Needing better choices for high country

[Nateinia]

Last year I brought mountain house and a lot of cliff bars for my food. We hunted s couple of different areas. I had no problems eating anything we brought we we were at lower elevations (below 8000). When at higher elevations I really didn't feel like eating much and the food was hard to eat/ digest. Any suggestions for food that's easy to eat?

 

[5MilesBack]

I never have much of an appetite at high altitude either. But one thing I can always eat is bacon. I cook up several pounds of it before I leave the house and eat it like jerky throughout the day.

 

[Jordan Budd]

The justins peanut and almond butter packets are awesome. Honey stinger products taste great.
I'll just spread the peanut butter on a bar or something for extra taste and calories. I found that mixing things up helps because your not eating multiples of the same thing. I rarely take straight cliff bars at all anymore because I just wore them out.

 

[paleraider]

I am the same way. I don't like the dehydrated meals. I go with cliff bars, protein bars, bagel sandwiches, oatmeal with whey protein, and assorted snacks.

One thing I will say that I found helped me a lot. I would eat my dinner at like 3:30 or 4:00 PM before the evening hunt. Reason being is I didn't like getting back to camp at 9:00 or later then having to rush to make food. I found if I waited to eat after the hunt I usually just went to bed, this of course was a form of a nutritional deficiency death spiral. I finally was able to get things on track by changing my eating pattern to the following:

• Get up eat cliffbar/snack
• After AM hunt big breakfast
• Lunch around noon or 1 depending on activity
• snack
• Eat "dinner" BEFORE evening hunt
• Before bed light snack if hungry, made sure to drink water with a propel

 

[Tag_Soup]

Jordan nailed it, but I'll add a few:
-search "keto fat bombs". You will find a ton of options for quick one bite snacks high in healthy fats
-jerky
-sunflower seeds
-greenbelly meal bars (not all that easy to eat, but a ton of calories)
-cliff shot blocks (awesome for right after a hard uphill or when you are feeling drained)
-I haven't personally tried it, but a couple of my buddies swear by the wilderness athlete "superman" (1 scoop each "Hydrate and recover" and "energy and focus")


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[Nateinia]

i tried the WA hydrate and recover and the energy and focus last year (not mixed together) I couldn't do the energy and focus. Not sure what it was about it but it didn't sit well with me.
I did the bagel/ justins PB / bacon. While it was good, it was messy. didn't try it at the higher elevations. I can see doing more of that but probably without the bagel.

Will order some of the honey stingers - we have had those in the past for snacks for the halflings and liked them.
Guess I will look at more of the Jerky/ Bacon options. Anyone try the EPIC bars or am i just better making my own bacon.

 

[Jordan Budd]

i tried the WA hydrate and recover and the energy and focus last year (not mixed together) I couldn't do the energy and focus. Not sure what it was about it but it didn't sit well with me.
I did the bagel/ justins PB / bacon. While it was good, it was messy. didn't try it at the higher elevations. I can see doing more of that but probably without the bagel.

Will order some of the honey stingers - we have had those in the past for snacks for the halflings and liked them.
Guess I will look at more of the Jerky/ Bacon options. Anyone try the EPIC bars or am i just better making my own bacon.

I ran epic bars last year... not all they are cracked up to be for the price IMO, and there really isn't that much to them they're pretty small. We have a sports store that sells singles here and I'll pick up a couple sometimes but I wouldn't buy a whole box again.
ProBars are legit too and worth the dollars for me, if you haven't considered them already.

 

[Nateinia]

I ran epic bars last year... not all they are cracked up to be for the price IMO, and there really isn't that much to them they're pretty small. We have a sports store that sells singles here and I'll pick up a couple sometimes but I wouldn't buy a whole box again.
ProBars are legit too and worth the dollars for me, if you haven't considered them already.

Will look at the probars. Thanks for the reply

 

[5MilesBack]

One thing I started taking a few years ago was Erin Baker Breakfast Cookies. 300 calories for 3oz of cookie. I like the Caramel Apple and Morning Glory ones. But I tend to eat them in the afternoon.

 

[dreamingbig]

ProBars are great and so are the baker breakfast cookies.


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[Nateinia]

One thing I started taking a few years ago was Erin Baker Breakfast Cookies. 300 calories for 3oz of cookie. I like the Caramel Apple and Morning Glory ones. But I tend to eat them in the afternoon.

Will need to look that one up. Who doesn't like cookies for breakfast

 

[Grambo]

The Erin Baker cookies look awesome . Great variety and COOKIES ! You can eat anytime .

 

[tlowell02]

I ran epic bars last year... not all they are cracked up to be for the price IMO, and there really isn't that much to them they're pretty small. We have a sports store that sells singles here and I'll pick up a couple sometimes but I wouldn't buy a whole box again.
ProBars are legit too and worth the dollars for me, if you haven't considered them already.

Is anyone having difficulty finding the ProBars? Used to be several local places stocked the meal replacement and protein bars, now I can find virtually none.

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[Jordan Budd]

Is anyone having difficulty finding the ProBars? Used to be several local places stocked the meal replacement and protein bars, now I can find virtually none.

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We only have them at a local mountaineering store. Otherwise I'd buy them bulk through ebay or amazon.


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[Grambo]

Our Sportsmans Warehouse had them . Amazon too .

 

[sdfuller]

I live off of jerky, trail mix, and other nut mixes when in the mountains. I usually bring along a few protein bars and a handful multivitamins to top it off.

I wish I had a good way to bring fresh fruits & veggies into the mountains!

 

[sneaky]

i tried the WA hydrate and recover and the energy and focus last year (not mixed together) I couldn't do the energy and focus. Not sure what it was about it but it didn't sit well with me.
I did the bagel/ justins PB / bacon. While it was good, it was messy. didn't try it at the higher elevations. I can see doing more of that but probably without the bagel.

Will order some of the honey stingers - we have had those in the past for snacks for the halflings and liked them.
Guess I will look at more of the Jerky/ Bacon options. Anyone try the EPIC bars or am i just better making my own bacon.

Probably the niacin in the energy and focus. You have to start out with smaller servings until you get used to the "niacin flush". It is easier to handle when you do a superman. Good clean energy. Have you thought about the pacaroons from Heather's choice?

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[5MilesBack]

One thing about the Erin Baker cookies, the wrappers are loud. So I usually take them out of the wrappers and put a few in a ziplock. They all moosh together so I just break pieces off when I eat them. This way I don't have any extra trash either.

 

[dreamingbig]

Fun fact... I grew up near Bellingham and was there still when Erin came to market with the breakfast cookies. At that time you could stop by factory and buy the seconds in bulk. Tasted fine just a little short on presentation so they couldn't sell them in stores.


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[larryschwartz]

I prefer to go with rice and pasta meals from the grocery store that I add meat to. I don't try to minimize the amount of time I run my stove so I can cook it as long as it needs. Better in terms of salt content and you can tailor them to what you like.

As for being able to or wanting to eat at altitude, that is a common problem. You just don't feel hungry even though you need to eat. I too like the idea of cookies, but why buy them when you can make them yourself and not deal with preservatives and chemicals. I am experimenting with the idea of baking large oatmeal cookies and adding raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut flakes, brown sugar, whatever you want to boost the nutrition in them. They taste good, are easy to pack and eat, and they are more of a treat than a meal in my mind so I tend to eat them more than a meal replacement bar. Easier and less mess than making oatmeal in the morning. Good for an afternoon meal too with nut butter on them and your beverage of choice.

Larry