GORP Baby!

Good ‘Ol Raisins and…. sunflower seeds? Trail mix is the hikers staple, and I either love it or hate it. Often times, our family backpacking trips featured a multi-pound bag of homemade trail mix that went largely untouched until we were home from the trip. Once soundly in the pantry… THAT is when it would get demolished. It served largely as a pack weight when we were out on the mountain.

I’ve done some glorious hiking this summer and I’m back in the trail mix fight. It’s easy to make good GORP and easier still to make it bad! Hiking from an allergy household these days, I’ve been cut back to my hiking snack roots. I’m deprived (gladly, though they were delicious) of salted roasted peanuts and seasoned pistachios. Instead, I’ve spent nearly six years mixing it up. Literally. I’ve tried it all… roasted edamame, every type of chocolate, a million forms of seeds. Finally, I think I’ve found the formula (with many thanks to my dear mother who provided the wild card in this winner).

Okay, so you start with the salty and fatty – Roasted, salted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. I like mine hulled. Then, you need fruit. Preferably something sweet and something acidic. Tart. I love raisins (fight me in the comments) but adding in dried cherries ups the ante like no other. Okay, now on to chocolate. It’s hot out, and you need something with its own container to stave off the melt. It HAS to be M&Ms. Some of our favorite allergen friendly options include Unreal Dark Chocolate Crispy Quinoa Gems and Vermont Nut Free Chocolates Dark Chocolate Skippers. If you love Samin Nosrat with all your heart, you’ll need heat to round out the salt, fat, and acid. I recommend candied ginger cubes. And finally, you need a wild card. Any wild card will do, but I’m gunning for sesame sticks.

You can go harder on your GORP too. Banana chips? Be my guest. Dried pineapple? Abso-freakin-lutely. Edamame? Sure… but I’m picking them out. Add wasabi peas! Go nuts, without nuts!

A simple post this week, I know. But the basics are sometimes the most important. Trail snacks let the trail happen. They’re what gets me up and back 8 miles when the map said 7. I love my GORSSPSCCGSS… my Good ‘Ol Raisins and Sunflower Seeds and Pumpkin Seeds and Cherries and Chocolate and Ginger and Sesame Sticks. I hope you do too.