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tim.hiker
03-30-2015, 19:02
I have never done more than 4 nights on the trail at one time, I was wondering how many days you can hike with out resupplying.

BirdBrain
03-30-2015, 19:06
I have done 9 nights / 10 days. That is about 30,000 calories and about 13 lbs of food for me.

In case that seems like an exaggerated calorie density, I can list my diet. It is the same every day.

Donde
03-30-2015, 19:16
That is dependent on several variables: What size pack one is using, what season (thus determining how much cold weather gear you have), what food choices you make, and what kind of distance you are trying to cover.

Another Kevin
03-30-2015, 19:27
I've never tried to do more than a six-day food carry. It worked fine. If I did a really careful job of packing, and an equally careful job of choosing compact foods, I could probably cram a 10-day supply in my larger bearbag. That would be a heavy pack on the first day, but no worse than what I used to carry a few years ago, before I cut down some of my gear weight. And certainly lighter than what I used to lug in the 1970s!

MuddyWaters
03-30-2015, 20:22
~200 miles/ 12 days

Maybe 250+ in easy terrain.

Tipi Walter
03-31-2015, 09:29
All my backpacking trips are long without food resupply. My longest was 24 days and my last trip in March was 22 days on one food load. It's easy, you just have to be willing to carry 40 or 50 lbs of food along with all your other gear.

To me frequent food resupply ruins a backpacking trip as I go into the woods to avoid cars and roads and stores and folding money and syphilization. Constant food resupply is very common for AT backpackers as they seem to need their ultralight packs and their frequent town visits as they will never carry a 40 lb food load.

colorado_rob
03-31-2015, 09:38
All my backpacking trips are long without food resupply. My longest was 24 days and my last trip in March was 22 days on one food load. It's easy, you just have to be willing to carry 40 or 50 lbs of food along with all your other gear.
I wouldn't say "easy"..... but yeah, I've packed 21 days before for a "hike" (actually a very big, cold mountain climb) that was a total of only 50 miles but with zero chance of resupply. I had ~38 pounds of food and 1 gallon of white gas fuel. It was mid-summer and we had regular temps of -20 degrees F...

For kinder, gentler (but still long) hikes I like to keep food down to 7 days, makes for much more comfortable and enjoyable hiking.

LoneStranger
03-31-2015, 09:46
All my backpacking trips are long without food resupply. My longest was 24 days and my last trip in March was 22 days on one food load. It's easy, you just have to be willing to carry 40 or 50 lbs of food along with all your other gear.

To me frequent food resupply ruins a backpacking trip as I go into the woods to avoid cars and roads and stores and folding money and syphilization. Constant food resupply is very common for AT backpackers as they seem to need their ultralight packs and their frequent town visits as they will never carry a 40 lb food load.

I've been working out a plan to do the entire LT unsupported, but not racing, never leaving the trail. 40 pounds of food is my target weight for 20 days. Going to scare the heck out of the AT thrus on the first hundred miles with that load or at least put them at risk of hurting themselves laughing. That isn't why I want to do this, but it is an added benefit :)

Walkintom
03-31-2015, 10:05
I prefer to carry no more than 6 days of food at a time if I can avoid it. This allows me to keep my total pack weight around 30 pounds which is pretty comfortable for me.

I hike to enjoy myself and a really heavy pack takes away from that. As I have learned to be a lighter packer over time my enjoyment has increased.

The actual food weight varies a bit depending on how much freeze dried stuff I'm carrying. I enjoy having an apple or two and some cheese and often a summer sausage in that mix along with a good bit of gorp but as I increase the number of days I'm going to be out then the quantity of those food types decreases and the amount of freeze dried food increases.

If I really wanted to I suppose I could kick out a luxury item or two and then handle about 14 days worth of food without getting much over 35-37 pounds but the price would be going up and the amount of fresh items would be zero.

