Page 117 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2025

On a large boat, people carry can carry heavier equipment. Even on a kayak or canoe, people can carry more equipment than in a backpack. Hikers need to consider every ounce and square inch to fit in a backpack.
Fortunately, hikers can bring lightweight foods like trail mix, dried fruits, grain bars, plus freeze-dried foods and canned meats. Some whole fruits, like apples and citrus in the peels, last a long time without refrigeration and provide fast energy.
In the military, I ate MREs, meals ready to eat. One MRE should sustain a soldier for a day of intense combat. MREs come in a package containing several other individual packages. With long shelf lives, MREs make excellent camping and survival food options. On the Gulf Coast, many people keep MREs handy for hurricane season.
MREs come in several menus and main entrée choices. People can eat them right out of the packages or heat them. An MRE typically contains an entrée, a side dish, some crackers, perhaps candy or other snacks, cheese spread or peanut butter, salt, pepper, sugar, a small bottle of Tabasco, a drink mix, freeze-dried coffee powder, chewing gum, matches, a moist towelette, toilet paper and a plastic spoon. It also contains a flameless heater.
When I served in Korea, we mixed cocoa powder with sugar and a little water. We heated it on a running vehicle engine to make “ranger pudding.” No, I was not a ranger. I was an Air Force captain, but attached to the Army at the time.
People can also buy instant meals that weigh very little and fit into a backpack. For breakfast, hikers might bring packages of instant oatmeal or grits. Other lightweight foods include instant noodles, jerky, nuts and powdered milk.
To cook foods on the trail, besides building a campfire, hikers enjoy many lightweight options. Sterno, jelled fuel in a can, lights easily and burns a long time. Heat containers directly on the can or use small collapsable metal stoves.
Put the can under the stove and wrap the metal wings around it to contain the heat. It makes a small one-burner grill. Hikers can also buy lightweight one-burner butane stoves to prepare food. People can find anything they need on the internet or any camping stores to bring a taste of home to the trail.
Of course, to me, nothing tastes better than fresh-caught fish or wild game roasted on a stick over an open fire!
Pork and Beans over an open flame.
S’mores.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
May 2025 | 117
Fresh-Caught Fish on a Stick.