How to pack food for multi-day backcountry adventures: our tips for maximising calories & minimising weight

Packing food for any backcountry trip is a balancing act between weight, space in your pack, nutritional needs, and the logistical realities of cooking outdoors. Needless to say, there’s no one-size-fits-all backcountry food list—and this post isn’t an attempt to tell you exactly what you should pack. Instead, it’s an exploration of the key factors that shape backcountry nutrition (like caloric requirements, macronutrient balance, and caloric density) and how I personally build out our meals in a way that maximises efficiency and minimises bulk.

This is the exact framework I’ve used to plan food for everything from my solo, unsupported ascent of Aconcagua to our 10-day Mt Assiniboine expedition, plus dozens of multi-day mountaineering traverses and backpacking routes from Peru to the Pacific Northwest. My hope is that it gives you a solid starting point for developing your own food system, tailored to your body, trip style, and dietary preferences!

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Understanding outdoor nutrition

Backcountry nutrition requirements are complex, highly personal, and subject to diverse interpretation, but in this post, I want to give you a global understanding of several key principles that will help you build an outdoor food packing list that actually works FOR YOU:

• Caloric requirements: how MUCH you should be eating
• Macronutrient balance: WHAT you should be eating
• Caloric density: how to maximise calorie-per-gram for better nutrition & a lighter pack

Caloric requirements for backpacking & mountaineering

I wouldn’t dream of telling another hiker how many calories they need to eat in a day, but across the board, you can count on it being MORE than what you’re eating at home— when you’re moving for 6-12+ hours a day with a heavy pack, especially at elevation, your body needs significantly more calories than it does on a normal day. Obvious, right?

• Use 2,000kcal/day as a baseline
• Add 500–1,000kcal for light to moderate hiking
• Add 1,000–2,000kcal for big mileage, elevation, cold, or multi-day objectives

* For reference, the term kcal (kilocalories) is the standard unit used on food labels and in nutrition tracking to represent ‘calories’.

⚠️ WHEN INPUT ≠ OUTPUT

Much of the challenge with backcountry nutrition comes from the fact that you simply won’t be able to eat enough to balance what your body is burning. For example, the push from High Camp 2 to the summit of Aconcagua is estimated to burn around 10,000kcal for the average climber, but you’ll be lucky to manage a few thousand intake calories at that elevation and under that level of exertion.

Understand that it will be impossible to completely avoid a caloric deficit on summit days or other demanding backpacking days— in these cases, the goal becomes “as much as possible” rather than a true balance between input and output. Your body can only sustain this deficit for a limited time, but it’s the name of the game with high-demand outdoor adventures!

Macronutrient balance: carbs, fats, protein

While everyone’s needs differ, a good outdoor food system balances carbohydrates (especially glucose) for quick-burning energy, fats for long-lasting calories, and protein for recovery. The relative breakdown of these macro nutrients is further influenced by the length and physical demands of your trip:

• Carbohydrates (especially glucose) are your body’s primary fuel for sustained movement. During long hiking or climbing days, especially at altitude, carbs are the most readily absorbed and easily digested source of energy, so you’ll want a steady stream of quick carbs throughout the day to avoid energy crashes. Examples: candy, gummies, sports chews, dried fruit, granola bars
• Fats are the most calorie-dense macronutrient and offer long-lasting energy, making them ideal for lower-intensity sections of the day or when you need to maximise calories in limited volume. However, they digest more slowly and are harder to process during extreme physical exertion or at high altitudes. Examples: peanut butter, nuts, seeds, olive oil, salami, cheese
• Protein plays more of a supporting role— essential for muscle repair, immune function, and helping you stay full, but less important during the hiking day and more useful at breakfast, dinner, or as a slow-burn addition. Examples: jerky, protein bars, tuna packs

👩🏻‍🍳 RECOMMENDED MACRO RATIOS

For most moderate-to-intense backpacking or mountaineering days (6–10hrs of movement):
* Carbs: 50–60%
* Fats: 30–40%
* Protein: 10–15%

For extreme conditions (very high exertion for 12hrs+ and/or high elevation):
* Carbs: 65–75% (glucose is more metabolically efficient at altitude)
* Fats: 15–25% (harder to digest in cold or high-altitude settings)
* Protein: 10–15%

Avoiding the dreaded bonk: glucose & glycogen

Bonking is a state of extreme energy deficit that occurs when you exhaust all of your glucose and glycogen stores (the body’s preferred fuel source and the easiest to process under intense exertion). Once these reserves are depleted, your body can no longer meet the metabolic demands of continued activity, and you start to experience a kind of systemic shutdown.

