The moment your stomach starts rumbling and your energy levels take a nosedive, your instinct's to comb through your snack stash for whatever — be it a sugar-filled granola bar or bag of pretzels — excites your tastebuds. But if you’re trekking up a mountain or through a secluded pine tree forest, you’ll need to be a little more strategic with your snack choices — and when you eat them in the first place.
In fact, hikers should consider eating a snack every 60 to 90 minutes between meals, depending on the intensity of the hike, says Aaron Owens Mayhew, M.S., R.D.N., C.D., the backpacking meal planning expert behind Backcountry Foodie. “This is because a hiker can be at risk of burning through their glycogen stores — aka hitting the wall or 'bonking' — within one to three hours of hiking if the body isn’t fueled adequately,” she explains.