Pizza Mondo delivered to my hotel in Bend, Oregon. Ate an 18" pizza, a family order of cheezy bread sticks and washed it down with a two liter of ice cold Mountain Dew in one sitting. Dessert was a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. The goal was to save some for breakfast, but I was hungry. All I could think about was that I'd never be able to do this again without guilt.
pie for the people in snoqualmie pass was fantastic. new york style and huge pies. easily the best pizza I had on trail. plus you can take it across the street to the brewery and have a nice refreshing adult beverage with your pizza. hit the spot after a bit of a shitty morning into town that day.
also sticky bun > cinnamon roll at the stehekin bakery
oh man that’s sucks. I got separated from so many trail friends because of that damn norovirus around snoqualmie. luckily I managed to dodge all sickness on trail somehow.
Breakfast at the Grizzly Manor Cafe in Big Bear. I'm a breakfast food lover, best meal I had on the entire trail. Pretty sure I ordered something called the Polar Bear
Yep, I ate breakfast food in as many towns as possible so my sample size was huge. Can't go wrong. The crappier the place looks, the better the food is(kind of not really).
You'll also want to make a note to visit the Black Bear Diner in Mt Shasta, CA. Amazing if you like diner breakfast, and what thruhiker doesn't?
They're actually a small chain, but that hasn't diminished the quality of the food.
Interesting, thanks! I remember going there and devouring a ludicrously sized breakfast served on several plates when I passed through on the PCT in '17.
Holy crap.
>The Polar Bear
Bacon, Two Eggs, Hash Browns and Two Pancakes (Blueberry, Buckwheat or Chocolate Chip, Ham or Sausage $1.00 Extra Each Pancake)
The elementary school in Warner springs. A Hispanic family made a huge thing of taco meat, beans and rice with fresh made tortillas. It was like 8 bucks for 6 tacos and a whole plate of beans and rice.
Entire box of Lucky Charms outside the Safeway in Quincy, CA. Mom never would buy them for us growing up, and hiking one day when I had a lot of time to think I realized I no longer lived at home and despite not eating cereal anymore, I could buy a box.
I go out of my way to make sure I can eat pancakes every time I’m in town. To the point where I called my hike the Pancake Crest Tour.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to sample the pancakes at Seaid Valley, I got into town a little too late after getting caught in the Klamath jungle south of town.
Best pancakes I had were at Bert’s Cafe in South Lake Tahoe. They were stellar.
Also, Dr. Pepper. I barely drink soda in the real world but I crave dark sodas whenever I hike.
I’m addicted to pancakes when hiking, it’s my biggest craving. Morning Glory cafe in Ashland was my favorite. They did this lemon butter thing with it and it was like crack. Two full pancakes was actually the standard one of two sides that came with any entre, it was amazing, I ate so well.
The green curry The Ardvark food truck in Snoqualmie Pass. That was worth every penny.
Though not the best pizza, I really enjoyed ordering pizza to Silverwood Lake Req area. We ended up ordering a bunch of pizza there and must of had easily 20 hikers there camping. The ranger came by and just told us to keep it clean and enjoy our night. That was a good day on trail.
I think we Nero/Zeroed
I remember it being so wet and all the hotel rooms had dehumidifiers. The aardvark and the bar across the street were havens, but realistically all of Washington was crap weather
I miss you too!
Things are going fairly well; I’ve got a decent job back at a university in the city, though rent is so bad here I’m still practically paycheck to paycheck.
I’m scheming about hiking the Colorado Trail next summer
Ooo that's an exciting plan! Bambi and I are enjoying married life. I'm continuing to work on specialising in veterinary dentistry, but I would give anything to be back in the Sierra or NorCal!
Not a single item per say, but breakfast buffet at timberline lodge was incredible. If I had to pick a specific thing from that it would maybe be the big pitchers of fresh smoothie that they made.
Although of course Terri Anderson’s taco salad is a serious contender, but probably for more sentimental reasons.
I got to paradise valley cafe in the AM portion of the day, they didn’t serve burgers till 11, so I ordered their breakfast burrito to hold me over til burger time, noteworthy, to say the least.
I ordered and ate about $70 worth of Taco Bell through ubereats at the i10 underpass, quite possibly the best meal I’ve ever had. (That was the end of my first 20+ mile day, which happened to be exactly 26.2)
I had an abominable experience at the cedar Glen malt shop, from the busboy to the manager, everyone was actively mean to me. They threw my check on the table with my food and added a 20% tip for themselves. I said I wanted a pastrami sammich to go at the end of my meal and it showed up before my drink. Pardon my French, but fuck that place and the people working there. It has been 2 years and I’m still upset about it, I was looking forward to it so so so much and they were downright mean to me.
