Another Hiking Thread

[LeanAndHungry]

I'm planning a hike in about two weeks. I plan to be out for at least 4 whole days.

I need some help figuring out what to bring and how to prepare it. I'll be doing the kind of hiking in which I carry everything with me, so no coolers stocked full of fruit.

I was thinking of bringing the following
2 apples for every day(a little bulky, but I'll deal with it)
~50-100 almonds per day(Would I need to soak these?, if so how would I do that while hiking?)
A few tablespoons of Vitamineral Green per day
4-5 dates per day(don't want to have much more than that with my teeth being as bad as they are. I figure I would eat the dates then clean my teeth by eating an apple)

That's about all I can think of and that's hardly enough to sustain me.

I'm considering oats, or buckwheat, but I have no idea how to make that stuff, especially when out in the wilderness. Would I just soak them while sleeping and rinse and eat in the morning with enough water to make it like oatmeal? I could also add flax seeds. How long would I need to soak flax seeds to get them soft enough so they can digest instead of passing through whole? I could also bring some honey for this I suppose.

What would I need to bring to soak/sprout things in? It has to be very small and lightweight, and able to be used while walking.

[LeanAndHungry]

Any have any pointers?

[exurb]

buckwheat soaks very quickly, and you don't have to sprout it. You could easily soak it while you sleep and eat it in the morning. Or, if you don't care if it's perfectly soaked but just edible, you could probably get away with a good hour or slightly more, so it's within the realm of possibility to soak it when you stop for the day and eat it that night. It might also soak quicker if you soak and dehydrate before you go.

I used to take a nice taboulleh mix, not raw, but it was handy because you just soaked it to cook. It had lemon, bulgur, parsley, salt and spices, maybe you could wing something like that raw.

Nori's also light if that helps.

I'd be inclined to take raw crackers, dried fruit, stuff that doesn't weigh much. Maybe make some raw crackers that have all the "food groups" in them, like some nuts, seeds, lots of veggies, etc.

If you're going to be sweating, make sure you have enough SALTY stuff. People get pulled out of the Grand Canyon all the time because their sweating has made their salts go low, so now they are really careful to advise people to make sure they have salty snacks.

Also what about making your own trail mix.

For sprouting, get a bag not a container (ie sprout bag, or fine nylon mesh bag). If cost is a consideration, you can sort of make your own sprout bag. You could think about quinoa as it sprouts in about a day.

Instead of only almonds, you could take some "no soak" nuts (see a nut chart), pine nuts, whatever. Or at least some "short soak" nuts or seeds. I like sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

If it were me, I'd have a good stock of raw crackers that included the veggies, greens, nuts, seeds, "grains," etc and those would probably be my main staples.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Take a melon and let that be one of your first meals. The fun part is how much lighter your pack will be after you take it out. :)