I’m heading out in about a week for a 90-mile loop in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I’ll be walking the northern half of the AT in the park, more or less, and then returning on the Benton MacKaye. As I’ve been thinking through gear and food for the trip, I thought it’d be useful for future me to document some the decisions. First up, my plan for breakfasts. I’m a creature of habit off the trail when it comes to breakfast, and this is an adaption of what I eat most days, only fixed for the trail.

70g Bob’s Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli (280 cal.)
1 tbsp PB2 Powdered Almond Butter (25 cal.)
1 tbsp chia seeds (60 cal.)
Trader Joe’s freeze dried fruit (strawberry, raspberry, and/or blueberry) (negligible)
optional – 1 tbsp TJ’s Roasted Cocoa Nibs (50 cal.)
optional – nuts (can be quite a bit if you need it.)

Put these ingredients in a Stand and Fill Ziploc Slider. On trail, just add a few ounces of water, give it a good shake, and let it sit for a bit for the almond powder, chia, and muesli to hydrate. Can be done the night before, or in the morning. This kind of replicates using almond milk. I really can’t stand the flavor of powdered milk.

So, the caloric total is a minimum of 365c for 90g of food, or 4.05 calories/gram. Add the cocoa nibs, and its 415c for 98g of food, which bumps us to 4.23 calories/gram.