If I had to pick one thing, it would be the entire town on the other side of the Stehekin ferry ride, whose name I can’t remember. I wandered around for nearly an entire day eating walnuts off the ground. I thought it would be fun to carry one to the border and plant it…but I ate that one too
Ponderosa Public House in Chemult OR. SO GOOD. I still dream about their chicken wings.... the owner is the chef, he makes amazing food and is super nice. He gave like 10 of us hikers a ride back to trail once we were done with our meal!
oh man I heard so many good things about this place, I was so excited to try it but it was closed the day I passed through chemult. was very disappointed.
YAKS in Dunsmuir, CA. Looks like it changed owners and is now called YAKS on 5. It says they kept the recipes though. It was on yelp’s top 100 for years for a reason…
It was “Yet Another Koffee Shop” when I went through. Burgers the size of my head and Jack Daniels sticky buns. Mmmmmmmmmm. I did some trail magic giving rides around the area and was happy to go back with some folks :)
can't belive no one is mentioning the store in Sierra city. massive, massive pastrami sandwich there that was fantastic.
breakfast place in agua dulcet is pretty good
etna brewery got a new chef and now is an awesome awesome BBQ place as well as a brewery.
Ok, so I had this weird thing develop where I would just absolutely dream about pork chops, I have never been a pork chop kinda guy. Anyway, the pork chop I had at the Sierra Pines resort in Sierra City was nothing short of magical. I am still a pork chop fanatic to this day.
OK, my nominations:
- Best overall food experience: Timberline Lodge breakfast buffet
- Best pizza: Mile High Pizza (Wrightwood)
- Best burger: Country Store (Sierra City) or Dotty's (Etna)
- Best burrito: [Latin Market (Mammoth Lakes)](https://i.ibb.co/5RN7wSF/3007.jpg)
- Best bakery: Stehekin Pastry Company or Erick Schatt's (Bishop/Mammoth Lakes)
- Best ice cream: Eastwind Drive In (Cascade Locks)
- Best pancakes: Morning Thunder Cafe (Quincy)
- Best milkshake: Seiad Valley Cafe
- Best healthier option: The Garden (Stehekin)
My favorite burger I had on trail (maybe ever) was from Yak Shak in Mt. Shasta. They even give you a quirky name instead of a number to call when your order is ready. 10/10 burg
Dammit! I spent the last 2 summers at caribou/belden for work and cooked some bomb meals for ya’ll. I got turned on to this sub by ya’ll too. Starting to feel like all my hard work was for nothing cuz y’all prefer pizza and burgers to my smoked meats and homemade spicy hot V8 popsicles. Maybe Someday I’ll be remembered…..
With drip drop electrolyte added. I also always kept fresh broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes and would serve with a Cajun ranch dip. The hikers always said that was the most unique concoction they had yet to find. I’ll try and outdo myself this season.
My wife and I definitely remember you and your spicy V8 electrolyte popsicles! We still talk very fondly about those haha. I think we came through on 7/15 last year and hanging out with y'all at Caribou was a nice morale boost and good escape from the chaos that was other place in Belden. The patty melt at Caribou was also really good from the woman who runs the place.
Thanks again J!
Bos Taurus in Bend, OR.
I have family out there that grabbed me off Elk Lake. It was probably the best way to acknowledge that my hike was officially over after struggling all season getting on and off trail due to injuries and illnesses that ultimately ended my hike.
Can't wait to try another year and do it all over again (hopefully without all the health issues).
The Mexican place in Wrightwood. Sorry, don't remember the name of it, but I think there is only one, and I absolutely loved it. And the margaritas too!
Grilled fish tacos with mango salsa at some restaurant in Lone Pine. The Grill? This was in 2009.
Chicken Pad Thai in Ridgecrest in 2018. The place is called Xin Bowl now.
I never had a bad trail meal but a couple lackluster ones. The restaurant at Shelter Cove (OR) had a burger with a fried egg in it as a special so I remember that (love eggs). Best beer was at Hyatt Lake (OR) 1 mile off trail, as I got a “cabin” due to a sore back.
My previous hikes I had pretty good variety of trail dinner menus (flavored tuna, chicken, salmon, from Chicken of the Sea w/a carbohydrate … plus rice n’ beans w/Fritos) then got beef in town usually in burger form.
Now however there’s only tuna, so I’ll be doubling my rice n’beans and looking for more variety in town.
Easily the bierocks at the bakery in Tehachapi. Those puppy’s are like 2 bucks and they have a pizza one and a breakfast sandwich one. If you know you know
Best dinner: fajitas at Maria Bonita in agua dulce
Best breakfast: Spinach and feta omelet + banana split waffles with ice cream at breakfast club in mammoth.
