Hitting the trail? You have come to the right place! The Vegetarian’s Guide to Packing Food for a Hike has lots of tips for your day trip! There are endless options for packing the plant-based backpack! You can make it fun, satisfying, filling, packed with nutrients and capable of meeting your energy requirements throughout your entire journey! Yes! It is entirely possible to eat completely plant-based when you are hiking!
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
The Vegetarian’s Guide to Packing Food For a Hike
Having just finished hiking Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim in one day as a plant-based backpacker, I’ve got some tips for you! Once I started filling my own backpack for this adventure, I realized it is easier than you think to be vegan or vegetarian on a hike! For starters, my food will never spoil! In addition, I could easily find lots of efficient, inexpensive, meatless options that kept me going the entire 10 hours! Just because I can’t fill up on beef jerky doesn’t make packing my plant-based pack a daunting task at all! I’ve included a few brands in here that I love and that I was super successful on my trip. I have no affiliations with these brands, just my honest opinion from my adventure. Let’s do this!
Easy Vegetarian Backpacking Staples for Any Hiking Adventure:
- Dried Fruit
- Granola
- Nuts
- Nut Butters
- Vegan Jerky (I used Beyond Meat)
- Endurance Gels (Maurtens, Cliff, GU, Huma, Skratch Labs chews)
- Electrolyte Powder (Gatorade, Nuun, Liquid IV, Skratch Labs)
- Sandwiches or wraps (PB +J, veggie burgers, chik-n patty wraps, bean burritos)
- Fruit pouches (squeezable fruit such as applesauce pouches/baby food squeezes)
- Freeze dried camping meals/just add water meals (check labels for added meat/broth)
- Cookies or breakfast bars (Kind, Cliff, Picky Bars)
- Energy bites/balls (homemade or store bought)
- Dried/roasted chickpeas
Top Considerations When Packing Food For a Hike:
- Weight
- Convenience
- Calorie density
- Carbs, protein, fat, salt
- Have I eaten this before?
- Weather
- Calories-to-weight ratio (being mindful of weight efficiency)
- Shelf life (you don’t want to eat spoiled food on a hike!)
- Packaging (weight, ease of use, trash)
Tara’s Top Tips For The Vegetarian Going For a Hiking Adventure
- Eat a meal before you start
- Pack a sandwich or tortilla wrap (I always do this!)
- Nothing new on the trail!!! Taste-test your foods ahead of time to ensure they don’t give you any stomach issues.
- When in doubt, eat carbs first. Carbs are your body’s primary source of energy so if you don’t feel like you have an appetite, slowly snack on carbs such as pretzels or dried fruit.
- Make it easy! Your hands might be busy with poles or water bottles so find a place in your pack where you can easily access your snacks and portion them out if you can.
- 30-60 grams of carbs per hour is a general rule for how much fuel you need during a hike
- Consider nutrition or not (see below)
- Aim to eat + drink something every hour
- Fluids! We are focusing on food in this article, but water is important. Plan your water to carry, to fill bottles, to purify, or to add electrolytes to.
How Much Does Nutrition Actually Matter While Backpacking?
Vegetarian or not, your primary concern during any endurance activity is getting enough carbohydrates, calories, water, and electrolytes. Getting 30-60 grams of carbohydrates per hour is by far the most important thing you need to be concerned with. Second, is hydration taking in enough water to prevent dehydration. Third, is replacing electrolytes specifically sodium. That being said, if you neglect to be mindful of nutritional content, you might find you feel sluggish from taking in too much sugar or processed foods that your body isn’t used to.
One major consideration when addressing this is how long your hike is. If you are only out for the day, you might be able to have fun with it and eat whatever calories seem palatable to you. If you are going to be out backpacking for several days, you might want to be more mindful of nutrition to ward off any energy slumps as the days go on. For some, fueling with pop tarts + Oreo cookies are perfect to ensure they get in enough calories, and this is perfectly acceptable. For others, this might cause stomach upset, sluggishness, headache, or decrease in stamina. You will see below, I packed my pack with pretty nutritious foods plus one bag of cookies. On the other hand, my Mr. MVF had more calorie dense foods with higher calorie and sugar content. He was concerned about being able to tolerate the food so he chose more sugary foods + that worked for him. Practice your nutrition ahead of time, this is the only way you will know which camp you are in. Neither one is wrong!
