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Meal Planning - 2 weeks in AK...Last Minute Review ?

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JKERSH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 0

Hey Gang,

In about 1 month (May 23) I will be headed to Kahiltna Glacier in Alaska for a Mountaineering Course. I am almost all prepared for the course, and have been training for the past 6 months....

However, the most daunting task is still ahead. I have to pack and plan 42 meals and bring them from NC to AK. Since I arrive in Alaska 2 days early, I have the opportunity to hit the grocery store for some last minute moderately perishable items, like cheese and deli meat.

It is suggested that we splurge a bit for the first week before moving deeper into the the range. This is ideal since we only have to go about 3 mi from the airstrip to set up base camp...weight isnt that big of an issue for the first week.... on week two we will leave the unnecessary goods behind (and trash) at base camp, i would assume the second week will be the main focus of dehydrated foods.

Things to note. I will have snow and ice all around me, so once on the glacier I will be able to keep things cold.

I have begun to develop a meal plan which can be seen here:

Kershaw - Meal Plan - AK

Initially i figured it may be a good idea to do a protein heavy flavorful flapjack for breakfast, some tea, and a fruit strip/snacks but Im not sure.

I am totally open to suggestions and looking for any that you folks may have. I have planned for 4 days camping, but never 14...at altitude... in snow.

I have ordered a lot of "Fantastic Food" mixes (beans, tofu scramble, hummus, vegetarian chili, taco mix) as well as condiments from minimus.biz

I welcome all tips tricks and suggestions..... I am overwhelmed here honestly and am worried I may never figure this thing out in time. I don't mind buying Mountain House, but at $7-$9 a pop, I would like to minimize it.

Thanks

Jim

PS: Yes, I have searched forums, ready trailcooking.com ...etc - i am looking for personal opinions, tips, and tricks... ESPECIALLY those who have climbed in AK.

Cale Hoopes · · Sammamish, WA · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 10

PackitGourmet.com has great stuff to make your own meals or use theirs. Their smoothies saved me on Denali last year. This is indeed a daunting task. I took too much food and that ultimately contributed to my summit failure (I turned myself at 16.5... long story as usual). Anyhow, I do have some lessons learned. Private message me and we can exchange emails and I'll give you what my experience was.

JKERSH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 0

Thanks Cale - PM Sent.

I have also looked into Packitgourmet.com as well.

Anyone who has been to AK or Denali have suggestions for breakfast/lunches/dinners?

Not familiar at cooking in that temperature and altitude.

Dave Lynch · · Saint Croix Falls, WI · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 515

I wasn't able to check out your list, but here's my suggestions: Check out Backpacker's Pantry. I preferred most of their meals over Mountain House on our Denali trip last year and we had both. Bring powdered drinks to add to your water - I like tang hot or cold. Emergen-C has several different flavors and vitamins. After a couple days on the glacier melting water you'll appreciate flavored water for some of your drinks. Nice change from coffee or tea also. Seems like you can't avoid floaties in all your melted water. Candy bars, whatever you like. Keep in mind the snickers will most likely turn to brick, so I liked three Muskateers over that. Chocolate bars in general are high in calories, less expensive than cliff bars or other "high performance" bars and taste better in my opinion. Tabasco sauce - a staple. Bring foods you like or you may not be able to gag down what you have available after a week. Especially at elevation.

trailridge · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 20

Without a doubt, hotdogs on a tortilla with cheese and siracha hot sauce. My favorite lunch out on the glacier. Nutella is always a good idea. Put on bagels. Or for some early morning calories mix with some oats and peanut butter. Good luck. Out there its the little things that make a difference. Bacon is a treat

Steve Williams · · The state of confusion · Joined Jul 2005 · Points: 235

One thing for sure, you want to have VARIETY.
You'll get sick of eating the same thing very quickly, no
matter what you have. So take lots of different snacks,
flavors, soups (you want to keep hydrated, you usually can't
drink enough there).

Even if weight isn't a consideration the first week, you
don't want to be eating the same thing every day. You'll grow
tired of it fast, and you have to eat lots too.
For base camp, be sure to take some beer! (both for your
first day or two, and some for when you return).

Also, you have to watch out, sometimes you won't be able
to stomach a high fat diet. So think oatmeal with extra
butter/syrup/brown sugar to load it up with calories.

And make a treat meal for when you're on the move.
One of my buddies had a 'thanksgiving turkey' dinner with
all the fixin's (except alcohol), when we were high on
Denali. What an awesome meal!

Good luck, have fun, and remember, VARIETY!!!

Rob Scott · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2010 · Points: 0

Hey Jim,

I've done a couple of trips to Alaska..., a few things that helped my partner and I (we climbed as a party of 2 on Denali):

1) We started each morning with a protein shake made from powdered milk and protein powder. Just made one big one in a liter bottle and split it. It's a good protein load and getting 16 oz of liquid in you before you even start with breakfast can only help. Choose a flavor you like and won't get sick of after 3 weeks.