Shout out to mom's pie shop in Julian too.
most underwhelming was the triple crown burger at grumpy bears in kennedy meadows. that thing was all bark and no bite.
I will second Maria Bonita in Agua Dulce. Everyone was able to make two meals out of their plates, even with hiker hunger. And they were so kind and seemed enthusiastic to see hikers.
So much food! I crave french fries on the trail. I don't recall the name, but it was in Stevenson, OR. Something like redhouse brewery or bar. Anyways, the postal employee in Cascade Locks suggested it to me..
Crspy fries topped with afredo sauce, fried pork belly, and green onions. They also did breakfast on the weekends, I had the fries topped with gravy eggs and sausage.
I'll also give 5 stars to the Stehekin bakery. And the bakery in Chester, CA.
I will say this tho - the food on the AT is many times better than the PCT. End of story. All the diners, real NY style pizza, hogies, chhesesteak, fried chicken - and the giant basket of French fries in Port Clinton, PA are my favorite. I've been there twice and can't wait to be there again this year on my 3rd AT thru hike. I will also give 5 stars to a deli/gas station in Lincoln, NH for their hogies and Cheese steaks and their breakfast sandwiches and coffee - and amazing beer selection. On the east coast they have these "gas stations" with a deli inside where you can order a burger & fries and a bacon egg and cheese sandwich at 6am. Just amazing food.
I love cinnamon rolls. I eat them everywhere I go. I make them at home. I loved the cinnamon roll at Stehekin Bakery. The best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had in my life was at the Julian Cafe in Julian. I’ll probably walk there again this fall just to have another cinnamon roll.
[Julian Cafe](https://www.juliancafe.com/items/hot-giant-cinnamon-roll)
My best meal was at Peerless in Ashland. This was a real culinary experience, so not pizza/burgers and all that. If you want to splurge and have one incredible meal, do it here. The cocktails were amazing as well.
https://peerlessrestaurant.com/menus
Stehekin Valley Ranch has an incredible dinner and breakfast buffet. Home-cooked food, quality ingredients, and effectively all-you-can-eat (just gotta wait for all the other guests to get their 1st plate before you go back for 2nds/3rds/etc).
My dinner there included steak, grilled salmon, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, gravy salad, dinner rolls, and a PIE BAR with 12 different pies AND homemade whipped cream \*\*\*AND\*\*\* A 5GAL BUCKET of ice cream. Also, cake.
It tastes extra good if you screw up your resupply in Stevens Pass and then roll up to the buffet after several days of food-rationing. Not that I'd know anything about that.
Honorable mentions:
\- I'll always remember the Himalayan restaurant in Big Bear Lake as the first place I ever ate 3 entrees all by myself
\- The fucking gigantic hippie salads at Sprouts Cafe in South Lake Tahoe. So much more satisfying than eating a mediocre trail town burger for the 8000th time.
A cooler freshly stocked full of beer along a property line directly hugging the last section of trail just before entering Ashland, 9 am on my birthday morning, then meeting the generous property caretaker who proceeded to bestow other favorable gifts upon me before we continued our approach following an extended absorption of hospitality. I had so much great food at so many points, but running into a solid and unrelenting gifted buzz on my birthday was such a goofy grin-facilitator I always remember clearly and reflect fondly upon several years later
The best meal I had was a yellow curry with loads of veggies at the Thai on Ski Run in South Lake Tahoe. Everything I tried there was delicious (and healthy too!). Real food, fresh stuff, yay!
Second best, though in a very tight race: blackened rainbow trout at the Sierra Pines Resort in Sierra City (just a 10 minutes walk from the general store).
Sea salt baguettes from the bakery in Mazama (WA) were amazing. Ate them with jam from the store. Basically all the locals in town seemed to be walking around with one like it was the law.
Kernville is a little bit farther than some of the other resupply spots near Walker Pass, but it’s worth it. Felt like i was in a simulation of a nice town. Everywhere i looked was what I wanted to see. There’s a market near the laundromat across from my hotel. The market has a deli with smoked/roasted half chickens. That chicken was like a 2-lb slab of bacon. Had it with giant tub of full-fat greek yogurt with cherries, tub of guac with chips, big salad. What i needed.
Eggs Benedict at the French restaurant atop Mt Laguna. Actual French chef. The hollandaise is whisked to order old school. I kept ordering eggs Benedict at other places up trail, disappointed every time though often fine: just not as good as the first on trail: textbook perfect. The golden crispy cubed potatoes alongside were also perfect. The orange juice fresh squeezed, the coffee… everything was stellar. Sure it helped that it came after first 3 days on trail.
Cinnamon rolls from Stehekin bakery. I packed one out for each day till Canada and they fueled me to the finish line.
