Why You Should Pack High-Calorie Snacks For Your Winter Hike

Going for a hike in the winter is a great way to get outside and enjoy the cold crisp air while being surrounded by the calming quiet of an ice and snow-covered trail. However, when getting ready to embark on a winter hiking adventure, you will need to prepare a little differently for your trip than you would in the summer. This is because winter hiking requires wearing the right clothes, bringing more water, and carrying plenty of high-calorie snacks. 

Eating higher-calorie foods while hiking in winter is particularly important because your body generally needs more energy to hike in the cold. This is true because not only does winter hiking involve more difficult terrain and heavier gear, but your body will also need to expend extra energy to keep you warm. In fact, while estimates vary on exactly how many more calories hiking in winter burns than hiking in summer, the consensus is that winter hikes burn a lot more. Therefore, in order to make up for this large calorie burn, it is important to bring lots of calorie-dense food with you on your hike so you can quickly and easily replenish your energy levels.

Plus, on top of simply keeping your energy levels up, another reason that bringing plenty of high-calorie snacks on a winter hike is essential is because it can actually help prevent hypothermia. When you eat, the food fuels your metabolism, which then produces heat in your body as it breaks that food down into usable energy. In fact, eating works so well to warm you up that it is not only recommended as a way to prevent hypothermia but is also (along with removing any wet clothing) one of the top recommended things to do to treat hypothermia.

When planning for your winter hiking trip, it is also important to consider what type of high-calorie snacks are best because not all calorie-dense foods are the same. For example, while Pop-Tarts are an unexpectedly popular hiking snack and definitely fit into the high calorie category, they are also made mostly of simple carbohydrates which break down quickly. While this might help you on a short hike, it may not be enough to fuel you on a longer hiking adventure.

For longer hikes, you will want snacks with a good mixture of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. You will also need to bring snacks that don't freeze easily in cold temperatures — which can be a problem with common high-calorie options like candy bars and protein bars. Furthermore, because stopping to eat during a cold-weather hike may mean that your body cools down, many winter hikers prefer to eat as they walk in order to stay warm. Therefore, it's a good idea to bring high-calorie foods that you can easily munch on while walking. Some good examples of winter hiking snacks include cheese and crackers, meat sticks, nuts, chocolate, and energy bars. And the more the better. It is typically recommended that you bring around twice as much food with you for a winter hike than you would for a warm-season hike.