13 thoughts on “Food for the West Coast Trail”

1. Bryan September 16, 2007 at 10:56 pm

   What brand/type of Salami do you bring on the trail?
2. brett Post authorSeptember 17, 2007 at 9:52 am

   Bryan – for the Salami – I bought some sliced from the deli at Whole Foods – they have some great stuff that is of small diameter – perfect size for crackers. After they sliced it, I simply repacked it in a vacuum seal bag using a “Food Saver” sealer.
3. Bryan September 18, 2007 at 2:56 pm

   Hey Brett. If I were to use sliced deli salami and package it in a regular ziplock, how long do you think it would last? I’m going away on a 3 day trip (with temps from 60’s-30’s) and I really don’t wanna pay almost double for the Dry Salami Stick. Thanks!
4. brett Post authorSeptember 20, 2007 at 7:55 am

   we ate it on day 5 of temps in the (50-65 range) and it was excellent. no worries on a 3-day trip.
5. David Noll October 26, 2007 at 12:51 pm

   Brett,
   Just came across your site today and I will be back. Couple of questions. Have you looked at
   the Freezer Bag Cooking website? My wife and I used it this summer on Isle Royale and loved it.
   We use a pocket rocket and have added the windscreen from BPL by Dr Ryan. It cut our fuel at least in half. What did you use for a wind screen?
   Dave
6. brett Post authorOctober 26, 2007 at 3:17 pm

   I have seen the site – it’s really cool – although I haven’t tried any of the recipes yet.

   In general it felt to me that the site prioritizes good food/nutrition & simple packaging/cleanup over weight. As food tends to be a large part of my weight allowance, I generally go for the store-bought freeze dried meals instead – they seems like they would be lighter and they sure take a lot less time at home to prepare 😉

   I really like the site though, and I would love to experiment more with home-cooked meals.

   Currently we use the snowpeak stove with it’s windshield. However, at 2oz – I’m sure there are much better home-made options.
7. David Noll November 6, 2007 at 5:15 am

   Brett,
   For our Isle Royale trip our food weight with packaging was aprx 16#. We used a windscreen that
   I found at BPL which has a bottom cut out of a pie plate and aluminum foil to wrap around the pot.
   The pot was a SUL 1100. Our trip was 7 days.
   Dave
8. Michael Henry July 6, 2008 at 12:33 am

   Have you tried Sammi’s Best Whey & Rice drink powder (2.2.oz per quart water)?
   Available from http://www.bestlifeint.com in Clarkston, WA.

   We’ve been using it for years as a dried milk substitute and like the flavor
9. brett Post authorJuly 6, 2008 at 9:32 am

   Hi Michael,

   I haven’t heard of it – I’ll keep my eye open for some to try. At the moment I’m using dried coconut milk as it has an incredible 19g of fat content per serving. Perfect for those early morning starts 🙂

   -Brett
10. Joyce July 6, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    Did you repack the dried entries and if so how did you pack/cook them? Any other tips for repacking food would be great!

    Cheers,
    Joyce
11. brett Post authorJuly 7, 2009 at 10:08 pm

    hey joyce,

    i didn’t repack the freeze-dried entries; and i usually buy ones that have minimal ‘trash’ inside. maybe a silica packet at the most. i cook in the foil pouches and use them to seal up trash also, so don’t find i need to repack – the weight is minimal. you might want to look @ http://www.freezerbagcooking.com if you haven’t already for tips in this area.

    as for other repacking, i pretty much vaccuum pack or freezer-bag everything – to keep odors down (bears) and keep things freshest. also things like vaccuum packed cheese, i can submerge in stream and get nice and chilled before eating without risk of contamination 🙂

    packing the crackers was tricky – as you don’t want them to crush. for this i simply put them in small lightweight rigid plastic cups, and that provided enough structure to protect them if i’m careful.

    good luck, if you post your trip-report let me know – always great to read about others experiences.

    cheers!
    -brett
12. maurice engler February 6, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    Hell Brett,

    Is is possible to purchase anything fresh along the WCT – perhaps fish or vegetables – perhaps in Clo-oose or elsewhere”

    Thank you, maurice
13. brettm February 8, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    monique had a few things – like apples, but i’m not sure i’d count on it. at the nitnat narrows you can buy a meal of fish/baked potato from the ferry driver. he’d probably sell you some fish also. again, i wouldn’t rely on it.