My approach to meals on the John Muir Trail has evolved over the years. I started out about as light as you can get and ate strictly for fuel. Breakfast was a mixture of granola, dried fruit, nuts, and powdered milk. Snacks, lunch, and dinner were energy bars. No stove, no warm food, no joy at dinner time.
As my confidence grew and I was willing to carry a bit more weight I incorporated a Jetboil. A couple cups of hot water mixed into a freeze-dried meal was nothing short of wonderful in the evening. Many of these meals (Mountain House, Mary Jane’s Farm, Backpacker’s Pantry, etc.) are quite good, but they all share a common imperfection: they are so processed that they do not taste fresh. I wouldn’t go so far to say that they all start tasting the same, but they can get a little tiresome. Enter the lowly hot pepper.
Hot peppers are small, light, flavorful, and will last a couple of weeks easily in your bear canister. Depending on the ones you prefer you can either add a bit of heat or much more. I like jalapeños because they are piquant and aromatic without being fiery.
The other great thing about peppers is that they seem to “freshen” the meal. Even if you add just a single pepper (I chop mine with a knife on top of the cup that came with the Jetboil) it seems to make all the difference. They are also fabulous trail gifts! I always pack a half-dozen or so extra to offer hikers I dine with in the evenings. They are often a big hit. (Admittedly, not as big a hit as the hunks of dark chocolate a young Canadian woman was passing out last year!)
Little things can mean a lot on the trail; morale can be a fragile thing. Toss a few jalapeños (mild), serranos (medium), or habaneros (hot) and you may find that your tasty freeze-dried meals are transformed.
Good hiking, Ray
Great article.
I like to add the Mountain House freeze dried bulk meats to my meals. The added meat adds a great deal. Also Mountain House and Backpacker’s Pantry both make a vegetable package. Fire Roasted Vegetables from Mountain House and from Backpacker’s Pantry Sicilian Mixed Vegetables. Either one makes a big difference in a meal. You just use a little bit to enhance other meals.
Good idea, Casey. Thanks for the comment!
Great suggestion Ray. When my wife and I hiked the JMT this past summer, we started blending our dehydrated meals and devising new twists. We also brought plenty of Tapatio sauce packets (smart and final iris) to blend into meals or tuna wraps as well.
We enjoyed coating peanut or almond butter on Boba bars, Clif bars, etc., sometimes with a jam packet or honey added as well (great in oatmeal too), for breakfast, and loved using a little cocoa in our coffee at times.
My experience with eating on the JMT was that I did not need to replace the total calories that I burned the day before. I just needed to learn to keep my engine stoked with regular small amounts of energy and hydration, especially before and during a big ascent. By not having so much food, the weight of the condiments were incidental.
Thanks, Paul. Your comment about keeping the “engine stoked” is right on.
Great tip! I’ve found that some red pepper flakes or dehydrated salsa can produce amazing results but I never thought of bringing fresh jalapenos. I’m going to try it.
Thanks, Inga!
Great idea Ray. We always bring heads of garlic, another fresh veggie that will keep for weeks in a bear box and will perk up any (or all) of your meals, whether freeze-dried or ‘”scratch-made”
Hadn’t thought of that, Vance. Great idea!
Going stove less on the JMT was a poor choice for me this past September on my 13 day JMT thru. I will never do that again! You should check out Hawk Vittles dehydrated meals!!! Waaaaaay better than any of the many brands I’ve tried. No need to add anything. Great tasting and about the same price as the bland MH meals. Made by a retired chef…thanks for all the great info you provided in your book! It made my thru hike a pleasure with all the useful info.
Thanks for the kind words, Richard. The Hawk Vittles stuff looks good. I may have to try some of them!
Thanks for the tip on Hawk Vittles! The breakfasts I have had from MH are not my faves, and I get tired of my own granola and oats mixture every day. These look amazing and I am ordering my first batch!
Ray,
Darn! I wish I had known this ahead of my hike. I don’t usually love jalepenos, but on the trail, even adding the smallest bit of variety can help morale, as you point out. I also wish I had learned about Hawk Vittles instead of what I brought. I am definitely going to try them in the future.
Thanks for the comment, Chris. I’m looking forward to trying the Hawk stuff, too.
Shallots are also a good addition that can make a meal taste fresher. Pretty high ratio of weight to flavor though not as high as jalapenos. I think the biggest food is not so much carrying it as making myself eat it so flavor ideas are important to fight food boredom and the loss of appetite that can come with exertion. The JMT hiker surveys have shown fairly common problems of people carrying food but not being able to eat it.
Love the shallot idea, John. Just shows that you have a much more sophisticated palate than I do! Thanks for the comment.
Wow! This would not work for me at all. I have a low tolerance for spices in the mountains. And I don’t even eat any peppers except maybe bell peppers at sea level. I have to maintain a very bland diet in the mountains and to some degree even at lower altitudes. When ever I have tried prepackaged trail meals I have often had to vomit and waste the food.
Instant Oatmeal in the morning, nuts, m&ms and snicker bars during the day and instant mashed potatoes in the evening and I can stomach spam quite nicely with the mashed potatoes. I can go all night saying to myself, ”
wow, that Spam was good!” I wouldn’t eat Spam at home, but go figure.
Did the JMT 2014 22 days same diet every day except for Tuolemne, Reds Meadow, Vermillion and Muir Trail Ranch, where I usually got a juicy Hamburger.
I have hiked with guys who like to spice up the meals and it kills me. But I would hike with you as long as we cook separately.
Hiking is not about the eating to me
Strange, Keith, how our culinary preferences change on the trail. Thanks for the comment!