Asylum on a sea of rock: - The Mountaineers

The perfect
food for the
trail begins
at home
Story and photos
by Jim Hansen
The trail food factory:
a nine-tray Excalibur
dehydrator.
My journey to homespun trail food began with much longer journeys, such as
hiking the John Muir T rail, the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the Continental
Divide Trail and a handful of Mt. rainier circumnavigations on the Wonderland.
Especially after my Wonderland journeys, when i was toting a 70-pound pack filled with
freeze-dried meals for two, i noticed that i always lost a lot of weight by the end of the journey—sometimes
10-15 pounds over 10 days—not conducive to retaining energy on much longer
hikes like the PCT. i also noticed my pack was heavy, mostly due to cookware, fuel, utensils and
the resulting garbage from meals.
i didn’t want to lose weight and i wanted to eat healthy, tasty food that required little fuel and
time to prepare, while leaving close to a zero in garbage. so, i listed my meal design goals:
1. No cooking required, just add boiling water.
2. Light weight, 4-5 oz. per dinner.
3. Total garbage of one sandwich baggie, which can be recycled.
4. High enough calorie counts to hike 20-mile days without becoming emaciated.
5. Tasty.
6. Nutritious and healthy.
7. Fit ten days worth of food into a bear canister.
8. Ability to store food for six or more months in the heat of the day.
9. selection of 30 or more different dinners when spending six months or so on the trail.
These simple goals made it apparent that i should focus on dehydrating my food. removing
water from food eliminates about 90 percent or more of its weight while extending its storage
time. By dehydrating food and following my nine aforementioned goals, i dropped 35 pounds
from my 70-pound pack while keeping it loaded with water and a 10-day food supply.
I started learning about dehydration by researching websites and reading
books, such as “A Fork in the Trail,” “Freezer Bag Cooking,” “Backpack Gourmet,” “simple Foods
for the Pack,” and “The Dehydrator Bible,” to name a few. Combining the knowledge gained
from these books with my own knowledge, i started experimenting at home by following some
recipes for the dinner table. i found my greatest fear—spending too much time and effort on
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