There is a section of the CTR that has no replenishment options. Essentially, we have to get enough food in Buena Vista to make it to Silverton (discounting Princeton Hot Springs). This segment contains the climb up Flooses, Monarch Crest, and the dreaded S22 and S23 (Cataract Ridge); possibly two to three days, meaning that we need to carry 24,000 to 30,000 calories :O
So last night, we hit the local Safeway, notebook in hand, in a quest to find calorically dense foods that are light and compact..
And it was a lot of fun, walking down aisles that we rarely visit, inspecting foods that we hadn’t considered prior to our bikepacking training. Laughing raucously. Raising a few eyebrows as we discussed the lack of calories of different possibilities, dismissing them from our master list.
High on the list.. chocolate bars have their place, peanut butter, hot pockets have lots of calories, frozen burritos can be worth 700 calories each, nut mixes..
Ramen has calories (240 of them) and salt, and don’t require hot water.
canned pasta meals are easy (although a bit heavy), but not for vegetarians.
and, possibly the secret weapon (all vegan mother in laws that may be reading this should click away now..)
really, you don’t want to see this…
I’m not kidding..
don’t judge me 
you had your chance..
A whopping 1073 calories, 47 g of protein, 4772 mg of salt (!!!).. Oh yes, I see a can of spam being inhaled on Cataract Ridge….
and, of course, don’t dismiss the ubiquitous flask of Stanahans…
mmm, Strannies and Spam, breakfast of CTR finishers…..
During the Tour Divide, I began a voracious label reader. I specifically remember browsing a rather large brownie section at a gas station in New Mexico, and picking the brownie that had 700 calories over the one that had 500 calories and didn’t look much smaller.
As for calories per dollar, there’s almost nothing better than those gummy oranges you can buy at most gas stations — 16 oz often cost $1.50 or less, and pack as many as 2,000 calories.
Then, of course, there’s plastic jars of peanut butter. Not a more calorie dense food out there that I would actually consider edible (straight olive oil, butter and lard come to mind.)
Your list here makes me cringe a bit just because I could never consume that much fat and salt during an ultra event. I’m a sugar person all the way. But it is fun rooting out the calorie dense products at grocery stores.
Jill, gummy orange??? That is calorie dense! I salt watermelon so savory and salty foods are my go to. But I don’t think you can really know what will appeal when you step inside the gas station.
It was fun to visit the middle aisles of the grocery store….we gathered a number of funny looks as we whittled down the granola bars to highest calorie selections.