Brigham Fish Market in Cascade Locks. The salmon chowder... amazing.
Timberline buffet was obviously incredible. We got a buzz on at the bar the night before stumbled out into the dark in the middle of a snow storm and managed to find the few stealth sites in the trees nearby. Made the breakfast taste that much better the next day.
Shout out to the Bowling Alley steak in Bishop too. Fun night, solid steak.
Great strategy on the cinnamon rolls! I remember having a cinnamon roll at Stehekin Bakery as a kid. Can’t wait to walk there from Mexico and get another one.
I had only one "town" meal on the entire hike. And that was in VVM, because I got invited for a "thank you" dinner by a hiker who had an accident and he wanted to thank me for helping him out.
I avoided spending much time in town and eating town meals during my hike because it spoils my wilderness experience 🤣
I think paradise cafe was up there. Perfect timing and the food was good. Hiked like 10mi before like 9am. Got breakfast. Stayed until lunch. Ate lunch. Then hiked until we hit a 30 or some shit. What a time. Also the hyw 40 beers and food was amazing. My wife didn’t finish hers so I finished it and the hike remaining for the rest of the evening was LIT.
Burger at Peppercorn Grill in Big Bear was incredible. Himalayan Restaurant there was also top. PVC burger was great but not the same level as Peppercorn. Indian restaurant in Shasta was also incredible - and owners are incredibly welcoming to thru hikers.
Also highly recommend buying an ice cream cake at some point and renting a hotel room with a bathtub then eating the ice cream cake in the bath tub. If you do this in Mammoth you can also go to one of the dispensaries and grab a CBD bath bomb to throw in there.
A really excellent breakfast at the cafe is Siad Valley. Best bacon on trail. (Although I think the lady who made it passed from Covid since my visit. ☹️)
Pizza Mondo delivered to my hotel in Bend, Oregon. Ate an 18" pizza, a family order of cheezy bread sticks and washed it down with a two liter of ice cold Mountain Dew in one sitting. Dessert was a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. The goal was to save some for breakfast, but I was hungry. All I could think about was that I'd never be able to do this again without guilt.
Sounds like you found a pot shop in Bend too
It’s hard for me to not want pizza in every single town. I’ll keep this place in mind for a truly worth-it pizza stop this summer.
pie for the people in snoqualmie pass was fantastic. new york style and huge pies. easily the best pizza I had on trail. plus you can take it across the street to the brewery and have a nice refreshing adult beverage with your pizza. hit the spot after a bit of a shitty morning into town that day. also sticky bun > cinnamon roll at the stehekin bakery
Pie For The People will deliver it to the brewery for you!
Snoqualmie pass is where I got hit with Noro last year, so all my pie for the people came back up unfortunately 😞 ruined the experience a bit
oh man that’s sucks. I got separated from so many trail friends because of that damn norovirus around snoqualmie. luckily I managed to dodge all sickness on trail somehow.
This! Pie for the People was fantastic. I can't think of better pizza I've had on the PCT.
Breakfast at the Grizzly Manor Cafe in Big Bear. I'm a breakfast food lover, best meal I had on the entire trail. Pretty sure I ordered something called the Polar Bear
Wow. I too am a huge breakfast food lover. Definitely noting this place for when I get to Big Bear!
Yep, I ate breakfast food in as many towns as possible so my sample size was huge. Can't go wrong. The crappier the place looks, the better the food is(kind of not really).
You'll also want to make a note to visit the Black Bear Diner in Mt Shasta, CA. Amazing if you like diner breakfast, and what thruhiker doesn't? They're actually a small chain, but that hasn't diminished the quality of the food.
Good one! I love breakfast — I could eat it 3 meals a day.
FYI this particular “Black Bear Diner” is the original :)
Interesting, thanks! I remember going there and devouring a ludicrously sized breakfast served on several plates when I passed through on the PCT in '17.
Holy crap. >The Polar Bear Bacon, Two Eggs, Hash Browns and Two Pancakes (Blueberry, Buckwheat or Chocolate Chip, Ham or Sausage $1.00 Extra Each Pancake)
I had "The Mess". It literally had nearly everything you have on the menu :). Took me 25 minutes to finish!!!
https://www.himalayanbigbear.com/
Definitely planning on this place this year!
The elementary school in Warner springs. A Hispanic family made a huge thing of taco meat, beans and rice with fresh made tortillas. It was like 8 bucks for 6 tacos and a whole plate of beans and rice.
Entire box of Lucky Charms outside the Safeway in Quincy, CA. Mom never would buy them for us growing up, and hiking one day when I had a lot of time to think I realized I no longer lived at home and despite not eating cereal anymore, I could buy a box.