Along with the typical manifestations of hypoglycaemia, like weakness, fatigue, lightheadedness, and minor cognitive impairment, the lack of glucose in your system also impacts your muscles in terms of coordination, strength, and overall energy— if you’ve ever seen videos of a cyclist collapsing after a long ride and not being able to stand up on their own, they were probably bonking. 

This phenomenon is well-known among endurance athletes who are pushing their body to extremes over a sustained period of hours— and when you’re climbing at elevation for an entire day, expending a massive amount of energy while not being able to ingest hardly any calories due to cold, loss of appetite, nausea at elevation, or simply the overwhelming physical demands… it can be very easy to slide into an energy deficit. 

💀 MY EXPERIENCE BONKING ON ACONCAGUA

I experienced my first-ever bonk descending from Aconcagua on my solo expedition last year and it was one of the most terrifying moments of my outdoor career. I was NOT diligent enough about my sugar consumption on the final stages of the ascent, was massively buoyed by adrenaline on the summit, and then just collapsed on my way down— in and out of consciousness, unaware of how much time was passing.

As a solo climber, this was extremely dangerous, but ended up being a valuable learning experience (for me and hopefully also for you) about the importance of monitoring your caloric intake while climbing. You HAVE to be your own caretaker on the mountains, and if it means setting an alarm to eat a handful of gummies or a pack of Gu on the hour, then DO IT.

Maximising caloric density

When pack weight and volume are limited, calorie-per-gram becomes one of the most important numbers you can track. The goal is to get the most energy for the least bulk.

Easy calorie-dense add-ons:

• Peanut butter: 210kcal per 32g packet; high fat and long-lasting (I also add this to freeze-dried curries and pad thai to boost calories at dinner)
• Tortillas: ~150kcal each, great for sneakily adding calories to any meal (1-2 per dinner is one of the best hacks!)
• Olive oil packets, trail mix, nuts: excellent fat-forward snacks or meal additions (I love to add nuts to freeze-dried dinners, it’s delicious and fattening in all the right ways)
• Hot chocolate or soup: 50–150kcal per packet and super easy to digest (also a great way to sneak in additional fluids and sodium)

Foods to avoid (low calorie density):

• Rice cakes, crackers, bread
• Plain instant oatmeal
• Raw veggies or fruit (heavy, low payoff)

Packing smart isn’t just about cutting weight— it’s about choosing foods that deliver fuel when you need it most.

What we eat on backcountry trips

Everyone’s appetite and preferences vary on trail, but here’s a look at what I typically eat over the course of a full backcountry day— and how we build meals that hit our calorie goals without adding unnecessary bulk.

My essential backcountry food shopping list

Here’s a quick look at some of our favourite staples for building high-calorie, low-fuss meals on the trail. These are tried-and-true options we pack for nearly every backpacking or mountaineering trip, hopefully they will inspire your own food shopping list!

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My essential camp kitchen packing list

When it comes to cooking in the backcountry, my best advice is to keep it simple. Whether you’re boiling water for freeze-dried meals or just making cocoa, the goal is always to minimise bulk, maximise efficiency, and get back to relaxing at camp. Here are my camp kitchen essentials for a no-fuss backcountry meal experience:

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Food fuels every step, every summit, and every recovery— prioritise calorie-dense food, bring things you actually look forward to eating (especially at altitude), and keep refining your setup with every trip. The more you experiment, the easier it gets!

Explore more outdoor gear guides on brookebeyond

• How to choose the best trail shoes, hiking boots & mountaineering boots for every adventure
• How to choose the best hiking backpack for every outdoor adventure
• How to build an outdoor layering system for backcountry hiking & extreme alpine conditions
• How to choose the best tent for backpacking & mountaineering
• How to choose the best outdoor sleep system: best sleeping bags, sleeping pads & camp pillows
• How to pack food for multi-day backcountry adventures: our tips for maximising calories & minimising weight