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Post by Coolkat on Oct 22, 2020 5:24:55 GMT -8
This is play off of zeke's thread about food variety. I'm just wondering if there is anyone else who still after many of years of backpacking seem to always take too much food. Not sure why I do this even though I try to watch for it. This summer I did 10 days in Colorado (La Garita Wilderness). 10 days of food is a lot of weight and supposedly the average weight of backpackers is 1.5 to 2 pounds of food per day. I was way under that with about 12 lbs for the 10 days and I still ended up with a ton left over. I think some of that was because the elevation took my appetite. I was very tempted to remove the packaging and start burying my food but I didn't. Then at the end of September I did another 4 day hike this time I was a little better but I still had a little bit of food left over. I always pack an extra day's worth of food for the "just in case" situation but I might stop doing that. |
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Oct 22, 2020 6:05:51 GMT -8
I always pack an extra day's worth of food for the "just in case" situation but I might stop doing that. That's sort of what I do. For most trips I've learned to just let the "unintentional" overage cover my extra food requirement. It ends up being mostly leftover bars and cheese chunks and such, which is fine for emergency food. On longer trips I have to be more intentional about it or, like you, I'll end up returning with way more than a day's extra. That's not a very helpful reply, is it? |
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Oct 22, 2020 11:15:15 GMT -8
I notoriously overpack food. This started after running out of food on a trip in 1996. Now I do a lot of weekend trips where it doesn't hurt to carry extra. But when it's time to pack for a week or more, I have trouble guessing how much I'll eat on trail days.
The worst was on the John Muir Trail - we started at Mt. Whitney going north for 10 days to Muir Trail Ranch, which was the first resupply. I probably had 14 days of food. It was nearly a week before it would all fit in the bear canister. At MTR I still had maybe 5 pounds of trail mix and cashew clusters, at least a half dozen Cliff bars, a half jar of peanut butter and most of a jar of honey.
I've done better recently. Hiking to the car this summer after 8 days on the trail I had a couple of Fourpoints bars, a Mountain House, and a little trail mix - maybe some jerky, too.
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Post by Coolkat on Oct 23, 2020 3:36:59 GMT -8
and most of a jar of honey. I've considered a small container of honey but I'm paranoid about it accidentally opening up while hiking. |
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Oct 23, 2020 8:51:13 GMT -8
I've considered a small container of honey but I'm paranoid about it accidentally opening up while hiking. I order single use packets on line now. Makes oatmeal much easier to eat. |
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Post by bobcat on Oct 23, 2020 14:49:52 GMT -8
I’ve learned from experience to measure my food pretty carefully and err on the side of less, if I am backpacking or other lengthy wilderness trips. I have also learned that there will be days I don’t bother with hot breakfast, leaving my oatmeal as an extra meal if I need it. My system might not work for everyone but it has worked for me and I no longer overpack food.
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Post by cweston on Oct 23, 2020 16:15:20 GMT -8
I’ve learned not to overpack much, but it took many years to get there. There’s always *some* stuff that doesn’t get eaten. Even if I stay out an extra night, there will be food—maybe not the choice food, but...
Also, if I’m being honest, going a day or half a day without food wouldn’t be such a terrible disaster.
Also, I usually plan trips so that there are less than ten miles on the final day. So, if I’m where I planned to be, I usually have the option of gaining back a day that might have been lost to weather or whatever, by making a long day out to the car.
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tomas
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Post by tomas on Oct 24, 2020 10:10:48 GMT -8
Also, if I’m being honest, going a day or half a day without food wouldn’t be such a terrible disaster. I've run out of food on the trail and it really sucks. |
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 24, 2020 11:39:52 GMT -8
I've struggled to reduce overpacking, but I don't feel too bad about it. My appetite changes a lot when I'm working hard, especially at altitude, and I find myself not wanting to eat some things that are usually my favorites. My "just in case" food also covers the unexpected need for something different from the plan.
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Oct 24, 2020 12:46:50 GMT -8
supposedly the average weight of backpackers is 1.5 to 2 pounds of food per day. I measured before and after weights for a few trips and my consumption was slightly under 1 pound per day. Didn't seem to matter much if it was a strenuous hike or not. On the trail, I think I'm a pretty average eater for a 5'2" woman. So now, I make a menu, pack it up and weight it... and it's almost always significantly more than 1lb per day. I then look at it again and force myself to remove those off-menu things that just sort of snuck into the food sack. Sometimes I can't find stuff I'm willing to take out. Those are the trips I come home with a LOT of extra food. The only time I ran out of food was the first time I took my dog. He ate twice as much as he normally does and ended up eating half of mine. we were both starving when we got out but, still, it wasn't the end of the world. |
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 24, 2020 13:45:07 GMT -8
I measured before and after weights for a few trips and my consumption was slightly under 1 pound per day. I eat 1-1.25 pounds a day, usually toward the low end. There is a bit less of me to feed than average. |
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Post by Coolkat on Oct 25, 2020 6:40:02 GMT -8
There is a bit less of me to feed than average. This is why I've never been a calorie counter for my hiking trips. However, I'm also thinking that my trips aren't long enough to be concerned about caloric intake. And normally I'm not doing 20 miles a day. |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Nov 9, 2020 19:55:59 GMT -8
I measured before and after weights for a few trips and my consumption was slightly under 1 pound per day. I eat 1-1.25 pounds a day, usually toward the low end. There is a bit less of me to feed than average. I struggled on my trips this summer to get the food weight down to the 1.5 lb mark, even though I was doing it fine when cooking for two. And then in the Weminuche I found that I just didn’t want to eat everything. It might have had something to do with a slower hiking pace than usual? I honestly don’t know. But I’ve always done dinner in 3 parts, with soup, entree, and dessert, and that’s changing. Need to dump the sugar more anyway. |
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Nov 12, 2020 20:11:19 GMT -8
But I’ve always done dinner in 3 parts, with soup, entree, and dessert, and that’s changing. Need to dump the sugar more anyway. I try to break dinner into multiple parts, mainly to get more food into me. I like to finish with a hot cocoa, maybe with a tortilla to dunk in it. |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Nov 13, 2020 8:08:15 GMT -8
But I’ve always done dinner in 3 parts, with soup, entree, and dessert, and that’s changing. Need to dump the sugar more anyway. I try to break dinner into multiple parts, mainly to get more food into me. I like to finish with a hot cocoa, maybe with a tortilla to dunk in it. Yeah, spreading it out more would help. The idea is supposed to be to have soup on arriving in camp, as a restorative. What I will probably do is carry soup for some days, but not all, and use it when I need it. Desserts... those might go. Sugar is not my friend. |
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