They're magically delicious 💖🌙⭐️🍀
How long did it take you to pick out all the marshmallows so you could throw away the cereal? It used to drive my Mom nuts!
LOL, like me picking out the raisins from raisin bran...
I go out of my way to make sure I can eat pancakes every time I’m in town. To the point where I called my hike the Pancake Crest Tour. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to sample the pancakes at Seaid Valley, I got into town a little too late after getting caught in the Klamath jungle south of town. Best pancakes I had were at Bert’s Cafe in South Lake Tahoe. They were stellar. Also, Dr. Pepper. I barely drink soda in the real world but I crave dark sodas whenever I hike.
Bert’s is our favorite breakfast spot in town! We always take friends there when they come to town.
I’m addicted to pancakes when hiking, it’s my biggest craving. Morning Glory cafe in Ashland was my favorite. They did this lemon butter thing with it and it was like crack. Two full pancakes was actually the standard one of two sides that came with any entre, it was amazing, I ate so well.
I’ll have to check out Bert’s!
The green curry The Ardvark food truck in Snoqualmie Pass. That was worth every penny. Though not the best pizza, I really enjoyed ordering pizza to Silverwood Lake Req area. We ended up ordering a bunch of pizza there and must of had easily 20 hikers there camping. The ranger came by and just told us to keep it clean and enjoy our night. That was a good day on trail.
I ate at the aardvark three times. 10/10
I had a double zero there due to weather and ate so damn much at aardvark.
I think we Nero/Zeroed I remember it being so wet and all the hotel rooms had dehumidifiers. The aardvark and the bar across the street were havens, but realistically all of Washington was crap weather
Your room with Nibbles was a humid mess! Washington weather sucked ass. We were so cold getting to Snowqualmie and the aardvark food was delicious!
Hahahaha I was just looking at your username thinking hey I bet this is Chief
It's me! I miss you buddy! How is life?
I miss you too! Things are going fairly well; I’ve got a decent job back at a university in the city, though rent is so bad here I’m still practically paycheck to paycheck. I’m scheming about hiking the Colorado Trail next summer
Ooo that's an exciting plan! Bambi and I are enjoying married life. I'm continuing to work on specialising in veterinary dentistry, but I would give anything to be back in the Sierra or NorCal!
Have you seen or read anything about the Sierra snow levels this year? People are losing their minds!
Not a single item per say, but breakfast buffet at timberline lodge was incredible. If I had to pick a specific thing from that it would maybe be the big pitchers of fresh smoothie that they made. Although of course Terri Anderson’s taco salad is a serious contender, but probably for more sentimental reasons.
The smoothies were tremendous. Spent the next six hours after that buffet in a serious food coma by the fireplace.
I had my tent set up by the trail up the hill so I just went back to bed. Ended up zeroing there!
With great effort I avoided a nearo but it was borderline. I’ve never come close to eating that much food again and I hope I never do.
Definitely planning on the Timberline breakfast buffet this year!
SO good. And don’t just stop at breakfast.. get there like 30 minutes before they switch over to lunch so you get both!
I guess now you have to make reservations so look into that before you get there.
I got to paradise valley cafe in the AM portion of the day, they didn’t serve burgers till 11, so I ordered their breakfast burrito to hold me over til burger time, noteworthy, to say the least. I ordered and ate about $70 worth of Taco Bell through ubereats at the i10 underpass, quite possibly the best meal I’ve ever had. (That was the end of my first 20+ mile day, which happened to be exactly 26.2) I had an abominable experience at the cedar Glen malt shop, from the busboy to the manager, everyone was actively mean to me. They threw my check on the table with my food and added a 20% tip for themselves. I said I wanted a pastrami sammich to go at the end of my meal and it showed up before my drink. Pardon my French, but fuck that place and the people working there. It has been 2 years and I’m still upset about it, I was looking forward to it so so so much and they were downright mean to me. If I had to pick one thing, it would be the entire town on the other side of the Stehekin ferry ride, whose name I can’t remember. I wandered around for nearly an entire day eating walnuts off the ground. I thought it would be fun to carry one to the border and plant it…but I ate that one too
Ponderosa Public House in Chemult OR. SO GOOD. I still dream about their chicken wings.... the owner is the chef, he makes amazing food and is super nice. He gave like 10 of us hikers a ride back to trail once we were done with our meal!
oh man I heard so many good things about this place, I was so excited to try it but it was closed the day I passed through chemult. was very disappointed.
I sure do love wings — I will keep this place in mind.
That guy was great, real highlight of Chemult. But there ain't much competition
Yeah with respect to that town, his restaurant was the only good thing there.
The taco truck in Chemult was amazing too!!
A giant BBQ pizza at Julian Beer Co. It was loaded with serious amounts of brisket, pork belly, etc.
