By Anne Dios, Wilderness Ranger
If you have grown tired of the foods you bring with you into the New Mexican wilderness, you are not alone. As someone who has backpacked for months at a time, it can be hard to enjoy something after eating it day after day. I pack a serving of food I am not crazy about as an extra meal, so it will be there for me when I truly need it. If you find it hard to swallow your oatmeal in the morning try a portion at home with some nut butter, honey, or dried cherries to jazz it up. If adding that new ingredient makes a big difference, great, plan some future meals accordingly. I learned the hard way to sample a portion before packing several I would have to eat, regardless of how good or bad it tasted. Variety in the textures of a meal helps me avoid hiker meal fatigue, one reason I enjoy an odd serving of powdered meal replacement as part of my breakfast routine.
Breakfast Ideas
One way to start hiking earlier is to give up on cooking breakfast. Usually for breakfast, I have cereal, muesli, or granola with powdered milk. By weighing cereal and powdered milk together in a ziplock, all you need to do is combine this in your pot with water. Most cereals pack enough calories per gram or ounce, but if I have to fit 8 or more day’s worth of food in my Bearvault then I reach for calorically dense cereals like grape nuts or a nut-rich muesli. I treat myself to a hot oatmeal serving from the brand YiShi (at Sprouts) because I enjoy their unusual flavors, and most flavors have some caffeine in them. Within Albuquerque, I have found powdered low-fat milk, and powdered oat milk can be found online at Hoosier Hill Farm. They sell other powdered milk and ingredients perfect for backpackers, and shipping is free. I skip hot coffee as well. There are chocolate bars and caffeine-infused drink concentrates I pack to avoid a caffeine withdrawal headache.
Dinner Options
They may be good, but I refuse to spend $10 on a single freeze-dried meal. Depending on your cooking system and the altitude you camp in, pasta that cooks within around 10 minutes is backpacker-friendly. Check out the pasta varieties at Tully’s Italian Deli in Albuquerque. online vendor Harmony House Foods sells a dozen different dehydrated soup mixes which come out to less than $4 a dinner. Their website also has helpful articles and links. As with breakfast, I like making additions to give dinner a variety of textures. That means hot sauce or crackers in my mac and cheese, Fritos in my chili, or whatever I cooked wrapped in a tortilla. One to five-ounce Nalgene bottles are great for condiments.
Additional Resources
If you’re still feeling peckish, check out recipes on andrewskurka.com, and backpacker.com, or consider getting a dehydrator or freeze-dryer. However you plan your meals, I hope they only add to your enjoyment of the outdoors!
About the Author
Anne chased coyotes and startled rattlesnakes in the chaparral of southern California as a child. During high school, she volunteered at an exotic animal shelter, and her desire to contribute to society led her to join the U.S. Army. After her deployment in the Middle East, she completed her B.S. in Environmental Studies. Anne hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2015 and the Continental Divide Trail in 2022. Hiking the length of New Mexico as part of the C.D.T., and seeing New Mexico’s unique beauty, she was compelled to move to Albuquerque. Inspired by her previous trail maintenance along the P.C.T. and her involvement with New Mexico Wild as a volunteer Wilderness Defender, she is thrilled to join NM Wild’s efforts as a Wilderness Ranger.
