I’ve had a bunch of questions from future long distance hikers about how I organise my resupply so thought I’d share the information here.
Being international, vegan and stoveless I’m hoping to share a tip or two for others who are finding themselves overwhelmed with figuring out what they want to eat in 4 months time ☺
Resupplies can be as complicated or easy as you want to make them.
I hike with a mix of pre-posted resupply boxes, I buy as I go, and I make new boxes in towns with good grocery stores to send ahead. I try to make the boxes as healthy as possible, as it’s easy to buy junk food in towns when I have a hankering. When you are pushing your body hard everyday you want to give it it’s best chance to do well- you don’t put cheap fuel in a Ferrari and expect it to work well! 😉 Always everything vegan and cruelty free!
Here is what I like to pack:
For everyday I pack 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, 3 bars, 1/2 to 1 cup salty trail mix. Then I also add a few sweet things (chocolate, sweet trail mix or lollies/ candy), plus sometimes some protein powder and always electrolyte drink mixes (2 electrolytes per day). If the weather is looking bad, high altitude, or a lot of elevation gain or loss then I’ll add in a little extra. I get hungry when it’s cold or I’m at altitude, and it’s good practice to have a little extra in case you get stuck in a storm and need to wait in the tent a day for weather to pass.
The food I like to eat!
Breakfast
– granola that I add some extra yummy things to such as freeze dried fruit, hemp seeds, chia seeds and some powdered soy milk (or protein powder)
– probars – Original Blend, Whole Berry Blast, Superfood Slam, Superfruit Slam, Superberry & Greens, or the probar base bars.
-oatmeal – easy!
Lunch
– crackers – Mary’s original or hemp or any kind of crackers with lots of yummy seeds (always trying to get extra nutrients!)
– almond butter or sunflower butter – yum butter has great pouches that contain about 3 serves for me, a small plastic (not glass!) jar of nut butter is about 5/6 serves
– dried flattened bananas (trader joes)
– vegemite! If I can find it ☺
Dinner
I don’t carry a stove, but anything that says ‘just add boiling water’ will cold soak well. As long as you don’t need to simmer or cook for any length of time. I add the contents to my empty talenti container with water at my last break of the day and by camp time it’s ready.
– ramen – koyo brand has yum vegan ramen, ‘normal’ ramen noodles are vegan then you can add miso powder or vege bouillon cubes
– alpine aire – the vege burrito bowl and santa fe black beans and rice. Each pouch contains 2 serves.
– dehydrated black beans and refried beans – you can find these in the bulk food section of food co-ops. I also found a brand of instant beans at walmart that was yum!
– backpackers pantry – chana masala, Louisiana red beans and rice, kathmandu curry. I think each pouch is 2 serves (marked on the packet)
– just veggies – dehydrated veges to add to ramen or other food.
Snacks and Extras
– salty trail mix – not too spicey. I make it differently everytime but with lots of variety. Love tamari flavoured, smokey, vinegar, crunchy things. Yum! I never get sick of salty trail mix
– sweet trail mix – berries, nuts, dark choc, ginger. Yum!
– protein powder – vega brand, sunwarrior, spirutein are all yum and are available in individual serves
– bars- probars, kind bars (some are vegan), larabars, raw bars, macrobars, chia warrior, vega, cliff bars (some are vegan- check ingredients)
– kale chips, broccoli chips, crunchy dehydrated green beans
– nori – yum! Also good to add to dinner
– Lenny and Larry’s cookies
– chocolove chocolate
– salazan chocolate
– Justin’s individual serves of nut butters
– dried or freeze dried (much lighter!) fruit
– lemon coconut macaroons mmm
– electrolytes – scratch raspberry flavour is my favourite! Nuun is another good brand
– dark chocolate covered espresso beans to bounce up the mountains
– anything awesome that is vegan!
Other Things
– each box I also add a travel pack of Wet wipes (biodegradable if I can find them)
– some zip locks – I repack most things into ziplocks as it’s lighter than the original packaging
– every now and then a new toothbrush, a travel toothpaste, maybe travel/ sample of suncream or moisturiser
– shampoo / conditioner – I cut up the solid shampoo / conditioner bars from Lush and put in a few boxes – luxury!!!
– vitamins – I send a multivitamin, turmeric and magnesium to help decrease inflammation and aid muscle repair.
Don’t forget to check what resupply and restaurants there are in town. I’ll often add some vegetable or chia squeeze pouches or other heavier snacks I can eat in town, or an extra dinner if it looks like greasy fries will be the only food option.
Packing Out Of Town
When in town, I’ll often hit up a grocery for hummus and some veges to snack on, as well as green juice or smoothies to buy. If it’s a shorter food carry I might pack out an avocado or fruit to eat the first day.
Where To Buy
Between Whole foods, trader joes, REI, co-op markets and any grocery/ supermarket you’ll find all of the above ☺
How To Post
Always (unless specifically told otherwise) send USPS priority flat rate boxes. This means you can bounce ahead if necessary for no extra charge. I try to post to a hotel or business where possible instead of the post office general delivery. This saves having to wait in town if you arrive on a weekend and find the post office closed.
That’s it! If you have any great tips please comment below. This post will be updated as I think of more things to make it more useful. Happy eating!