John Muir Trail - Menu

My priorities for JMT menu planning were to maximize the calorie/weight ratio of my foods, choose items that were easy to prepare on the trail, include foods to help repair tired muscles, and provide some variety for the 3-week long trip. This was my first time making a serious meal plan with the goal of maximizing my calorie intake, so that was fun! Longer term I plan to put together more creative recipes (and finally break out that food dehydrator), but this is what worked well for me on the JMT.

>> Click here for my JMT trip summary page

Things I liked:

• Low effort to prepare on the trail
• Recovery drink mix to help muscles
• Tasty finds such as dehydrated hummus, cheese, and chocolate
• Calorie dense dehydrated food and drink mixes
• Snacking in the morning and afternoon
• Trying a variety of bars to keep things interesting

Things I would change:

• More variety
• More calories, especially at breakfast
• Portion out serving sizes

MENU

The list below covers a majority of what I ate on the JMT, including brands and how I packed the foods. Total calories and calories per ounce are approximate and averages for various brands. Portions listed are for one person, although some foods were packaged with several servings. Amazon links are included for applicable items below.

Breakfast

Each morning we boiled a pot of water for oatmeal and coffee. It was nice to have a hot meal to start off the day, although it was a bit time consuming. We also prepared an electrolyte drink mix for the day.

• Instant oatmeal (160-240 cal, 108 cal/oz)
• Brand: Open Nature Vanilla Almond Honey, Quaker Flavor Variety & Banana Nut Protein
• Packed: individual packets
• Tip: prepare by pouring hot water directly into packet to avoid dishes
• Instant coffee (5 cal, 43 cal/oz)
• Brand: variety of Starbucks Via
• Packed: individual packets
• Electrolyte drink mix for hiking (8 cal, 18 cal/oz)
• Brand: BioSteel High Performance Sports Mix
• Packed: double bagged powder to keep moisture out, included serving spoon and small paper to use as funnel
• Prepared a serving in a separate Nalgene to drink throughout the hike

Average calories per breakfast: 200

Lunch

We took lunch breaks after the first few hours of hiking when we found a good scenic spot. We intentionally chose foods that did not require cooking to speed things up. We had one of the following and supplemented with snacks from the next list below

• PB & J sandwiches (590 cal, 110 cal/oz)
• Brand: Roman Meal whole grain bread with double servings of chunky PB and strawberry preserves
• Packed: re-packed pre-made sandwiches in bread loaf sack, got a bit smashed into dense bricks!
• Tip: put PB on both sides of bread to prevent sandwiches from getting soggy
• Ate during the first few days only
• Tortilla with tuna (290-380cal, 63 cal/oz)
• Brand: Guerrero burrito flour tortillas and Starkist or Bumble Bee tuna in different flavors
• Packed: bag of tortillas and individual tuna packets
• Tortilla with nut butter (580 cal, 125 cal/oz)
• Brand: Guerrero burrito flour tortillas, generic chunky PB, Justin’s almond butter
• Packed: bag of tortillas and entire jar of nut butter

Average calories per lunch: 460

Snacks

We took quick snack breaks in the morning and afternoon. I typically had 2 bars per day and a couple extra snacks.

• Bars (180-390 cal, 104-140 cal/oz)
• Brand: Variety of Kind, Clif, Probar Meal, Luna, Lara
• Packed: Individually packaged bars
• Jerky (80 cal, 81 cal/oz)
• Brand: generic turkey jerky
• Packed: re-sealable package with several servings
• Trail mix (150 cal, 142 cal/oz)
• Brand: Trader Joe’s or Safeway Select, mix of nuts and dried fruit
• Packed: large bags with several servings
• Gummies or energy shots (100 cal, 89 cal/oz)
• Brand: Clif Bloks and Shots
• Packed: Individual gummy or gel packets
• Crackers & cheese (340 cal, 115 cal/oz)
• Brand: Triscuits and aged hard cheese such as parmesan
• Packed: large bag of crackers and wedge of cheese
• Crackers & nut butter (500 cal, 154 cal/oz)
• Brand: Triscuits, generic chunky PB, Justin’s almond butter
• Packed: large bag of crackers and entire jar of nut butter

Average calories for snacks (daily): 1000

Dinner

Immediately after reaching camp I mixed up a recovery drink to help my aching muscles. We boiled water to make simple dehydrated dinners and sides like mashed potatoes and hot chocolate. We packed extra tortillas for additional sides with dinner. For days immediately after resupplies we usually had a mini wine bottle as a post-dinner treat.

• Recovery drink (170 cal, 98 cal/oz)
• Brand: Hammer Nutrition Recoverite (Strawberry)
• Packed: double bagged powder to keep moisture out, included serving spoon and small paper to use as funnel
• Prepared a serving in a separate Nalgene to drink immediately after arriving at camp
• Dehydrated dinner (210-400 cal, 73-116 cal/oz)
• Brand: variety of Mountain House, Alpine Aire, Backpackers Pantry
• Packed: packages already portioned for 2 people
• Instant mashed potatoes (110 cal, 110 cal/oz)
• Brand: variety of Idahoan flavors
• Packed: packages portioned for 4 servings
• Tortilla & instant hummus (400 cal, 103 cal/oz)
• Brand: Guerrero burrito flour tortillas and Casbah hummus mix
• Packed: bag of tortillas and large bag of hummus to distribute approximate servings
• Tortilla & nut butter (390 cal, 109 cal/oz)
• Brand: Guerrero burrito flour tortillas, single serve Justin’s almond butter
• Packed: bag of tortillas and individual nut butter packages
• Chocolate or candy (190 cal, 132 cal/oz)
• Brand: Snickers unwrapped bites
• Packed: large bag with several servings
• Hot chocolate (90 cal, 122 cal/oz)
• Brand: Swiss Miss instant hot chocolate
• Packed: individual packets

Average calories per dinner: 870

Average calories per day: 2500

Supplemental foods

Extra food that I wasn't expecting along the trail:

• Trout caught at campsites. Tried two successful cooking methods: in a pot with olive oil, and over the stove in a foil packet. We ate it alone, in dehydrated meals, or with a tortilla as a fish taco.
• Snacks at Tuolumne Grill. We were too early for lunch but bought some snacks like muffins and chips.
• Meals at VVR. We spent a zero day and enjoyed lunch, BBQ dinner, and breakfast before setting off again.
• Extra food at MTR. I included some treats in our re-supply to eat as we re-packed our bags. I also over stocked the re-supply so we left some food at MTR, including a whole jar of Nutella which was hard to part with. They have bins of leftovers to choose from!

Top Foods

My favorite foods from the whole trip:

• Probar: very hearty and satisfying, up to 130cal/oz
• Dehydrated hummus: surprisingly simple and delicous, especially with some added olive oil
• Recovery drink: a real game changer for repeated abuse of tired muscles! And a nice treat at the end of the day
• Tortillas: high calorie, versatile, and easy to pack into a bear canister
• Flavored tuna packet: lots of protein, tasty variety of flavors such as sundried tomato, jalapeno, and lemon pepper

What is your favorite food to take on the trail? Comment below!