Tipi Walter
03-31-2015, 10:14
I'm joining a friend for a BMT thruhike soon and since I need to keep up and make more miles than I'm used to I decided to carry a 3 lb tent and a lighter pack and go stoveless for 15 days with no-cook foods. Mostly bread and hummus and oatmeal and probars and rice cakes and nut butters and jam etc. But once it's over I'll gladly go back to my 8 lb tent and my 44 ozs of white gas and the stove.

BirdBrain
03-31-2015, 10:17
All my backpacking trips are long without food resupply. My longest was 24 days and my last trip in March was 22 days on one food load. It's easy, you just have to be willing to carry 40 or 50 lbs of food along with all your other gear.

To me frequent food resupply ruins a backpacking trip as I go into the woods to avoid cars and roads and stores and folding money and syphilization. Constant food resupply is very common for AT backpackers as they seem to need their ultralight packs and their frequent town visits as they will never carry a 40 lb food load.

Well there. I feel like a wimp now. You are the man Tipi. No. I am not being sarcastic. I agree. I would rather be on the trail when I go on the trail. I avoid towns as much as possible. Okay... as much as I feel is reasonable. For me that is 6 to 10 days. I believe you win in showing what is possible.

fastfoxengineering
03-31-2015, 10:24
I've been working out a plan to do the entire LT unsupported, but not racing, never leaving the trail. 40 pounds of food is my target weight for 20 days. Going to scare the heck out of the AT thrus on the first hundred miles with that load or at least put them at risk of hurting themselves laughing. That isn't why I want to do this, but it is an added benefit :)

I did the LT and met a woman who only did 1 resupply going sobo. And that's partially due to her having to carry a fair amount of her dogs food. I think going that long with trail food and no "real" meal thrown in would be the worst part. However, if you dehydrated all your own meals I feel food satisfaction would be fine. Luckily on a trail like the LT, your appetite is there, buy not ravenous so you can eat normal amounts of food.. But come on.. One of the best parts of the LT is all the damn good beer!

LoneStranger
03-31-2015, 10:40
I did the LT and met a woman who only did 1 resupply going sobo. And that's partially due to her having to carry a fair amount of her dogs food. I think going that long with trail food and no "real" meal thrown in would be the worst part. However, if you dehydrated all your own meals I feel food satisfaction would be fine. Luckily on a trail like the LT, your appetite is there, buy not ravenous so you can eat normal amounts of food.. But come on.. One of the best parts of the LT is all the damn good beer!

Other than the fact that it amuses me the primary reason I'm doing this trip this way is to save all the B&Bs, inns and restaurants for when my wife is able to do this trip with me in a few years. It just seemed wrong to do all that good stuff without her when I know how much she would enjoy it.

I do make my own freezer bag meals and with things such as lobster marinara pasta with shrimp I won't exactly be suffering in terms of food. As a dedicated Long Trail Double Bag drinker being so close and not visiting the brewery will be a challenge though!

Hot Flash
03-31-2015, 11:25
Longest I did without resupply was ten days. I had about a day's worth of food left when I was done.

tim.hiker
03-31-2015, 11:51
thanks I enjoy riding informational post, There no question now that I can do a 6 or 7 days on the AT trail threw the smokies...

Jake2c
03-31-2015, 12:44
I'm not sure what I will carry but this thread has been a breath of fresh air. I was getting tired of the constant drum beat of carving oz(s). I will probably start with an external frame pack as for me, it carries weight more comfortably. I am hoping to stay under 40lbs total in the winter.

tim.hiker
03-31-2015, 13:18
I never tried a external pack before but I really like my external frame tho, I take good food with me which is heaver but I am not a long distance hiker, but I do want to do the AT in the Smokies from one end to the other... I have don't part of it already but I find the other trails way more enjoyable...

BirdBrain
03-31-2015, 13:33
I'm not sure what I will carry but this thread has been a breath of fresh air. I was getting tired of the constant drum beat of carving oz(s). I will probably start with an external frame pack as for me, it carries weight more comfortably. I am hoping to stay under 40lbs total in the winter.