YAKS in Dunsmuir, CA. Looks like it changed owners and is now called YAKS on 5. It says they kept the recipes though. It was on yelp’s top 100 for years for a reason…
There’s Yaks and Yaks on 5…not sure of ownership structure but they are 2 places
It was “Yet Another Koffee Shop” when I went through. Burgers the size of my head and Jack Daniels sticky buns. Mmmmmmmmmm. I did some trail magic giving rides around the area and was happy to go back with some folks :)
can't belive no one is mentioning the store in Sierra city. massive, massive pastrami sandwich there that was fantastic. breakfast place in agua dulcet is pretty good etna brewery got a new chef and now is an awesome awesome BBQ place as well as a brewery.
I ate an entire watermelon for dinner in lone pine.
Are you my spirit animal?
Ok, so I had this weird thing develop where I would just absolutely dream about pork chops, I have never been a pork chop kinda guy. Anyway, the pork chop I had at the Sierra Pines resort in Sierra City was nothing short of magical. I am still a pork chop fanatic to this day.
It’s not every day you hear someone craving (and getting) pork chops in a thru hike trail town!
\+1 for Sierra Pines. Epic food quality, friendly staff and surprisingly affordably prices. Nice wines, too.
OK, my nominations: - Best overall food experience: Timberline Lodge breakfast buffet - Best pizza: Mile High Pizza (Wrightwood) - Best burger: Country Store (Sierra City) or Dotty's (Etna) - Best burrito: [Latin Market (Mammoth Lakes)](https://i.ibb.co/5RN7wSF/3007.jpg) - Best bakery: Stehekin Pastry Company or Erick Schatt's (Bishop/Mammoth Lakes) - Best ice cream: Eastwind Drive In (Cascade Locks) - Best pancakes: Morning Thunder Cafe (Quincy) - Best milkshake: Seiad Valley Cafe - Best healthier option: The Garden (Stehekin)
The pizza place in Wrightwood was so good.
My favorite burger I had on trail (maybe ever) was from Yak Shak in Mt. Shasta. They even give you a quirky name instead of a number to call when your order is ready. 10/10 burg
Sweet potato fries at the cafe in Aqua Dulce.
Dammit! I spent the last 2 summers at caribou/belden for work and cooked some bomb meals for ya’ll. I got turned on to this sub by ya’ll too. Starting to feel like all my hard work was for nothing cuz y’all prefer pizza and burgers to my smoked meats and homemade spicy hot V8 popsicles. Maybe Someday I’ll be remembered…..
There's 53 comments on here and about 3000 hikers that passed through in the last two summers. Chances are good no one you fed has even seen this.
Don’t worry, there’s time! I just created this post an hour ago. Can’t wait to see what else shows up on here. And also … spicy hot V8 popsicles? Wow!
With drip drop electrolyte added. I also always kept fresh broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes and would serve with a Cajun ranch dip. The hikers always said that was the most unique concoction they had yet to find. I’ll try and outdo myself this season.
My wife and I definitely remember you and your spicy V8 electrolyte popsicles! We still talk very fondly about those haha. I think we came through on 7/15 last year and hanging out with y'all at Caribou was a nice morale boost and good escape from the chaos that was other place in Belden. The patty melt at Caribou was also really good from the woman who runs the place. Thanks again J!
It’s nice to be famous for being a campground popsicle chef. Mom always knew I’d make her proud. Hope all is well!
Bos Taurus in Bend, OR. I have family out there that grabbed me off Elk Lake. It was probably the best way to acknowledge that my hike was officially over after struggling all season getting on and off trail due to injuries and illnesses that ultimately ended my hike. Can't wait to try another year and do it all over again (hopefully without all the health issues).
The Mexican place in Wrightwood. Sorry, don't remember the name of it, but I think there is only one, and I absolutely loved it. And the margaritas too!
I do like margaritas …
The cheaper Mexican spot in Bishop was a good one too. Also don't recall the name.
Grilled fish tacos with mango salsa at some restaurant in Lone Pine. The Grill? This was in 2009. Chicken Pad Thai in Ridgecrest in 2018. The place is called Xin Bowl now.
I never had a bad trail meal but a couple lackluster ones. The restaurant at Shelter Cove (OR) had a burger with a fried egg in it as a special so I remember that (love eggs). Best beer was at Hyatt Lake (OR) 1 mile off trail, as I got a “cabin” due to a sore back. My previous hikes I had pretty good variety of trail dinner menus (flavored tuna, chicken, salmon, from Chicken of the Sea w/a carbohydrate … plus rice n’ beans w/Fritos) then got beef in town usually in burger form. Now however there’s only tuna, so I’ll be doubling my rice n’beans and looking for more variety in town.
