All the Food I Ate and Put in My Resupply Boxes on my Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike
After taking a few minutes to soak in the moment when I reached the Canadian Border/Northern Terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail marking the completion of my thru-hike, the first thing I said was “I’m so hungry” and proceeded to devour two candy bars, so this food list is not a recommendation by any means. It’s simply what I ate and what I liked to eat. It’s what worked for me and I definitely would take into consideration how many calories you need, the food you like, and maybe eat more than I did because I don’t think I ever truly ate enough the entire trail for the number of miles per day I was doing (I completed the Pacific Crest Trail in 93 days, which is averaging 28.5 miles per day).
I recommend going on some practice hikes to see what food you crave, which is what I did. I did a few hundred miles of training hikes (not even overnighters, just day hikes) and I made sure to note down what food I craved and enjoyed while hiking. For me, it wasn’t so much about what was healthy, it was about what I could stomach so I could get enough calories in.
I realized by day 7 of my Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike that I needed to eat more. I started off thinking maybe 3,000 calories/day was enough, but I quickly realized I needed to bump it up to at least 4,000 calories per day.
Hopefully this list can give you some ideas of potential foods and snacks you might enjoy on your thru-hike.
Disclaimers:
This is simply what I did in my own experience on the Pacific Crest Trail and is not a recommendation. Please consult a doctor/physician/nutritionist for professional recommendations regarding nutrition and caloric intake.
This list contains affiliate links, meaning I receive a small percentage of every purchase at no additional cost to you. Read more about my affiliate policy here.
What I Ate in a Day on the Pacific Crest Trail
The following is what one day of food typically looked like in my resupply boxes (i.e. if my resupply box was for 5 days, multiply the quantities below by 5):
Breakfast: 870 calories/day
| Food Item | Quantity/Day | Calories/Item | Total Calories/Day | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| belVita Cinnamon Brown Sugar Breakfast Biscuits | 1 pack | 230 | 230 | |
| Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder Drink Mix Packet | 3 packets | 140 | 420 | Mix with water in water bottle. I would fill a 1L bottle about 3/4 way with water and then poor the 3 packets in and shake. |
| GU Energy Original Sports Nutrition Energy Gel | 2 gels | 100 | 200 | |
| Crystal Light Sugar-Free Wild Strawberry On-The-Go Powdered Drink Mix | 2 packets | 10 | 20 | I would drink these before noon or else caffeine keeps me up at night. |
| One A Day Women’s Multivitamin Gummies | 2 gummies | n/a | n/a | Tried to supplement my not so healthy diet with vitamins. |
| Total Breakfast Calories/Day | 870 |
Lunch and Snacks: 1,650-2,110 calories/day
I typically don’t take a lunch break. Instead, I prefer to snack throughout the day while I hike. On average, I tried to eat a snack every hour.
| Food Item | Quantity/Day | Calories/Item | Total Calories/Day | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pepperidge Farm Cheddar Goldfish Multipack (1.0 oz packs) | 3-4 packs | 130 | 390-520 | |
| Gummies: Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews (160 calories) or Welch's Fruit Snacks (70 calories/pack) |
1 Honey Stinger Chews pack or 3-4 Fruit Snacks packs | 160 or 70 | 160-280 | |
| RITZ Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers | 1 pack | 200 | 200 | |
| RITZ Cheese Sandwich Crackers | 1 pack | 200 | 200 | |
| Bars: Larabar Lemon Bar, Larabar Blueberry Muffin, or Natures Bakery Whole Wheat Fig Bars | 2 bars | 190-200 | 380-400 | I had a variety of different bars throughout my hike, these were some of my favorites. |
| Electrolytes: Gatorade Thirst Quencher Powder (130 calories/pack), DripDrop Hydration - Electrolyte Powder Packets (35 calories/pack), or Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier (45 calories/pack) | 2 packets | 35-130 |
70-260 | |
| Candy Bar | 1 bar | 250 | 250 | Some of my favorite candy bars to eat were SNICKERS and TWIX bars |
| Total Lunch and Snack Calories/Day | 1,650-2,110 |
Dinner and Dessert: 760-1,110 calories/day
| Food Item | Quantity/Day | Calories/Item | Total Calories/Day | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dinner: Backpacker’s Pantry (my personal favorite is the Three Cheese Mac & Cheese, which used to be 860 calories per bag which was AMAZING and helped me get a lot more calories in, but now are only 510 calories per bag…) OR Homemade Rice & Beans with Fritos and Cheese (668 calories):
|
1 pack | 510-860 | 510-860 | I would typically have one store bought dehydrated backpacker meal per resupply and then have homemade rice and beans for the rest of my dinners. I only like boiling my water in my pot and not rehydrating my food in it, so I reuse the bag from the backpacker meal to rehydrate my rice and beans in. |
Dessert: |
1 bar | 250 | 250 | Tim got me a AlpineAire Foods Chocolate Mudslide (570 calories/bag) one time as a surprise and that thing was absolutely delicious, plus had a bunch of bonus calories which was great. |
| Total Dinner and Dessert Calories/Day | 760-1,110 |
Total Calories/Day: 3,280-4,090
I tried to eat 4,000 calories/day, but looking back on it I think I should have been eating even more than that, probably closer to 5,000 based on the miles/day I was doing by the end.
Other Food I Liked:
When I did grocery store resupplies, it varied a bit, but generally stayed the same. The main difference is that I would usually get salami, cheese, and bagels for lunch and dinner.
Some other items I would buy at the grocery store include:
OREO Double Stuff Cookies (especially the mint ones)
Cheezits in place of Goldfish
Premier Protein Shake - Tim would mail me a couple of these in my resupply boxes and I would have these before heading back to trail, just to squeeze in some extra protein and calories.
On days I was in town, I always tried to eat a full meal at a restaurant (and ice cream, of course) to get extra calories in.
Related Posts:
In this post, learn about all the ultralight backpacking gear I took with me on the Arizona Trail in fall 2022.