Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion What To Eat?

true dat RoguePhotonic.

Up at trailcamp we leave it soaking another 3-5 minutes. The nice thing about Hawkvittles is that the "cooking" time is soaking time, no fuel consumption increase.

The first time I had the Salmon stir-fry at altitude, I had salmon crunchies. (It wasn't horrible - since it was still pretty tasty, but I'm not a fan of crunchy salmon) We discussed it & determined a longer soak time would remedy the crunch. Next batch worked fine.

Also the Hawkvittles is a portion for 2 seriously hungry hikers. No skimping - so $10.00 - 14.00 for a double portion of gourmet grub ain't shab. My fav's - Bison Stew or Hot Italian sausage & pasta w/ a roll - and dang, I feel utterly pampered. Now, where is that wine?

I've enjoyed just squirting mayo packets directly into my mouth. For variety add some Del Taco Del Scorcho or Del Inferno sauce.

They work really well. I've using them since they won their Backpacker Mag award an eon ago. If you have some metalized mylar small bubble and foil tape you can make'm yourself.

This food thread is on the two Whitney sites, but in case anyone is not looking at both, here are some food-related quotes from the mountaineering literature. (There are more).. Harvey


Most expeditions have some story about their food and
attitudes to it vary from the haute cuisine of some French
expeditions to the blunt assertion of Tilman, the famous
eccentric and explorer, that he did not mind as long
as there was some.
Joe Tasker, Everest the Cruel Way page 158

....the spartan diet he had calculated as meeting all our calorific needs even if it did not meet the needs of the soul.
Joe Tasker, Savage Arena page 46

You'll never find enlightenment on a full stomach.
Doug Scott in Greg Child, Mixed Emotions page 155

Harvey that reminds me of the old saying "eat to live not live to eat"
I prefer the "you can have your cake and eat it too."

If I'm spending one day or three days on Whitney my philosophy is the same. Clog that assembly line up! I eat LOTS of cheese in pita pockets with packets of mayo for my protein and paydays for pleasure. It's not healthy but I've never once had to resort to the wag bag.

My personal favorites are good 'ol Snickers bars, Tropical blend trail mix from WallyMart, and string cheese. I might throw in some beef jerky on occasion but, although I love the taste, it gets a bit too "chewy" for me esp at rest stops. I have also recently "discovered" bbq Fritos are really tasty and are kept pristine in my spare Nalegene bottle and they also make a nice addition to chili for dinner with cheese (I dehydrate my own from canned - works great!).

I also like to keep WELL hydrated and find Vitalyte works good for taste and extra electrolytes (Cytomax is tastes good at low altitudes but I find it way too sweet up high). The more I'm drinking, the better I feel ie. less headaches, less fatigue, more gas in the tank. The downside is the more frequent stops to relieve oneself .

I had snikers bars packed for every day of 6 weeks and not even half way through I was not enjoying them at all! variety!, or pay the price =P

I have a friend who swears by Fritos-in-a-Nalgene bottle, so I am definitely going to add these to my munchie list. I also remember that as a kid, they made normally boring sandwiches taste better, too.

B