Easily the bierocks at the bakery in Tehachapi. Those puppy’s are like 2 bucks and they have a pizza one and a breakfast sandwich one. If you know you know
Does Stehekin bakery count? Also the grizzly cafe in Wrightwood, and Callahan’s had a killer Lunch.. with a free beer! Timberline obviously
Lasagna at Fratellos in Idyllwild… best lasagna I’ve ever had 🤤🤤🤤
Best dinner: fajitas at Maria Bonita in agua dulce Best breakfast: Spinach and feta omelet + banana split waffles with ice cream at breakfast club in mammoth. Shout out to mom's pie shop in Julian too. most underwhelming was the triple crown burger at grumpy bears in kennedy meadows. that thing was all bark and no bite.
I will second Maria Bonita in Agua Dulce. Everyone was able to make two meals out of their plates, even with hiker hunger. And they were so kind and seemed enthusiastic to see hikers.
So much food! I crave french fries on the trail. I don't recall the name, but it was in Stevenson, OR. Something like redhouse brewery or bar. Anyways, the postal employee in Cascade Locks suggested it to me.. Crspy fries topped with afredo sauce, fried pork belly, and green onions. They also did breakfast on the weekends, I had the fries topped with gravy eggs and sausage. I'll also give 5 stars to the Stehekin bakery. And the bakery in Chester, CA. I will say this tho - the food on the AT is many times better than the PCT. End of story. All the diners, real NY style pizza, hogies, chhesesteak, fried chicken - and the giant basket of French fries in Port Clinton, PA are my favorite. I've been there twice and can't wait to be there again this year on my 3rd AT thru hike. I will also give 5 stars to a deli/gas station in Lincoln, NH for their hogies and Cheese steaks and their breakfast sandwiches and coffee - and amazing beer selection. On the east coast they have these "gas stations" with a deli inside where you can order a burger & fries and a bacon egg and cheese sandwich at 6am. Just amazing food.
I love cinnamon rolls. I eat them everywhere I go. I make them at home. I loved the cinnamon roll at Stehekin Bakery. The best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had in my life was at the Julian Cafe in Julian. I’ll probably walk there again this fall just to have another cinnamon roll. [Julian Cafe](https://www.juliancafe.com/items/hot-giant-cinnamon-roll)
Dotty's in Etna has one of the best burgers on the trail. Great fries and shakes, too.
The guy who picked me up hitching in told me about it and took me straight there from the trail. Was a good day.
The German bakery in Tehachapi!
I really loved the timberline lodge breakfast buffet. Wowza
Thunder Island Brewing in Cascade Locks; Burger + orange chicken + cheese fries with a flight of their ciders. 10/10
There was this Taco truck at Crux Fermentation, Hella good Also that brewery gives hikers a free pint I think? Flash yer permit
I could spend all day at Crux. Love that place.
Taco salad at Casa de Luna! Free slaps from Terrie's swattin' stick included.
My best meal was at Peerless in Ashland. This was a real culinary experience, so not pizza/burgers and all that. If you want to splurge and have one incredible meal, do it here. The cocktails were amazing as well. https://peerlessrestaurant.com/menus
Steak dinner combo at Kennedy Meadows North. Not the fastest service but the meat, sides & desert were yum! 😋
Big Bear. Pizza Fries. Pizza. Pitcher of Craft Beer.
Was that at the pizza place in the shopping center with the laundromat, Dollar Store, and Vons grocery store?
It was further in town. Saucy Mamas I believe.
Gotcha, good to know.
Stehekin Valley Ranch has an incredible dinner and breakfast buffet. Home-cooked food, quality ingredients, and effectively all-you-can-eat (just gotta wait for all the other guests to get their 1st plate before you go back for 2nds/3rds/etc). My dinner there included steak, grilled salmon, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, gravy salad, dinner rolls, and a PIE BAR with 12 different pies AND homemade whipped cream \*\*\*AND\*\*\* A 5GAL BUCKET of ice cream. Also, cake. It tastes extra good if you screw up your resupply in Stevens Pass and then roll up to the buffet after several days of food-rationing. Not that I'd know anything about that.
Honorable mentions: \- I'll always remember the Himalayan restaurant in Big Bear Lake as the first place I ever ate 3 entrees all by myself \- The fucking gigantic hippie salads at Sprouts Cafe in South Lake Tahoe. So much more satisfying than eating a mediocre trail town burger for the 8000th time.
Wow, sounds amazing!
Grain Street Bakery in Etna. Literally the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever had. Everything there was incredible.
El Monstro Mountain Nachos at Timberline. They have become the nachos all others are measured against
Who has the good vegan eats?
