Meal Planning for Mountain Hiking—Packing a Supply Package or Shopping Along the Way

Once you’ve optimized your tent, sleeping gear, and backpack, food quickly becomes the heaviest item in your pack. This makes meal planning a crucial part of how the trip actually feels—both in terms of how much you’re carrying and how much you need to plan ahead.

In our surveys of Gröna Bandet hikers, meal planning scores an 8.2 out of 10 for satisfaction, and both resupply packages and shopping along the way are common among satisfied hikers. There’s no single “right” method. But there are choices that affect weight, planning, and flexibility.

Three Strategies

Among the hikers in our data set, the strategies break down roughly as follows:

Which strategy works best for you depends on your trip, your food preferences, and how much planning you want to do.

Supply packages: control and predictability

A supply package means you pack your food at home and send it in advance to locations along the trail, such as mountain huts or post offices. When you arrive at one of these locations, you pick up your package. You then carry that food with you and eat it over the next few days, until you reach the next supply point and pick up a new package.

This means you plan the entire trip in advance: what food you’ll eat on each leg, how many days each package should last, and where you’ll send it. This gives you full control over what you eat and how much you carry.

This is ideal for those who want to dehydrate their own food, have special dietary needs, or want to plan carefully in advance.

According to the hikers in our surveys, what works best is simple, high-calorie food that doesn’t require much preparation. Couscous, lentils, and home-dried food are frequently mentioned as practical staples. One hiker included small containers of olive oil in each resupply package, which could then be refilled. Olive oil is extremely calorie-dense and makes simple meals more filling. High-quality dried salami is mentioned by one hiker as “the world’s best hiking food.”

If you want to include freeze-dried food, it works well for individual meals, but living on freeze-dried food alone for the entire trip can be expensive and monotonous. Several hikers regretted not having dried their own food at home instead. A mix of home-dried food, freeze-dried food, and regular dry food provides better variety.

The most common pitfall with supply drop packages is packing too much. It’s easy to add a little extra for each day, but a few extra days’ worth of food quickly adds up. The weight of your food can approach one kilogram per day. Plan for each stage. Pack for the distance, not out of worry.

Buying along the way: flexibility and variety

Buying food along the way means shopping at stores and mountain huts during your trip. You buy what you need for the next few days, continue hiking, and shop again when you reach the next stop.

You don’t need to plan and ship food in advance. Instead, you plan where there are stores or mountain huts along your route and how many days’ worth of food you’ll need to carry between them.

This is ideal for those who want to keep their plans flexible or don’t want to spend many hours on preparations.

On most Swedish mountain trails, there are stores or mountain huts at regular intervals. The selection varies, but basic supplies are usually available. However, you have less control than with supply packages. The selection may be limited, opening hours may change, and prices in the mountains are often higher. Check service points and opening hours before you set out.

A mix: a little of both

About 16% of the hikers in our surveys used a mixed approach: supply packages for sections where the selection is limited or the distances are long, and shopping where possible.

For example, you can send supply packages to sections where there are no stores and buy food where stores are available. This gives you the benefits of both strategies without having to commit entirely to either one.

How Food Affects Your Total Weight

Food for two to three days is rarely a problem. Food for a week makes a noticeable difference. Food for ten to eleven days can work, but it gets heavy and requires careful planning.

A hiker with a base weight of 6 kg who carries food for a week may have a total weight of 12–14 kg. Food and water can thus account for half of what you’re carrying. This makes two things important: not carrying more food than you need, and choosing food that provides a lot of energy per gram.

Why a Hot Meal Matters

One thing that comes up clearly in the surveys: a hot meal in the evening is important. Not just for the calories, but for your mood and recovery.

Most hikers in our surveys carry a lightweight stove specifically to boil water and prepare a simple hot meal in the evening. It doesn’t have to be complicated cooking. Boil water, pour it over dry food, eat it hot. That’s enough.

How to Choose

A food supply package is right for you if you want control, dehydrate your own food, or hike on routes where resupply is uncertain.

Shopping along the way is for those who want flexibility, enjoy variety, and know where to shop.

A mix is for you if you want a little of both: resupply stations where needed, shopping where it works.

You don’t have to choose one method for the entire trip. You just need to choose what works best for your specific trip.

Things to Remember

Food mentioned by hikers:

• Couscous
• Lentils
• Homemade dried food
• Dried fruit
• Olive oil in small containers
• High-quality dried salami
• Freeze-dried food (good as a supplement, not as the sole source of food)

Things to keep in mind:

• Choose foods that provide a lot of energy per gram
• Pack for the stage, not for anxiety
• A warm evening meal is worth the weight of the kitchen
• Dehydrate your own food at home if you can—it offers more variety than freeze-dried food alone

Read more:

→ Hiking Kitchen: Top Picks

→ Common packing mistakes: what experienced hikers would have left at home

→ The Big Three: Packing Lighter Without Compromising Safety

→ Lightweight hiking — a complete guide for those who want to pack lighter

→ Packing list for lightweight hiking — based on what experienced hikers actually pack