Don’t Forget the Salt + Electrolytes
You will lose a lot more salt during a hike than you realize so be very careful not to get deficient! Even if you do not feel sweaty, you still need to replace your sodium! If you do feel sweaty it becomes even more important. Stay ahead of this by adding electrolyte powders (Gatorade, Liquid IV, or my personal favorite – Skratch Labs) to your water bottle. Another good option is Salt Stick sodium replacement capsules or chews. You could also opt for energy gels or chews that contain sodium or the good old fashioned high salt foods such as vegan jerky, salted nuts, pretzels, crackers or chips. This can be a total gamechanger on a hike!!!! Remember, taking in only water will not meet your electrolyte needs when hiking.
What Was In My Backpack For Rim-To-Rim
What food was packed in my backpack for my Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim Hike? Glad you asked! I had a fabulous day, full of energy, fueled + ready for more after hiking 25 miles over 10 hours with a few thousand feet of elevation change! I’m no expert on long-haul hikes but I am an expert in being a vegetarian! I used a kitchen scale to weigh everything out ensuring I had 100 grams of carbohydrates to take in every hour and that it was not too heavy for me to carry.
Non-Food Items:
- Backpack (Osprey Dana 15L)
- Extra pair of socks (I used these as gloves during the first 2 hours when it was cold)
- Second set of shorts + shirt
- Packable jacket
- Hand sanitizer
- Clorox wipes
- Band aids/first aid kit
- Sunscreen
- Hat
- Sunglasses
- Water bottles + bladder
- Head lamp
Food:
- Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches
- Picky Bars
- Skratch Chews
- Skratch Hyper hydration + electrolyte powders
- Salt Stick Sodium capsules
- Pretzels
- Salted Cashews
- Dried fruit
- Peanuts
- Nutter Butter cookies
- Maurten gels
What I ate for Rim-to-Rim:
- Peanut butter + jelly sandwiches
- Skratch chews
- picky bar
- Nutter Butter cookies
- 2 Skratch hyper hydration
- 3 Skratch electrolyte powder packs
- Salt Stick Pills
- Pretzels at the end
- Lots of water refills
- Surprisingly didn’t eat nearly as much food as what was packed! However, playing it safe in case of an emergency was worth carrying the extra weight. I put high priority on getting enough powders and chews in with water. I had practiced the sodium pills, gels, chews, and powders with my runs and training to be sure my stomach could tolerate them all!
Food For Thought
I really hoped you loved my tips this week! Planning for your adventure will make a HUGE difference in your experience. Vegetarian or not, the same principles apply when packing food for a hike. I had a fabulous experience on my Rim-to-Rim adventure. With the right planning, research, and practice you can pack your pack correctly for any plant-powered hike! Practice, train, plan, be prepared, and above all enjoy! On the trails, it is a great place to be a vegetarian! Your food never spoils, you are eating what you love, it is inexpensive and can be so much fun! Want to hear more about my Grand Canyon adventure, email me: tara@myvegetarianfamily.com 🏔 🥾 🎒
Some Other Posts You Might Enjoy:
- Tara’s Tips For Plant-Powered Athletes
- The Vegetarian’s Guide To Protein
- Cranberry Peanut Butter Energy Bites
- Homemade Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- How I Got Here
- The Vegetarian’s Guide To Mood Boosting Foods
⭐️Do you love The Vegetarian’s Guide To Packing Food For a Hike? Leave a comment below, I love to hear from you! ⭐️
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Great advice Tara! These tips can be applied to many activities, vegetarian or not!
Hi Theresa! Thanks, glad you like this article! Vegetarian or not! YES! These tips are prefect for anyone packing their pack for a hike or a day out!