Talked to a hiker on the PCT who changed how I pack food

I ran into this guy at a gas station near Shasta last weekend who had been on the trail for like 3 weeks. He showed me his food bag and it was basically all ramen and tortillas, no fancy freeze-dried stuff. He said he spends maybe $3 a day on food compared to my $15 and he's not even tired of it. Made me rethink my whole meal prep approach, like am I just paying for convenience or what? Anyone else try going super simple with trail food and actually stick with it?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyrivera1mo ago

I read somewhere that ultra-light hikers treat food like fuel, not comfort. The tortilla and ramen combo is basically calories for next to nothing, no packaging weight. I can see the appeal when you're just trying to cover miles, but I'd personally need some variety after a week. A buddy swore by peanut butter and tortillas for breakfast, said it kept him full for hours and cost pennies compared to oatmeal packets.

uma_mitchell831mo agoMost Upvoted

Double down on that tortilla and peanut butter thing, seriously. I do that for breakfast on every trip now and it's weirdly the meal I look forward to the most (probably because it's so quick and I can eat it while walking). Ramen at lunch gets boring fast but I found that crushing up a spicy chili ramen into a tortilla with some tuna makes a surprisingly good burrito, almost like a makeshift flavor bomb. Just have to be careful not to get raw noodle dust everywhere in your pack (learned that one the hard way).