Backpacking in Big Sur + Camping Food Recommendations

Over the past couple weeks, we have been on the hunt collecting camping and backpacking gear leading up to this past weekend’s trip to Big Sur! Let’s just say that it takes a variety of connections in SF to get fully outfitted for a camping trip, and in the end, you usually find yourself stuffing four people in a three person tent and borrowing most of the items from your dad. (Dad - everything is coming back in one piece! Promise!) The six of us left early Saturday morning, with homemade green smoothies and Four Barrel coffee to get us jazzed for the trip.

We drove to Big Sur, wolfed down some lunch, changed into matching American flag shorts (well…two of us did), and set out on Pine Ridge Trail. Our destination were the Sykes Hot Springs - about 10 miles in, there are these naturally occurring jacuzzis. Sounded like the ultimate way to end a long day of backpacking! The weather was perfect and the hiking crew was in high spirits. But the hike was tough!! I have to hand it to Nate, who carried double (maybe triple) the amount of stuff that I did. The boys and Kate actually did an amazing job of carrying stuff up and down the rolling hills.

We stopped for a couple of snacks and water breaks, and greeted dogs and fellow hikers along the way. Morale was high until about mile 8, and that’s when I really lost the wind in my sails. It was like straight up hill for a couple miles, and we continuously ran into hikers going the other direction who kept telling us “oh, only 2 miles left” or “only 20 minutes left” read: ALL THE LIES.

When we got to the campsite and took the first sip of boxed wine in the hot springs, it really was all worth it for me. We relaxed in the hot springs and the wine went straight to our heads after hours of hiking, and there was even a WATER SNAKE that slithered around us at one point. If I hadn’t been buzzed, I may have freaked out more than I did.

Dinner was awesome - Nate and Jan had cooked up two chilis (one veg and one beef) and frozen them the night before. We drank wine, ate s’mores, and then crashed.

Our tents were in the shade, and the sun didn’t wake us up until 8:30am. We made oatmeal, coffee, and packed up everything and headed back for the 10 mile trek home. The first couple of miles were rough going, but the way back was a lot easier overall than the way going in. We finished around 5pm and headed back to foggy San Francisco, stopping for a couple of classic Big Sur photo ops along the way!

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend, and I certainly learned a lot about what kinds of foods work for a backpacking overnighter and what doesn’t.

WHAT WORKS:

• Freezing chili/soup and letting it defrost throughout the day - no need for refridgeration!
• Using said chili to chill the boxed wine
• On a similar note, boxed wine. And then cutting the boxes of wine into cups for coffee the next day!
• PB&Js (duh)
• Apples, oranges
• Oatmeal packets for breakfast
• Nut butter packets (for oatmeal, on apples)
• Emergen-C packets (for hangovers and also flavoring iodine water, if needing to use iodine to sanitize the H2O)
• INSTANT COFFEE

WHAT DIDN’T WORK AS WELL:

• Bulky protein bars (the bars were really a last resort - people really wanted to eat real food)
• Cornbread (totally smashed the minute we packed it)
• Liquor
• Cookies
• The fact that we forgot graham crackers for s’mores!

WHAT I WISH I HAD BROUGHT:

• Turkey/beef jerky
• Hard boiled eggs
• Powdered gatorade
• More savory snacks
• Carrots/celery
  

  Wine for dinner…

  

  Turned into coffee mugs at breakfast!

It's only fair to share...