Why Steady Fuel Matters More Than a Sugar Rush

A long day on the fells is rarely a sprint. It is six, seven, sometimes nine hours of walking, stopping, scrambling over stiles, and picking your way across uneven ground. Your legs are asking for fuel the whole time, and if you feed them in bursts of sugary energy you will feel the crash an hour later — usually halfway up a steep pull with the wind in your face.

The trick is to eat little and often, choosing things that release energy gradually rather than all at once. For a full day out, most hillwalkers do well on roughly 200 to 300 calories an hour. That sounds like a lot, but it is easy to reach with a handful of nuts here, an oatcake there, and a warm drink at the top. The key is regularity. Eat before you feel hungry, and drink before you feel thirsty.

Digestion also matters. When you are working hard, blood is being sent to your legs rather than your stomach, so heavy, greasy or very fibrous food can sit uneasily. The best trail snacks are compact, easy to chew with cold hands, and kind to a stomach that is already being bounced around.

Oatcakes: The Humble Backbone of a Hill Day

If there is one item worth building your snack plan around, it is the oatcake. Rough Scottish oatcakes are dense, slow-release and stubborn enough to survive being shoved into a rucksack pocket. A single oatcake is around 40 to 45 calories, so two or three with a topping makes a proper mini-meal.

They are also a blank canvas. Good combinations that travel well include:

• Peanut butter, which adds protein and fat for slower release
• Cheddar or a hard cheese, which keeps surprisingly well in a cool rucksack
• A thin slice of salami or chorizo for something salty and savoury
• Hummus in a small pot, though only on cooler days

Make them up at home, sandwich them together and wrap them tightly. They will not turn to crumbs in the bottom of your bag, and they give you something to chew that is not another sweet thing — which matters more than you might think after the fifth hour.

Nuts and Dried Fruit: Slow Release and Quick Fix Together

A mixed bag of nuts and dried fruit is the classic for good reason. Nuts bring fat and protein, which keep you going steadily. Dried fruit brings fast sugar, plus potassium and a bit of fibre. Eaten together, they balance each other out.

A rough ratio of two parts nuts to one part fruit works well. Almonds, cashews, walnuts and peanuts all do the job, and salted varieties help replace what you lose through sweat. On the fruit side, dried apricots, raisins, dates and figs are all easy to eat on the move, though dates are particularly good when you need something chewy and sustaining.

Portion them into small bags or a scoop in your hip belt pocket. A 30g handful is around 180 calories, so two or three handfuls across the day adds up nicely. Avoid the temptation to carry one enormous bag — you will either eat far too much at once or forget about it entirely.

Flask Soup: Warmth, Salt and Morale in One Bottle

On a cold, wet day in the hills, nothing lifts a group quite like a flask. Soup or broth in a wide-mouthed flask gives you warmth, fluid and salt in a form that needs almost no chewing — a real blessing when your hands are cold and your jaw is tired of oatcakes.

A 500ml to one litre flask is enough for one or two mugs. Lentil and carrot, vegetable broth, or a simple noodle soup all work well. Keep it fairly thin so it pours easily, and add a good pinch of salt. Screw the lid on firmly and drink it within a few hours while it is still hot.

Warm drinks do the same job. Tea, coffee or just hot squash can turn a bleak summit into a genuinely enjoyable stop, and they encourage you to drink more than you would from a cold bottle.

Quick Fixes and Dense Cake for the Final Push

You still want a few fast-acting options for the last climb or the trudge back to the car. Flapjack, malt loaf and fruit cake are dense, high in energy and travel beautifully. A banana or a satsuma is welcome early in the day, though both need protecting from being squashed.

Boiled sweets or jelly babies are useful for a short, sharp lift when you are nearly done. Chocolate is lovely in winter but turns to a mess in summer, so keep it for colder months and store it somewhere it will not melt over everything else.

Packing and Eating: A Simple Routine

Keep your snacks where you can reach them without taking your rucksack off. Hip belt pockets and the top lid are ideal. Aim to eat something every 45 to 60 minutes, and take a proper seated stop for the flask.

• Adjust for the weather: more fat and warm drinks in winter, more fluid and salty snacks in summer
• Test new foods on short walks before trusting them on a big day
• Carry a spare bag for wrappers, and take every scrap home with you
• Pack a little more than you think you need — a spare oatcake is cheap insurance

None of this is complicated. A few oatcakes, a bag of nuts and dried fruit, a flask of soup and something dense for the last mile will keep your energy steady from the car park to the summit and back again. Eat early, eat often, and enjoy the day.