Rations for walking the Kepler Track...

 ...Vitamins for Victory...

I'm off soon to tramp the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park from the 22nd-25th of March (in two weeks time). I've been finalising the preparation for what will be my last of the Great Walk including the food I intend to take with me. The track is three nights and four days so I have prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner meals for the duration of the tramp. 

Looking towards Mt Luxmore from the Te Anau foreshore...

I thought it might be informative for you to see what I am taking with me to fuel me through this adventure. I am following my golden rule of 500-700gms of food per day with a mix of carbohydrates, protein, fat and sugar to sustain me. 

My daily rations for the Kepler Track in late March

BTW...I always find my blog posts about tramping food (i.e. food porn.....and now we add the cream fraise...) are the most popular ones. You dirty beggars...you just want to peep at me vittles !!!!

My food rations for a three night Great Walk...

I have talked about my tramping menus a number of times now so I will not go into too much detail. Basically my method is to pack homemade daily rations in a zip lock plastic bag with all the food I will be eating on that day. This actually helps to control your daily food weight and makes it easier to avoid eating all your food in the first couple of days.

 

All my Kepler Track rations set out on the table...

These rations go into a lite weight sil-nylon bag I use for my food and only get taken out when I arrive at my destination for that night. The bag keeps everything together while also providing some protection from moisture seeping into or out of the food. 

My 13 litre sil-nylon bag can hold 7 days of food...

I have been using this same bag for my on track food storage for over five years now....it is still going strong.

Day 1: Te Anau to Luxmore:

The first day features a long walk and a big climb right at the end.. when I get to the hut I will be tired and hungry so something easy to prepare seems in order. Instant Mac n' Cheese can be cooked in under five minutes and it is always one of my trail favorites. I will add some chunks of Baby-bel cheese and a sliced up bierstick for more flavor. 

Ration Pack One.....Mac n' Cheese main

Ration contents: 645 gms (total weight)

Dinner: Kraft Mac n'Cheese, Chicken Cup-o-Soup, Hansells Peach Iced Tea mix, Whitakers Sante Bar

Breakfast (for next morning): Cream of Wheat (sugar, milk powder and dried fruit), 3 in 1 Nescafe coffee with sugar, Jack Links steak bar

Daily snacks: Raisins, peanut brittle bar, Snickers (not seen), Pure hydration drink mix

Accessories: Salt, pepper, Aquatabs, sugar sticks, Chux Cloth, thin plastic freezer bag, pot scrubber, 

Each of my ration packs hold a snack sized zip-lock bag with a range of condiments inside...salt, pepper, sugar and a 3 in 1 coffee for the next morning. I am not a big coffee drinker but I do like some with my breakfast in the morning. Not that my lovely partner Karen would call it coffee...more like muck and rakings off the floor!

Hey...it's hot...it's brown...it's sweet...I'm good to go!!!

The condiments pack in this homemade ration...

 I also include Aquatab water purification tablets as a back up if my Sawyer Squeeze water filter gets broken. This is just about the only redundant item I carry...the only other item is several fire-starting methods...a lighter, matches and a ferro-rod. 

Day 2: Luxmore to Iris Burn:

Day two is a six hour trip across the tops with two emergency shelters along the way so I will be able to stop at one of them for some food, a drink and respite from the elements. I am carrying freeze dried meals for the second and third nights of my trip. 

I have my favorite Backcountry meal Beef Stroganoff for dinner on day two. 

Ration Pack two: FD Beef Stroganoff main

Ration contents: 645 gms (total weight)

Dinner: Backcountry FD Beef Stroganoff (sml), Trident chicken simmer soup, Vitafresh navel orange drink mix, Whitakers Sante Bar

Breakfast (for next morning): Instant Porridge (sugar, milk powder and dried fruit), 3 in 1 Nescafe coffee with sugar, Jack Links jerky bar

Daily snacks: Le Snak, muesli bar, fruit leather bar, Pure hydration drink mix

Accessories: Salt, pepper, Aquatabs, sugar sticks, Chux Cloth, thin plastic freezer bag, pot scrubber, 

I have started using one serve Backcountry meals as I found the two person serves too large to eat in one sitting. I tend to rotate my freeze dry companies...Radix is the best followed by Absolute Wilderness, Outdoor Gourmet and Backcountry. This time around I had Backcountry meals as I brought a few in the Hunting and Fishing summer sale. 

Condiments pack for this ration...

I am also using the Trident brand Asian simmer soup packets...they are great as they are light and full of flavor. I like the Thai Chicken Noodle and Tom Yum Goong flavors. You can actually just add these to a half pot of hot water and leave them to rehydrate as they contain rice noodles. No cook time is necessary...

Day 3: Iris Burn to Moturau:

Day three is a big walk down the valley of the Iris Burn River....16 kilometers of mostly flat travel over 5-6 hours. I am hoping to get to the hut early so I can do the 45 minute side walk down to Shallow Bay Hut on Lake Manapouri. I might just visit it on the way out to Rainbow Reach on the last day...I haven't decided yet. 

Ration Pack three: FD Sweet n' Sour Lamb

Ration contents: 597 gms (total weight)

Dinner: Backcountry FD Sweet and Sour Lamb, Tom Yum Goong simmer soup, Vitafresh Lemon Iced Tea drink mix, Whitakers Sante Bar

Breakfast for next morning: Instant Porridge (sugar, milk powder and dried fruit), 3 in 1 Nescafe coffee with sugar, Jack Links jerky bar

Daily snacks: Jack Links steak bar, cashew nuts, muesli bar, Vitafresh hydration drink mix

Accessories: Salt, pepper, Aquatabs, sugar sticks, Chux Cloth, thin plastic freezer bag, pot scrubber 

I have Backcountry Sweet and Sour Lamb for dinner this night and Trident Tom Yum Goong soup. This is the last night of my trip so if I am hungry I may eat my emergency food as the last day is a relatively easy 1-2 hour walk to the road end. I would be unlikely to need it after day three...

