John Myers
Light in weight, high in energy content: hiking food should not exceed the pack size of a rucksack on a trekking tour and should still satisfy hunger and thirst. Read here which provisions you need to manage this balancing act.
This trekking food is good as provisions
An hour-long hiking tour with many meters of altitude is exhausting – and makes you hungry. At a certain point, if you don’t eat carbohydrates, your performance will drop. The so-called starvation, which is feared in endurance sports, causes the blood sugar level to drop so low that you can only drag yourself along without strength. But it doesn’t have to come that far when running, cycling, or trekking in the mountains. With the right provisions, you will always be well-supplied when hiking over hill and dale. By the way: Before strenuous tours, you should start trekking with food before setting off and fill up your energy stores with carbohydrate-rich food the evening before. Noodle and rice dishes with vegetables and lean meat are ideal for this.
Provisions for the day tour
When it comes to trekking nutrition, the focus is on high-calorie density and low weight. Granola and energy bars, like our protein bars, are lightweight and packaged to withstand a downpour. At high temperatures, you should avoid products with a chocolate coating. Dried fruits such as dates and nuts are well suited here. The sufficient liquid is always part of it, especially in summer. Water, tea, or apple spritzer are recommended. If you sweat a lot, you can also use sports drinks rich in minerals to compensate for the loss of magnesium, sodium, potassium, and the like. For a day tour, you are well equipped with this provision as trekking food.
Trekking food for multi-day hikes
For meals on multi-day tours, you should pack more and also be more varied. Dry food and smoked sausages such as bacon and Landjäger, hard cheese, bread, and fresh fruit complete the provisions. For warm meals, there is special trekking dry food that is dehydrated and fits in small bags. The contents only have to be poured with warm water and stirred. If you want to cook while trekking, you can use a small gas cooker to prepare your own camping food from rice, noodles, vegetable broth, and dried meat. When it comes to bread and side dishes, it’s best to use whole grain products: Due to their higher fiber content, they fill you up longer than white flour products, so you don’t have to carry as many provisions with you.
