The old saying “an Army marches on its stomach” also holds true for hikers, paddlers and similar outdoor travelers.

In fact, the quality and quantity of the outdoor table fare is often regarded as one of the most memorable elements of a camping trip. I have discovered that one of the most memorable aspects of the overall camping experience more often revolves around the quality of the meals than the weather, the fishing or the scenery. In blunt terms, if the food sucks, so does the trip.

While s’mores remain a stalwart dessert in most camping recipe books, the need for quick and easy, high-calorie meals does not always require sweets, although it never hurts to have a few around camp.

There are a wide variety of options at the outdoor diner, but one of my favorites is a quick, filling, eat-on-the-go breakfast that allows me to be on the water within a few minutes of rolling out of the sack. Best of all, it’s non-utensil, so there’s no need to heat water or dry dishes.

My favorite quick and easy breakfast is known as “BENO,” which is short for bacon, eggs ‘n oranges. It was developed to take advantage of the previous evening’s fire ring to prepare a quick meal that can be eaten in one hand on the go. This can be very important when you’re scrambling to get on the water before sunrise to take advantage of the early rising trout.

BENO is cooked over the coals of the previous evening’s fire. It consists of a few strips of bacon, a large orange and a couple of eggs. It begins with hanging a rack of bacon over the hot coals until crisp. While the bacon cooks, I cut a large orange in half and core out the fruit.

Then I’ll crack an egg into each half of the empty orange rinds and set both halves into the coals of the evening’s fire. As the bacon crisps over the fire, the eggs will poach in the orange rinds.

When the eggs are properly poached, I will toast a few English muffins over the fire, and cover them with the crisp bacon. In less time than it takes to read this story, I will be enjoying a hot, tasty breakfast in one hand, leaving the other hand free to gather gear and stuff it in the canoe. Clean up is as easy as tossing the orange rinds in the garbage, and dousing the coals, so I can be on the water to catch the morning’s rise.

If plans call for another convenient, high energy “eat-on-your-feet” meal when I’m off through the carries, I’ll usually pack along a few “walking salads” that we can eat on the fly. I use pita bread that is sliced open and packed with a salad or cole slaw. I also add in some sliced beef, chicken breast or some crisp bacon that’s left over from breakfast.

I wrap the wraps in foil and toss them in the top of my pack along with a water bottle and a piece of fruit. If time permits, I’ll also prepare a few walking salads, which are another eat-on-the-fly staple. These are achieved by cutting a large apple in half and coring it out to create a cavity that is filled with GORP, cinnamon sugar or even peanut butter and jam.

Since I often use a set of wheelies to haul my boats, I always have a free hand to stuff a walking salad or some other type of “one-hand” meal down my pie-hole.

While it’s important for outdoor travelers to hydrate regularly, it’s also vital to replenish the calories that are expended over the course of a day. Outdoor travelers expend nearly twice the calories they expend during a typical day that is spent indoors. It is likely one of the main reasons camp food always tastes better.

When the light of day grows low in the sky, it is especially important restock the fuel tank.

Enjoying a meal around an open campfire has always been a quintessential component of the outdoor experience. It provides a truly primitive element, that serves to bring us back to our roots. Most campers insist food simply tastes better when eaten outside.

When William H.H. “Adirondack” Murray advised campers to head off to the wilds of the Adirondacks back in the 1880s, he recommended they pack a bag of provisions.

“All you need to carry in with you is coffee, pepper, tea, butter (this is optional), sugar, pork and condensed milk. … If you are a ‘high liver’ and wish to take in canned fruits and jellies, of course you can do so. But these are luxuries which, if you are wise, you will leave behind you.”

Murray insisted, “I do not starve” while living in the woods. His Adirondack diet consisted primarily of potatoes (“boiled, fried or mashed”), venison in various forms, trout, pancakes, bread (“warm and stale”), coffee and tea.

An anonymous sportsman wrote about his trip to the Adirondacks in 1867, with particular mention of the table fare.

“Trout ‘Flapjacks’ & corn cakes were soon cooked… and then we hurried into the Tent to eat, for the Mosquitos were very troublesome out side, & threatened to devour us, waving [sic] all objections as regarded our not being Cooked. Next morning we were up early & had such a Breakfast. Venison nicely cooked in a variety of ways great blooming Potatoes, splendid Pan cakes with maple sugar syrup, Eggs, & actual cream to drink. … We could scarcely leave the Table.”

While the choice of camp provisions has certainly improved over the years, the staple meat and potato diet has remained stable. Of course, it is always more enjoyable when the participants are responsible for providing some of the staples. Whether the meal features trout or venison, ducks or frog legs, a truly wild feast always beats a domestic meal hands down.

To get it all down, there is no coffee better than camp coffee, especially after returning from a cold morning that was spent hiking, paddling or simply sitting on watch.