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Thanksgiving hiking is my favorite!! For the last 3 years (this will be the 4th), I’ve organized a Friendsgiving trip to Yosemite with all my transplant friends that live in SD and LA and don’t go home until Christmas (it’s far too expensive to go home for both!).
We usually leave SD Wed night around 6:30, right after traffic has mostly died down, and we generally don’t hit much traffic at that point. We get to Yosemite valley around 2am, sleep briefly in our cars, and then set up camp at Upper Pines Thursday morning. We make all the Thanksgiving fixings at home, package them up, and then heat them around the fire Thursday night. Fri-Sun we move into the heated Curry Village tents which is super nice and cozy, and the bathrooms and showers are a nice luxury. Hiking is generally kept to the valley – most of the time there is snow in the backcountry around Thanksgiving time, so we stick to 4 mile, Mist Trail, John Muir, etc. Last year we almost made it to Glacier point but of course they closed the road the night before we set off because of a storm.
In my experience, there is no better place to wake up Thanksgiving morning than Yosemite, surrounded by its awesome granite counter tops! There are still crowds, but much lighter than the summer crowds – although trying to leave the park around sundown you likely will hit traffic.
-Rachel
MyLifeofAdventures.comI overdid it on oatmeal a few years ago and can’t eat it anymore, so for a 1 day trip I like to pack some hard boiled eggs and eat those (as long as it’s not terribly hot out) for breakfast. They’re big and clunky to pack, but really not all that heavy, and you’re basically going to carry the same amount of weight for a 1 day trip as a 2 day trip – slightly more for food, but not enough to matter much. They hold up pretty well as long as you leave them in their shell. For longer trips I usually get the dehydrated breakfast meals – some require that you add water, and then heat it on a saucepan but to save the mess, I normally just put the actual bag in the boiling water with a small slit open to steam it. Works out pretty well!
Lunch I usually go for a stick of salami and some hard cheeses that hold up well. Another idea is tortillas and cream cheese. Costco sells these individual packages of cream cheese and they’re great on a tortilla. You can also buy Justin’s peanut butter packs and add those to the mix. The latter is great for longer trips – everything packs real small and it’s very filling. The salami and cheese would be good for the first day or two.
For dinner, I agree with Jeff – for weight and convenience, the prepackaged dehydrated meals are the best. They’ve come real far in taste – I get mine from Backcountry.com or Amazon.com – the chili cheese pasta is amazing, so is the alfredo pasta. Sometimes, I’ll get the pre-cooked lentils from trader joes, some rice/quinoa in the packets that are mostly cooked, and some pre-cooked bacon – mix it all together with a little water over heat, add some seasoning…and it’s pretty delicious and very high in protein.
For snacks, I sadly really like to get the old school sticks and cheese we used to have in elementary school. They pack small and light, and they’re a nice little treat and hold up well. I also bring protein bars and jerky, and usually some energy chews – my favorite are the Honey Stinger Pink Lemonade. They’re great for a bit of sweetness.
The pre-packaged dehydrated desserts are usually pretty tasty too! And for nighttime, I do like to enjoy a little whisky or scotch, and one of our favorite things is to bring little packs of cider powder, heat that in some water, and add some whisky. It’s great for colder nights!
Happy trekking!
-Rachel
MyLifeofAdventures.com