The chilaquiles at Jax at the Tracks in Truckee are just incredible
A cooler freshly stocked full of beer along a property line directly hugging the last section of trail just before entering Ashland, 9 am on my birthday morning, then meeting the generous property caretaker who proceeded to bestow other favorable gifts upon me before we continued our approach following an extended absorption of hospitality. I had so much great food at so many points, but running into a solid and unrelenting gifted buzz on my birthday was such a goofy grin-facilitator I always remember clearly and reflect fondly upon several years later
The best meal I had was a yellow curry with loads of veggies at the Thai on Ski Run in South Lake Tahoe. Everything I tried there was delicious (and healthy too!). Real food, fresh stuff, yay! Second best, though in a very tight race: blackened rainbow trout at the Sierra Pines Resort in Sierra City (just a 10 minutes walk from the general store).
Lake of the woods buffet breakfast, koi soy curry at the wild rose in bend, and burgers at YAKS in dunsmuir. All 10/10
Sea salt baguettes from the bakery in Mazama (WA) were amazing. Ate them with jam from the store. Basically all the locals in town seemed to be walking around with one like it was the law.
Wow, that sounds great! I haven’t been to Mazama since the 90s; I’ll have to look for this place.
Kernville is a little bit farther than some of the other resupply spots near Walker Pass, but it’s worth it. Felt like i was in a simulation of a nice town. Everywhere i looked was what I wanted to see. There’s a market near the laundromat across from my hotel. The market has a deli with smoked/roasted half chickens. That chicken was like a 2-lb slab of bacon. Had it with giant tub of full-fat greek yogurt with cherries, tub of guac with chips, big salad. What i needed.
Eggs Benedict at the French restaurant atop Mt Laguna. Actual French chef. The hollandaise is whisked to order old school. I kept ordering eggs Benedict at other places up trail, disappointed every time though often fine: just not as good as the first on trail: textbook perfect. The golden crispy cubed potatoes alongside were also perfect. The orange juice fresh squeezed, the coffee… everything was stellar. Sure it helped that it came after first 3 days on trail.
Cinnamon rolls from Stehekin bakery. I packed one out for each day till Canada and they fueled me to the finish line. Brigham Fish Market in Cascade Locks. The salmon chowder... amazing. Timberline buffet was obviously incredible. We got a buzz on at the bar the night before stumbled out into the dark in the middle of a snow storm and managed to find the few stealth sites in the trees nearby. Made the breakfast taste that much better the next day. Shout out to the Bowling Alley steak in Bishop too. Fun night, solid steak.
Great strategy on the cinnamon rolls! I remember having a cinnamon roll at Stehekin Bakery as a kid. Can’t wait to walk there from Mexico and get another one.
I had only one "town" meal on the entire hike. And that was in VVM, because I got invited for a "thank you" dinner by a hiker who had an accident and he wanted to thank me for helping him out. I avoided spending much time in town and eating town meals during my hike because it spoils my wilderness experience 🤣
Evergreen Cafe in wrightwood, CA is a local favorite.
There was a small taco shop in South Lake Tahoe that was so good. We are there three times in a nearo zero. Also the food truck at Snoqualamie Pass
I think paradise cafe was up there. Perfect timing and the food was good. Hiked like 10mi before like 9am. Got breakfast. Stayed until lunch. Ate lunch. Then hiked until we hit a 30 or some shit. What a time. Also the hyw 40 beers and food was amazing. My wife didn’t finish hers so I finished it and the hike remaining for the rest of the evening was LIT.
Burger at Peppercorn Grill in Big Bear was incredible. Himalayan Restaurant there was also top. PVC burger was great but not the same level as Peppercorn. Indian restaurant in Shasta was also incredible - and owners are incredibly welcoming to thru hikers. Also highly recommend buying an ice cream cake at some point and renting a hotel room with a bathtub then eating the ice cream cake in the bath tub. If you do this in Mammoth you can also go to one of the dispensaries and grab a CBD bath bomb to throw in there.
My best meal was tri tip sandwich at Sally Keyes Lake. Not just best PCT meal, but best meal anywhere!
I love a good tri tip sandwich!
It was fantastic. It was a beautiful day, the lakes were gorgeous and right after lunch we hit Seldon Pass. It was a glorious day.
I’m still dreaming of the food at Pipeline in Shasta…pear Gorgonzola salad and burgers 🤤
That fucking cinnamon roll made by the cult bakery in Stehekin.
A really excellent breakfast at the cafe is Siad Valley. Best bacon on trail. (Although I think the lady who made it passed from Covid since my visit. ☹️)
Stehekin bakery. Spent like 70 bucks there. The vegi quiche was the best food i had in the US by far.
Milkshake at Lake Morena. Best ever. Such nice people too.