Healthy Hiking Treats

The exact origin of what we know as trail mix – a blend of grains/granola, dried fruit and nuts (and sometimes chocolate and/or shredded coconut) – isn’t clear. Although some basic form of the foodstuff likely dates to “old world” Europe, some credit its “invention” to a pair of 1960s-era California surfers, who made a habit of munching on peanuts and raisins to sustain them while riding the waves. Others cite the mention of a similar blend concocted by fictional characters planning a hiking trip in Jack Kerouac’s novel The Dharma Bums published a decade earlier.

Trail mix is also known by a variety of acronyms that correspond to its contents. In America, the blend is known as gorp. It is thought that the term originally referred to the ingredients enjoyed by our baby boomer surfing friends — "Good Old Raisins and Peanuts" — and first appeared in early mountaineering, camping and canoeing literature. Years later, it stood for “Granola Oats, Oatmeal, Raisins, Peanuts,” and most recently for “Gobs of Raw Protein.” It should be noted that the Oxford English Dictionary and the Dictionary of American Regional English list “gorp” as a verb that means “to eat greedily” and “to gulp or swallow greedily,” respectively. In Australia and New Zealand, for reasons less understood, the mix is known as scroggin or schmogle.

When it comes to snack bark, most people think of a thin sheet of dark chocolate studded with shards of peppermint candy, nuts, dried fruits, seeds or course sea salt, that breaks apart like brittle. The origin of this energizing confection is a traditional Christmas candy called a mendiant — a chocolate wafer that incorporated elements to represent the four monastic orders and the respective colors of their robes — an almond to represent the Dominicans, a bit of dried fig for the Franciscans, raisins for the Augustinians, and a hazelnut for the Carmelites. Chocolate bark also makes a great cool weather hiking snack. 

White chocolate can also be used to make bark. The name is a bit of a misnomer because, although it is sweet, it lacks some of the constituents of true chocolate, namely cocoa solids, caffeine and the stimulating enzyme theobromine. As the name does suggest, however, it is white or cream-colored in appearance. This sweet treat was introduced to Europeans as a bar candy called Milkybar by the Swiss candy maker Nestlé. By the 1940s, white chocolate bark with crushed peppermint candy became the most popular confection for Valentine’s Day in the United States. As a hiking snack, white chocolate bark pairs beautifully with goji berries, crystalized ginger or chia seeds.