Spring Break Backpacking: Food

From WildWiki

[edit]

Pre-trip planning

Our trip had one brigade of 9 students and 3 instructors: 12 people total. We planned food at 1.7 pounds per person per day for 7 days using a mix of the bulk and planned-meal methods. Initially, we broke it down by meal:

Breakfasts. 34 lbs total. granola, powdered milk, hash browns, pancake mix, maple syrup, cream of wheat, oatmeal, grits

Snack/lunch meals. 52 lbs total. cheese, bagels, tortillas, peanut butter, tuna, GORP (lots), hummus (dry), summer sausage, jelly, mustard

Dinners. 58.5 lbs total.

  • burritos - beans, rice tortillas, onion, cheese, salsa, dried chiles
  • pasta - dried tomato sauce, onion, cheese
  • calzones - flour, dried tomato sauce, onion, cheese
  • red lentils - quinoa, lentils, peanut sauce
  • couscous - raisins, peanuts, onions
  • potatoes - cheese, garlic, dried chili mix, onion
  • baked rice w/cheese sauce - onions, garlic, broccoli, flour

Misc. butter, flour, oil, yeast, spice kit, salt, garlic

To determine quantities more explicitly and keep poundage in check while manipulating quantities, we entered all this into an Excel spreadsheet: Media:Spring Break Backpacking Food.xls

[edit]

Post-trip evaluation

We brought about 143 lbs of food. We had about 31 lbs leftover (note that 3 people left the trip early and were not hiking after that point, so they may have eaten less food). 143-31 = 112, which works out to 1.33 pounds per person per day.

  • We ate 19.25 lbs of the 33.5 pounds of breakfast that we brought (57%).
  • We ate all the lunch food (52 lbs) plus some leftover breakfast on the last day (116%).
  • We ate 43.5 lbs of the 58.5 lbs of dinner that we brought (75%).

According to our calculations, the optimal meal proportions for this group would have been:

  • 16% breakfast
  • 48% lunch
  • 36% dinner
Retrieved from "http://cs.earlham.edu/~outdoor/wiki/Spring_Break_Backpacking:_Food"