Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. This means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended.
Last weekend our family of four attended an REI Backpacking Cooking Class, all four of us! We are hoping to do a few days of backpack camping this summer on our family trip to Colorado. None of us have ever backpacked camped before. We’ve pretty much car camped or cabin camped. But for several years now our oldest has been asking to do a backpack style camp where we hike in carrying our tent and supplies and stay for a few days.
Our teacher for the class was Javier. He shared with us about his experiences backpack camping for 5 months on the Pacific Coast Trail. We were very happy with his honesty about his experiences and his insider advice. He took plenty of time to answer questions and thoroughly explain the material he was covering in the class.
We learned about leaving no trace, how to condense freeze dried meals into Ziploc bags, how many calories we will probably need while hiking all day (5000-7000 calories a person?!), what our stove options are, water filters, rules of cleaning dishes and taking restroom breaks around camps and bodies of water, and other tidbits of information we didn’t already know!
We spent the most time on different cooking methods and the benefits and drawbacks of each type, i.e. dutch ovens are not really practical for backpack camping. Javier explained alcohol stoves, Jetboil cooking systems, MSR stove systems, and the traditional portable two burner stove (also not very practical for backpacking.) Javier’s personal favorite is the Jetboil Flash. He helped us to plan out how many meals we might be cooking and how much fuel we would need to bring depending on our elevation.
One of our concerns for our backpack camping trip this summer is that we will need a bear canister because we’re going to be west of Denver. We’ve researched the trail that we plan to hike and there haven’t been any black bears seen on the trail, but we want to follow the west of Denver “rule” that basically says if you are hiking or camping west of Denver then you will possibly run into black bears and should carry a bear canister.
The kids’ favorite part of the class was definitely the food tasting session. Javier let everyone vote on which packages of freeze-dried meals we wanted to try. After the vote, the winners were Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy, Good-To-Go Pad Thai, and Backpacker’s Pantry Fettucine Alfredo with Chicken.
After the taste testing, we had to preplan a 7000 calorie day of meals and snacks. It was much more difficult than you would think. Trying to come up with foods that all four of us will eat that are also calorie rich and portable was actually almost frustrating. I think we got to about 4000 calories before we ran out of our allotted time. We will definitely have to keep working on our plan since we hope to spend 3 days out on the trail this summer.
Thanks to Javier though we are better prepared for our first three-day backpacking camping trip this summer. We have a better idea of what we need to plan and how to get it all accomplished.
Looking forward to it!
We found out about the class by signing up for the REI local classes email and the class was absolutely FREE! REI offers both free and paid classes. You can save some money on the paid classes by being an REI Co-op member. It’s only $20 to be a lifetime REI Co-op member and you get 10% back on what you spend at REI in the form of a spring dividend. We’ve had our membership for many years. You also get discounts through member-only coupons, member-only products, garage sales, bike maintenance, rentals, and REI Adventures trips. It’s definitely been worth the $20 fee for us and we think it’s worth it.
Links: REI Membership https://www.rei.com/membership/benefits
Find REI classes near you: https://www.rei.com/learn.html
Afraid you might forget something on your next camping trip? Check out our Checklists for Camping.