2) Bring as much real food as you can (keeping weight in mind), the freeze dried stuff, while convenient (and sometimes even tasty), loses its appeal quickly. Variety will help. Have a couple of meals with you that are treats. We brought some smoked salmon and some garlic potato mix and fried the salmon up in a skillet. A little heavy, but really nice to have once or twice at 14K. I think we also used re-fried bean mix and tortillas to make burritos a couple of times.

3) You want to have as much lunch / snack food as you have breakfast and dinner food. Some people would say a good rule of thumb is 1 pound split between breakfast and dinner and another pound of lunch/snack food per day. YMMV depending upon how much of the weight is from freeze dried food. We learned the need for having more lunch / snack food after being in a four day snowstorm and being unable to cook with the stove -- the food you don't have to cook goes quickly in storms. If it weren't for being able to scarf lunch and snack food from bailing parties, we'd have been hurting.

4) A flask isn't a bad idea either. Sometimes you just want to take the edge off (guiding companies may frown on that one :) )

5) Good coffee and a melitta pour over 1 - cup brew cone (or similar) is vital!

JKERSH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 0

Wow! Awesome replies so far, Thank you.

I think I need to reconsider my flapjack approach on the glacier, although you "just add water" I have a feeling its going to take quite some time to fix.

I have planned on doing some type of shake, whether in morning or afternoon and a flask of sorts will be a must for me... Im thinking whiskey.

Great tips on the snacks, variety, and flavor.... variety is my biggest challenge so far, but that just means I need to get more creative.

Obviously it looks like a protein oatmeal mix will be my best option in the morning.... mixing it up between sweet(sugar/fruit) and savory (pepperoni/salami.

Keep it coming please!

Zach Kreifels · · Santa Monica, CA · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 0

The NOLS cookery book has some good stuff in it

amazon.com/Cookery-National…

You can also make pizzas pretty easily using dough packets that you just add water to and frying the dough in a little oil or butter.

There is a meal in the NOLS book called Gado Gado which is one of my back country favorites. It is an Asian peanut butter sauce that you put on spaghetti noodles. The sauce is really easy to make. Here is the recipe.

nols.edu/publications/cooke…

It has a lot of ingredients to it, but the only real important ones are oil, peanut butter, brown sugar, and soy sauce.

Pita pockets are also pretty good for making lunches with as an alternative to tortillas.

Jake D. · · Northeast · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 365

Pasta sides with tuna packets or french fried onions..

instant potatoes with bacon bits or fried onions

look up Freezer bag cooking for other ideas.. Thru hikers and lightweight backpackers come up with good meals that don't weigh much and dont' require real cooking.

Martin le Roux · · Superior, CO · Joined Jul 2003 · Points: 401

Variety is good but there'll be days when it's late, you're dog-tired or it's stormy or bitterly cold outside. On those days you'll want something really simple (like freeze-dried). Anything more complicated can be a real production under those conditions.

Add bits of cheese or salami to freeze-dried to make it more palatable.

If there's a risk of freezing then avoid foods with high water content (e.g. some cheeses or deli meats).

I haven't had good luck with pita bread, it always seems to crumble to bits when it's being transported. Bagels are bulkier but I've found them to be more robust, esp. the supermarket kind with lots of preservatives and other wonderful chemicals.

John mac · · Boulder, CO · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 105

Hey Jim,

I have a company that makes Veggie-Go's, like a fruit strip but a combo of fruit and veggies. I would be glad to send you a couple of cases for free, in exchange for a bit of feedback on how they do at the low temp ect, and a couple of pictures of you enjoying them on the glacier. They are packed with nutrition and area really light weight. They are really low calorie though, so they would just be a bonus, certainly not a meal replacement.

You can check us out here: nakededgesnacks.com

If you are interested pm me or email me at john@nakededgesnacks.com

cheers
John

flynn · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2002 · Points: 25

I pack food for a canoe outfitter up here in northern Minnesota. We buy our dehydrated food exclusively from Cache Lake. Most of their dishes are excellent in terms of taste, and generously portioned. Check 'em out.

At those altitudes, and in that cold, fat is your friend. Butter, oil, bacon. Almost anything will keep well in the cold; if you're nervous about meat, you can cook it up ahead of time. Bacon will hold just about forever. Ditto anything cured, of course (salami, summer sausage, etc.).

I also have several excellent recipes (tasty, easy, effective) for industrial-strength munchy bars. A buddy and I had great success with them during a month on the Colorado Trail a few years ago. I also have a 3-ingredient 'recipe' for a sort of bread mix that needs only water (and fat, if you like). If you're interested, PM me and I'll send 'em along.

Have fun, keep your toes, and good luck!

JKERSH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 0

Thanks for the awesome replies everyone.

I will be sure to incorporate more soups/liquids into my meal plan. The tortilla wraps with cheese siracha and whatever else I can throw in there (hummus/pepperoni/hotdogs) sound like a pretty solid lunch staple that I can mix and mach.

I was able to score Gu BREW as a BoGo at the local Vitamin Shoppe so that will be a good mixer throughout the day.

