Trail Food

[FIGHT ON]

AllanK. I get the impression that redbull, gels and sports drinks have stuff like caffeine or stuff that makes your heart beat faster than it normally would. I may be wrong about that. I don't know the medical terms or the ingredients that would do that. I am not against gatoraid but don't like the sugar it has so I found that gookinaid stuff to replace electrolytes. I only drink it when I am doing something hard for like more than 3 hours. I got dehydrated once, I don't like that so I drink tons of liquids. Someone told me that I drank too much so I added the HYDRALYTE in case I was flushing out too much. Is there a nutritionist in the house? FIGHT ON.

[Ellen]

Howdy Lipbiter

Well, you can be sure that sardines will never be in my daypack

As you can see from the replies, everyone has found what works for them to supply calories, water, and electrolytes. I recommend trying several different sports drinks (Perry makes his own), bars and gels. There's also no substitute for the enjoyment of "real food."

When I hike Skyline or a long day hike like Whitney, I carry Gatorade Endurance (higher sodium content than regular Gatorade) in my CamelBak. I take in about 1 gel per hour -- alternating between caffeine free and caffeinated. I really like the PowerBar double latte gels which provide 50 mg caffeine and Gu vanilla gels. I usually stick with gels and Gatorade while climbing.

I also carry baked Nacho Dorritos and a turkey and swiss sandwich on Wheatberry bread. These are my treats for the summit. In the winter, I'll carry hot chocolate in a pint thermos.

Red Bull only has about 80 mg of caffeine per can. I don't use it because I don't like the taste. Many other so-called "energy drinks" such as Monster and RedLine have much more caffeine -- 200 mg per serving. Often a serving is only half the bottle. I don't recommend them because they often contain many unproven ingredients (see Cynthia's post about picking up trash).

1% fat chocolate milk is an excellent recovery drink -- it supplies both carbohydrate to restore muscle glycogen and protein to aid muscle repair. Also tastes good and is cheaper than many "recovery" products like Endurox R4.

As my hiking friends can attest, beer is my favorite drink at the tram after Skyline One fellow I introduced to Skyline calls it the "hike to beer heaven." I think I recall Walt saying that hikes in Scottland always finished up at a bar...

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Hikin_Jim]

I think I recall Walt saying that hikes in Scottland always finished up at a bar...

Scottland? Are you talking about the area around ss's house?

Chocolate milk really is a good recovery drink? I am so all over that!

I've had good results with Cytomax, but I also use Gookinaide ERG which has been renamed Hydralyte. I usually put any drink mixes in used "bottled water" type clear plastic bottles. In heat, I've had my Cytomax get seriously funky. Not liking that for my permanent water bottles, although they usually clean up pretty well. Definitely don't like funk in my Camelbak.

[HikeUp]

No science in what I bring...stuff that I like to eat. I usually have zero appetite on strenuous hikes so it basically has to be something that is appetizing.

- potato chips, candy bars (usually without chocolate so they don't melt and become a gooey mess), goldfish crackers, peanut butter crackers, nuts & cheese

- gatorade

- water

[lipbiter]

Great! Permission to drink chocolate milk! You've got me dancing

I'll definitely give the gels a try. Ellen, thx for the specific recommendations.

Like HikeUp, I'm usually not hungry during a hike but feel the need to eat something as bonking is not an option.

[AlanK]

I should have added gorp to my list. I don't usually take it. But, for a hike of only, say, 8 hours, I have taken only Cytomax and a bag of gorp, which sometimes goes down more easily than a sandwich. I did Whitney that way a couple of years ago. I had some gorp at the top at around 9 AM and lunch at the Portal. That's where the huge burger, plate of fries, and, of course, beer come in.

[tomcat_rc]

I eat early even though appetite has not kicked in yet - your body will thank you later. Also on the trail is not a time to experiment with new diets. While GU's and electrolytes can help supplement. For long hikes fruit, sandwich(one or two depending on distance), salt snack(pretzels or crackers), sugar snacks(chocolate and/or jelly beans) - occasionally a real treat will sneak into the grazing bag(like a slice or two of cold pizza-mmmm) - this has proven to be a winning formula for me.

Although I have not done C2C yet(maybe next fall if timing works) - longer hikes include Whitney dayhikes(21MRand counting) and last year the 11k+day of Shortys to Telescope. This fall I may start 2 hours earlier and do the Badwater to Telescope hike but crossing 5 miles extra of salt flat is not high on my appeals list.

[Hikin_Jim]

I take in about 1 gel per hour -- alternating between caffeine free and caffeinated.

Hey, Ellen, so what's the scoop on caffeine in gels? I've avoided them since I know caffeine is a diuretic and I fear dehydration greatly. If it's not too much trouble, could you indicate why it is that you use caffeinated gels?

[phydeux]

I dump a box of cheap breakfast bars (or cookies) and a few apples (or oranges) in my pack, and I'm off. No fancy drink mixes, just water.

What works even better for me is a good healthy meal the night before; something with lots of carbs, like pasta.

Post hike I like a good tall carton of orange juice (REAL orange juice, not something like that "Sunny Delight" crap).

[lipbiter]

Also on the trail is not a time to experiment with new diets.

Good point, Tomcat. I had a friend who drank Gatorade for the first time during a 100 mile bike ride and paid the consequence -- major heartburn. Will try the gels BEFORE I head to the peak.