How To Give Up Hot Meals On A 2,650 Mile Hike

Can our PCT thru-hiker give up hot meals for 2,650 miles?

- Amanda Jameson

THERE ARE GENERALLY two things thruhikers talk about on the trail: what goes into their bodies and what comes out. That made me a poor conversationalist on the PCT—at least half the time—when I decided to go stoveless and eat the simplest of meals.

My reasoning: First, I’d save the time and hassle of cooking (on a previous thruhike of the Colorado Trail, my lack of appetite and energy for cooking left me calorie deficient). Second, I’d trade the weight of cookware and fuel for things I could actually eat.

Plenty of thruhikers have gone stoveless with great success, so getting advice was easy. Some of it was good, like cold Carnation instant breakfast mixed with chia seeds and instant coffee in the morning. Some I wasn’t brave enough to try, like Soylent, a meal replacement beverage. Most stoveless vets suggested cold-soaking dehydrated food for about an hour for evening meals.