Seven day backpacking trips in the wilderness require the participants to carry everything they will need in order to survive, including food.
From my own experience, I can promise potential West Coast Trail hikers that they will curse every ounce of weight in their backpacks, at least 100 times per day.
Obviously, for reasons of space, weight and nutritional safety, it is not possible to pack fresh food, tinned, frozen or microwavable, nor should you expect much in the way of take out or tent delivery either.
I am not sure if she is still there, but near Carmannah Point, a native lady has set up a trailside restaurant called Chez Monique and if she does it again this year, it will be the best hamburger you have ever had in your life and also the biggest.
Check with Parks Canada before you set out.
The rest of the meals need to fit inside your backpack along with coffee, tea, rain gear, sleeping pad and bag, tent, utensils, pans, first aid kit, clothing, water filter, rope and many other items in order to complete the trail.
Some of this equipment might be shared with other members of your party but the only viable solution to the food question is the powdered type.
Aside from some of the funny stories about this stuff in my book, the reality is that there are a lot of different products available that fall into the add boiling water and stir variety and most of them are not too bad.
Planning is essential since you do not want to have too much because of the unnecessary weight and too little won't work either.
Try some of the packaged products before going out into the wilderness because that's the wrong place to find out that you really don't like the scrambled egg concoctions for breakfast.
Nutrition is absolutely vital and you simply cannot afford to skip a meal just because you don't like the taste.
Do your research first.
We found that the grocery store variety of instant oatmeal was fast and nourishing and easy to pack and make for breakfast.
It's a lot cheaper than the camping store offerings, too.
You might consider bringing a few juice crystal packages to add to your water supply since it masks the flavor of filtered water.
We imagined that we would make something hot for lunches but never did it because of the time and effort it required to unpack and set up the stove and then wait for it to cool down in order to repack.
Unless you like doing that sort of thing, find a cold lunch idea that will work for the 7 days or actually 5, if Monique's is open, and the last day you will be at the trailhead and find a restaurant nearby.
Nuts and dried berries are a thought, unless you have already had too much trail mix.
Speaking of snack items, try Eat More chocolate bars, they are really tasty, chewy, sweet and way less money than the so-called Power Bars.
If I had it to do over, I would have brought some fresh food for the first night, including some fresh fruit for dessert.
Perhaps having a banana or apple for a snack on the first day or so would help too.
They won't keep long but they would keep the number of days of powder and lumps to a minimum.
If you don't eat it yourself, you could probably sell an apple to someone who is hiking the opposite direction from you, for a pretty good buck.
Next time, we will talk about clothing.