Winter Trail Snacks

Prunes & Pickles. Wash it down with warm sour milk.

dayhike goodies

I am partial to Clif bars since they're vegan and tasty. I tend to go for the chocolate peanut butter or peanut butter crunch, although I already miss the frosted 'seasonal' flavors like spiced pumpkin.

Other than that:

pb and j sandwiches (protein-rich bread, or bagels)
GORP: tamari almonds and cranberries has been a recent fave
peanut butter Oreo style sandwich cookies

and the big luxury item:
MSR pocket rocket, fuel, a couple cups, and a preloaded 3-cup espresso maker! when I am really going overboard I bring a mini squirt bottle of soy milk too.....


[I jusst saw my avatar and was reminded of a former predilection I had for fruit cups too ]

Anything you buy from a gas station. Soup in a thermos is pretty good, and PBJ is old but trustworthy. Just stick candy bars in your jacket pockets. I recommend Butterfingers

Peanuts, Golden raisins, Reese's Piece's, and regular flavored Slim Jims cut up in about 1/2 - 3/4 inch pieces all thrown in huge zip lock bags. If you're picky you can pick out the Slim Jim pieces, but the longer I'm on the trail, the better it all tastes together.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Turkey or tunafish sandwich or pre packaged smoked salmon strips.
Gorp, heavy on the p's, light on the chocolate and r's and mixed with shreaded coconut.
Just discovered soy coated loose oat at whole foods in NYC. Not too sweet, very sustaining and likely to become a staple.

Three quarts of (initially) hot water.

I keep all this (except the water) on a side pocket hung from my sternum strap.

NOTE: This thread is 5 years old.

I saw in a trip report or trail conditions a hikers snack foods all froze this past weekend. Technically everything will freeze, but some foods are still highly chewable when frozen, like Reeses vs Snickers, or Cliff Bars vs Power Bars. I like the suggestion Daxs via Guinness had:

daxs said:

I got this idea from Guinness - I put my gels, candy, energy bars in a fleece bag with several of those chemical hand warmers and have not had problems with frozen snacks. Depending on the temp I have a small thermos that I put a hot beverage in. I usually take cheese for a snack and have not had it freeze in my pack.

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What other ideas are there ? Any foods you prefer in winter ? I like Reeses, Cliff Bars, fritos and those cheese snacks meant for kids lunches. I also prefer hot water, hot chocolate and hot Gatoraid or Tang in a wide mouth Nalgene, upside down in an insulated cozy.

We make Muddy Buddies - chex cereal covered in a mixture of chocolate, sunbutter and confectioner's sugar - add oatmeal and raisins and you've got a heck of a winter snack. It doesn't work real well in the summer as it gets all melty and gross. The Muddy Buddies are safe for those of us allergic to nuts and peanuts too
The girls also love raw hotdogs - gross if you ask me, but they work for getting them up the mountain

You can eat anything you want just keep it from freezing or defrost it in an inside pocket. I keep my food close to my warm water bottles and if its get cold I put it in a pocket to warm up. It just takes a little thinking ahead of what you want to eat and packing it in small bags.

throwing a hand warmer into a ziplock bag keeps bars like Pure, Larabar pretty soft.

hot tea in a thermos.

c'mon, its winter, food is supposed to be frozen. where's your sense of adventure?

A lot of the rescue folks used to carry hot jello in a thermos. Generally when someone was rescued if they could drink, they would be given hot jello. A lot of th resuers were ice climbers and they used the same stuff when climbing. I have tried it and its a good way to keep my energy level up while hiking. At some point if it gets cold, it starts to set so there is some management required to make sure to finish off prior to it turning solid.

peakbagger said:

A lot of the rescue folks used to carry hot jello in a thermos. Generally when someone was rescued if they could drink, they would be given hot jello. A lot of th resuers were ice climbers and they used the same stuff when climbing. I have tried it and its a good way to keep my energy level up while hiking. At some point if it gets cold, it starts to set so there is some management required to make sure to finish off prior to it turning solid.

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As long as the jello isn't sugar-free it will serve as an emergency source for diabetic shock. IMO, stay away from foods that are sweetened with anything but pure sugar. If it includes dark chocolate, so much the better.

I also cut my snacks into mouth-size pieces. In the case of sandwiches, year round I cut the bread into thirds, not halves, for easier stuffing.

una_dogger said:

c'mon, its winter, food is supposed to be frozen. where's your sense of adventure?

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and maybe just maybe having the dental work of a jack o' lantern will soon be fasionable,

Cliff Bars

Clif bars need to be stuffed in an internal pocket on a winter day since they could break your teeth if it is cold. I wish Cliff bars would make a little less sweet line of product. Some times I get gagged out after a multi day trek with all the sweet stuff. My suggestion: Fried chicken flavor, Burrito, Vegan Bacon Cheese Burger or something along those lines. I carry some beef jerky to combat the sweet stuff. (Walmart in some market areas have supper cheap bulk packs) I only wish there was less sodium in the jerky and freeze dried stuff.

Chip said:

I saw in a trip report or trail conditions a hikers snack foods all froze this past weekend. Technically everything will freeze, but some foods are still highly chewable when frozen, like Reeses vs Snickers, or Cliff Bars vs Power Bars.

Click to expand...

Break foods that will become hard into bite-size pieces back at home and warm in your mouth before biting down.

Doug

I was out this weekend and some of my standard winter food froze. Actually everything except my Frito's and maybe my "healthy" Poptarts. I ate these in the car post hike, and they were okay.

Here's some stuff that didn't make it (A couple of items were in the lunch/ snack bags of fellow hikers not mine):
PB and J-frozen 1/2 inch on all edges. The center was okay.
banana
Homemade 7 layer bars
trail mix- the m&m's, chocolate chips were solid, raisins hard. I keep my trail mix in a small Nalgene and someone thought I was chewing ice chips!
Cliff Bars, various other bars-solid, My Odwala bar was not solid, but had to be choked down.

I did joke at one point that my dentist had just told me not to eat anything hard or chew and how if that meant not eating anything frozen I was going to be going hungry.

I didn't bring sardines because they have frozen on me when I've left them in the car for a post hike snack. Maybe the octopus is the way to go.

I bring a thermos of hot Gatorade. I think I'll start bringing a 2nd with soup. I like something that feels more like a meal. Love the idea of the Stonyfield Smoothies too.

I hike with my food close to my body and I don't have much freezing. Stuffing snacks into your bra may sound silly and uncomfortable, but I like honey stingers and they don't take up much room Plus you can always stuff the next snack in your bra to warm it up.

I also think that eating a little every hour is better than standing still to eat a full lunch. This works for me energy wise - more sustained throughout the day, less bonking / hungry before a full meal.