When I think about family hikes as a child, one thing comes to mind:

Picture us, much like the Von Trapp family happily singing through the mountains of Austria. Except that it was probably just my mother and I singing “The Hills are Alive” and we were hiking in The Smoky Mountains…

We had gorp (peanuts, raisins and m&m’s) for every hike, which was definitely the highlight for my brother and I. More specifically the m&m’s were the highlight, and we took full advantage of this by needing to stop about every 20 minutes to “refuel” as I’m sure we called it.

Apparently my tastes haven’t changed too much in the last 20 years because my latest trail mix obsession contains a delightful mix of almonds, peanuts, chocolate chips and dried raspberries. It is the perfect ratio of nuts to sweets. Every two nuts has either a raspberry or chocolate to accompany it. Just the way it should be, right?

What is your perfect trail-mix blend?