Food

Yesterday was grocery store day for my hike! I was able to pick up most of my supplies at the new Winco Foods here in town. They have a great bulk-foods section which is a hiker's dream.

I often get asked what I eat when I hike. Since I'm in the process of sorting it out, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share.

Disclaimer - I don't eat super healthy on the trail...and I usually carry too much. I like to eat, and I like to have options. The common thread of 'hike your own hike' certainly applies.

Below is a photo of most of my food for the hike. The smaller pile on the left is what I will pick up later for the final 2 days. The pile on the right is my food for the first 6 or so days. I'm lacking some dinners because I need to order them. I used Alpineaire freeze-dried dinners last year for the first time and was pleased. Unfortunately they're pricey, but for the amount of time I'll be out, I can justify the cost. I've carried many alternatives over the years and, frankly, just wanted something more appetizing last summer. I'll stick with that plan again this year.

Here's a closer photo.

Left side, bottom to top: shelled pistachios, peanut M&M's, dried veggie chips (new for me this year), fig newtons, two kinds of trail-mix thrown together, and Cajun sesame mix.

Right side, bottom to top: smoked almonds, lifesavers, drink mixes (lemonade), snickers (fun-size), dried pineapples and cherries mixed together, and gardettos (also new this year).

Left side, bottom to top: granola bars (Nature Valley sweet and salty peanut and Kashi cherry dark chocolate), mini chips-ahoy cookies, and one Alpineaire dinner.

Right side, bottom to top: Annie's fruit snacks and Nutella (rocket fuel).

I'll also carry some Sargento cheese sticks. I get the reduced fat extra-sharp cheddar because the harder the cheese, the better it tends to keep in my pack. They still get a bit oily after a few days, but they sure are a treat. They're in the fridge.

I had this bad boy left over from last year so there's dinner for one night. I'll pick up a few more for the other evenings asap. They're designed for two people but after hiking all day I don't seem to have much problem eating a whole one (yep, you read right...800 calories). Their cheese-enchilada-ranchero is my favorite! They have a lasagna that I really like as well.

As a bonus, because I was wearing my sweet Oklahoma Craft Beer Festival t-shirt (thanks Geoff for the surprise!), I took a picture in the beer aisle. It just felt right.

Hats off off to John Knight at MENT Apparel for the awesome design! I had the pleasure of meeting John last December in the Big Friendly Beer Bus (also awesome) just as he was about to launch his new company. He's done a ton of shirts for Anthem Brewing as well (yet another excellent business venture!). I don't work for any of these people....I simply enjoy their offerings, and you should too!

Here are links for these fine folks:

MENT Apparel

The Big Friendly 
​
Anthem Brewing

My suggestion to you is to purchase a rad shirt from MENT, wear it to Anthem to drink a couple of beers in their taproom, then Uber to wherever the Big Friendly happens to be parked to enjoy some more local craft beer. Sounds like a great evening if you ask me.

How did this turn into a beer blog? It's food enough for me...so I went with it!!

Now to hunt down some freeze-dried beer....

Cheers y'all and happy eating, drinking, and outdoorsing!