyders pretzel pieces (BBQ flavored)
- Trail mix (whole grain wheat thins, raw almonds, cranberries)
- pre-cooked bacon (2 pkgs)
- freeze-dried pastas (3 pkgs)
- a few slices of bread
- Bear Valley MealPack (natural energy bars)
- Kashi cereal bars
- Genisoy protein bars
- Luna bars
- Ginger chews (spicy apple flavored)
Why pre-cooked bacon over jerky? Pop tarts rule on the trail! my fav is blueberry.
charlie Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 07:49 am
Because bacon tastes 10 times better, and is good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks…much more versatile than jerky. Plus, I need to get some fat calories from somewhere! :-)
I’m partial to the brown sugar and cinnamon tarts, myself.
I hear you. I do crave some salt and fat when I’ve been eating high carb food out on the trail. maybe i’ve missed it, but do you have the entire weight of all your gear?
charlie Reply:
May 20th, 2009 at 08:17 am
Gear and food is approx 20lbs. That includes a few additions such as: SealSkin socks, a disposable camera, and a couple of adhesive-backed chemical warmers.