...condiment pack with this ration...

I like to have some protein for sustained energy with my breakfast...I used to eat cheese but now I usually have a Jack Links steak bar or jerky stick. I buy the 3 in 1 coffee sachets from Asian food markets and they always seem to have a range of flavors and brands. Oldtown and Nescafe both go down well, Oldtown tastes like coffee with condensed milk in it. 

Day 4: Moturau to Rainbow Reach:

The last day is a short one....only 1.5-2 hours of walking from Moturau Hut to the pick up point at Rainbow Reach. I will be carrying breakfast for this day and a couple of snacks but no food for a midday meal as I will hopefully be back in Te Anau before lunchtime. 

Day four: snack pack for the short day...

Ration contents: 160 gms (total weight):

Daily snacks: Raisins, peanuts, Jack Links steak bar, Cheez-it crackers

Accessories:  Aquatabs (4)

I like to rotate my snacks to stop food fatigue and favor a savoury mix over sweet. No trail mix...I cannot stand the stuff anymore and these yoghurt covered apricot muesli bars are just about the only I will eat. I will also eat any left over lunch items on the last day as I will want to use it rather than throw it away. 

...all the items in the snack pack for day four....

That is the main load-out of food I will be carrying on the Kepler Track but there are a number of supplemental items I will have with me on this trip. 

Supplementary items.....

I always carry a few supplementary items with me when I go out on a multi day tramp. There are items you don't really want to portion out or those that you may or may not use but still need to carry. 

 I usually pack my food bag in the bottom middle of my pack so it is not readily to hand unless you deep dive into your pack. You want to keep your pack contents dry so opening it on trail especially in a rainstorm is not something you want to do.  

My lunch will be crackers and Biersticks....or wraps..

I will pack my lunch items in a separate plastic bag and store it at the top of my pack outside of the pack liner bag so I can access it when I need too. I haven't decided on wraps or crackers to go with my lunch time cheese and salami...I will let you know which.

...and some Babybel semisoft cheese...

Next is an emergency days worth of food in case I get stuck in a hut because of extreme weather or some other calamity. Not a full ration...this usually consists of a packet of oatmeal, a 3-1 coffee, some muesli bars and a freeze dried or lite main meal. I'm taking more than usual on this trip as there are often snow falls on the Kepler Track at this time of the year. 

My emergency rations for the Kepler Track

Emergency food: 380 gm's total weight

Breakfast: Instant porridge packet

Lunch: Cup-o-Soup, muesli bar, peanut brittle bar

Dinner: Backcountry FD Lamb Fettucine (sml)

The emergency ration is at the bottom...

I often use couscous, instant potato or polenta for emergency food as all of these are low bulk and low weight. Rice noodles and Ramen are also a good choice or you can take a small freeze dried meal. 

A variety of breakfast items I have used before...

Some items I have used for tramping mains in the past....

I always carry a brew kit with tea/coffee/sugar substitute for daytime drinks. I will be carrying my Firemaple Ti stove and a 100gm gas canister with me on the Kepler Track at a total of 145 gms...

My brew kit...Chanui Earl Grey is my tea of choice....

Jon's cook kit including the Ti stove and small gas canister...

I have also started to carry an assortment of instant soup packets for those colder days out on a track. I noticed one of the people doing this on the Paparoa Track...they had an assortment of flavors in a small bag so I am going to try it out. I have Tomato, Cream of Mushroom, Dutch Curry Rice and Pumpkin in this pack. 

Supplementary soup packets from Continental & Maggi....

...each daily ration also contains a simmer soup...

I am hoping for a successful trip and a fitting end to my Great Walk tramps after nearly 30 years of working through them. I may revisit a number of the tracks in the future but I think it might be time to start ticking off those other classics like the Greenstone-Caples, Rakuira Northwest Circuit, Hollyford, Richmond Alpine Track and Tararua Southern Crossing....

Postcript: the leftovers.....

Well my trip to Fiordland was a success with the Kepler Track finished and the final of the ten Great Walks ticked off my to do list. It was a great trip and I thought I would have a look at the food items I did not use on this trip. 

Soup, tea and crackers on arrival at Luxmore Hut, Kepler Track

There are always food items left after every trip...sometimes you over estimate how much food you will need or you didn't feel as hungry as you thought you might. Sometimes you are so tired you just cannot be buggered to eat everything. The Kepler Track is actually quite a hard track especially the first two days with huge climbs and descents over the day. I arrived at both Luxmore and Iris Burn Huts knackered so I wasn't all that hungry.

Tucking into a soup and freeze dried meal at Luxmore Hut, Kepler Track

If we look at the food left over from the trip it is basically my emergency rations and some drinks that were not used. I was expecting rainwater tanks at Forest Burn and Hanging Valley Shelters but there is no water at either of them. This meant I had to conserve water for drinking and not use it for hot or sweet drinks. I also ate less snacks on the track as the last day was a short one and I basically didn't have time to stop and eat them as I was in a race to catch the 10am shuttle. 

No water at Hanging Valley Shelter...

I ate all my freeze dried meals over the Mac n' Cheese...they are easier to prepare and do not require as much clean up. The extra Cup-o-Soup were a good idea and one I will continue from now...I used them in favor of the Trident simmer soup. Things I would have liked....I saw several people eating Mandarins on the track and they looked good...I might take some with me next time I venture out. 

The ration items I did not eat on the Kepler Track

As expected I think I more or less had the right amount of food with me...I have been at this lark for a while now so I think I'm getting good at planning menus.

Every track an adventure...every hut a palace...every meal a banquet...