I also picked up a Protien Blend Mix for an early morning smoothie/shake...since that was bogo I got strawberry and Chocolate flavors... this will give me the BCAAs I need as well as slow burning and fast burning proteins, and gultamine.

Burritos will be a must at least a couple times. I plan on looking Naan as an alternative to Tortillas for again... variety.

While in Anchorage Im going to stop and pick up cheeses (string cheese or Laughing Cow) and whatever real food I think will last.

if I plan out "7" days worth of different meals, do you think it will be enough variety to repeat for the most part on week 2?

I also heard that real butter keeps for a while on the glacier

  • *Open to suggestions on real food!


PMs Sent to Flynn & John.
Ed Rhine · · Denver, CO · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 0

Just writing this now to you so I remember to say something later. If not please PM me as a reminder. Just spent a month in AK last summer and can give some great advice for meal planning and food storage and glacial camping.. IE things I would have done differently. Also can give you a good plan of where to go to get things in AK to save time and money. Good luck. Pm me

Jon C. Sullivan · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 30

I would say that yes, repeating the first week for all 4 weeks would work really. Or you could do two meal weeks and alternate them and mix up the menu days so as to not develop boredom otherwise. I prefer the first option myself. It really minimizes the hassle of trying to create twice as many unique meal plans. What you have planned so far made me wish I was planning a big trip of my own. Everything sounds awesome, even jelly beans for lunch. Its very appropriate. Have a blast out there, sounds like you'll be living and eating like a happy human for sure.
Cheers

Nathaniel K · · Littleton, CO · Joined May 2012 · Points: 215

Hammer Perpetuem, I swear by it...doesn't taste sickening-sweet, mild flavor (I put one pack in a nalgene)...take-in balanced calories - including complex carbs,not just sugar - almost unnoticed, as you hydrate. One of the few things I can stomach if I get AMS.

Ed Rhine · · Denver, CO · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 0

Thanks for the PM as my memory on this kind of shit is really bad. Overall I would agree and say weight is not all that important, though hauling sleds sucks. Make sure you have things evenly distributed in big duffels or consider doing more than one trip (more milage but less agony over all)

As for food in general, take what you think your caloric need is for the day and add about 25%. After a week long extension to a trip last summer due to a snow storm, I would have loved that extra bit instead of stretching and going hungry.

Tea/Coffee/electrolyte drinks to help you get in good tasting fluids. I recommend the GU mix and the Fizz tabs at REI.

For meals, its really up to you for what you like but I will put a list of some stuff at the end. Over all make sure to take hot sauce, spices, and more hot sauce. Make your meals easy to prep and clean and stay away from any of the pre packaged dehydrated shit unless you have to at a high camp. Otherwise pasta/rice sides with summer sausage or canned chicken/tuna are way more appetizing. Take chocolate for snacks but get the good kind, not hersheys. Cook with olive oil to add good fat and energy to your meals. Make massive bags of trail mix that have all kinds of goodies in them.... and for God sakes dont take all this with you up to AK as you will pay a fortune in baggage fees. I paid $250 for just ropes, rack and gear without food.

This brings up a major point.. get to AK and go from Anchorage to Wasilla. There are some places to stay there near the Fred Meyer grocery store which is huge and has everything you need (minus GU and Fizz and engery bars) There is a shuttle that will pick up you and your bags at the post office right by the store. This way you can easily buy all you need and not pay the airline fees or the crazy cost around Talkeetna.

The other good this about Fred Meyer is 5 Gallon sealable buckets. These are by far the best thing I have found to store food in a simple and painless way. Sure you could bury your food in trash bags (and do bury it because of ravens) but then you have to dig it up every day and that is hard on them and a pain for you.... plus they eventually leak and rip.

Lastly coffee.. and hot sauce. I jest but take more than you think you need as there is potential for massive weather and massive tent time.

I you have a MegaMid take one and if not see if the outfitter has one

Other than that take good food and cook like at home, egg beaters, cheese bacon breakfast bagels, quesedillas for lunch, rice, past with meat and cheese for dinner... have fun

JKERSH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 0

So... Is all my gear + Food supposed to fit in one bag? If so, I have way too much food.

Big Thank you to everyone who chimed in... Below is an image to what I have packed... the lunches actually vary a bit more but that's what I could remember what I packed off the top of my head... I liked the element of some sort of "surprise" throughout the day.



Please anyone, chime in on any last minute reviews, tips, or suggestions.

Thanks again for all the great feedback, if I did do one thing right (I think) it was to have VARIETY.
Ed Rhine · · Denver, CO · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 0

It all looks really good to me and should be great for the trip. The only thing I would say is that you should not be flying all your food up there but getting it in Anchorage/Wasilla. For a team of three last year we each had a small backpack and two large duffels heading up to AK and then two more duffels full of food once there. Have fun

Dan M · · Boulder, CO · Joined Sep 2005 · Points: 165

If I were you I'd go to the Moose's Tooth in Anchorage and get a ton of pizza and growlers of IPA. Stuff yourself and imbibe the growlers immediately. Vacuum pack the leftover pizza. Guaranteed to taste better than mac & whatever with Goldfish..

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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