I’m done preparing my first week of food on the Tahoe Rim Trail.

The presence of bears and the long stretches without resupply make it particularly challenging. But, that’s a price I’m ready to pay to hike entire weeks between each road crossing.

There are only black bears left in California, which are much less dangerous than the grizzlies that still inhabit Yellowstone, for example.

Still, it is required to store all food, toiletries, and medicine in super-resistant bear canisters, kept away from campsites. You don’t want to be woken up by 250 kg Hank the Tank in hyperphagia and going for your snacks… Getting used to human food also makes bears more aggressive and can lead to their euthanasia by authorities.

Even though I bought the biggest authorized bear canister (my biggest piece of gear at 1.2 kg and 11.5 l), fitting 6 days of food was a challenge.

Compressing kcal

Before having to survive on supermarket food after the first resupply, I gave a try at dehydrating homemade food. I found the process quite energy and time-consuming, but simple and fun.

I ended up fitting 5.1 kg for 6 days in the canister with 3600 kcal and 160 g of protein each day, almost vegan of course.

• Breakfast 800 kcal: oatmeal with dry milk, raisins, flax, and hemp
• Snacks 1300 kcal: nuts, dark chocolate, dehydrated mangoes, and candies
• Lunch 500 kcal: dehydrated cold soak salads and protein shake
• Dinner 1000 kcal: dehydrated bean soups and Trailside Tiramisu with Oreos