Easy now. Just because I carry 6-10 days of food, it does not mean that I don't measure it all in grams. ;) Okay... swing away. :D

Tipi Walter
03-31-2015, 13:36
I would rather be on the trail when I go on the trail. I avoid towns as much as possible. Okay... as much as I feel is reasonable. For me that is 6 to 10 days. I believe you win in showing what is possible.

There's more to discover in this vein. I calculate a normal adult can go around 30 days without resupply if that person dries everything at home and is careful with meal planning. On my 24 day winter trip I still had around 5 days of food at the end (being that I always carry extra in the winter to plan for an end-of-trip blizzard and a longer stay).

It's a fascinating subject for those of us who are retired and have to time to pull such long trips on a monthly basis. Zero resupply means, generally, more time in the woods w/o interruption---what it's all about in my opinion.

LoneStranger
03-31-2015, 14:04
I'm not sure what I will carry but this thread has been a breath of fresh air. I was getting tired of the constant drum beat of carving oz(s). I will probably start with an external frame pack as for me, it carries weight more comfortably. I am hoping to stay under 40lbs total in the winter.

For the heavy loads I prefer external as well. They tend to put the load up higher keeping it closer to the spine. Overloading my Osprey tends to make it sag backwards.

Going heavy doesn't mean you can stop worrying about weight though :) The only way I can carry 40 pounds of food is by keeping the rest of my kit sort of light. Even with the external frame pack I come in at less than 12 pounds for tent, bed, kitchen and pack. That lets me carry 8 pounds of luxuries such as water, stove fuel and clean socks without going over 60 pounds total which is as heavy as I want to go if I'm covering ground. I can carry another 20 pounds or so if I need to on a family trip, but those are slow, low mileage days so it works out.

Fredt4
03-31-2015, 14:35
Did a 10 hike on the AT in the '70 when I was 18. Carried lots of canned goods, only resupply was at a gas station. I believe we picked up some beenies. Don't remember the pack weight but I'm sure it was over 50 lbs.

Tipi Walter
03-31-2015, 16:46
I always like to point out Eric Ryback's AT thruhike in 1970 when he loaded up his old Jansport pack with 21 days worth of food and felt great about it. He liked knowing he could stay out on the trail for 3 weeks w/o interruption. Plus, his legs were like pistons.

garlic08
03-31-2015, 16:50
As mentioned above, this discussion is almost meaningless without knowing the distance traveled, and the difficulty of the route.

On the PCT and CDT, most hikers get used to carrying 100+ miles of food routinely, and some hike 200 through the Sierra without hiking out for resupply. My longest resupply was 180 miles in seven days on the Pacific Northwest Trail, and I've done 175 in six days across the South San Juan and Weminuche Wildernesses in So Colorado on the CDT, mostly on excellent trail.

Those longer resupplies prompted me to devise a new formula for packed food. Rather than thinking of pounds per day, I think in terms of miles per pound. For summer hikes on good trail, that's 10 to 12 miles per pound of food. And I gauge what I eat by my progress--when I get halfway to my resupply, I'll make sure I've eaten just more than half my supplies (I don't mind running out the night before). Of course that formula is useless for those who hike a few miles in then set up camp for a couple of weeks for the purpose of navel contemplation.

Tipi Walter
03-31-2015, 16:55
I don't believe any of us were talking about Basecamping as in your example. At least in my case I'm talking about a 24 day backpacking trip with one food load and moving every day, and having a full winter kit. BTW, 5 miles with an 85 lb pack (and the food) is about the same as 15 or 20 miles with a 30 lb pack. (And takes about as long).

Coffee
03-31-2015, 16:57
I just finished packing up my Bearikade for shipment to Kennedy Meadows for my PCT hike. It contains about 7 1/2 days of food with the rest of it being carried outside the canister on the first day. I shoot for 4,000 calories per day and no more than 2 pounds of food per day. My longest food carry was 7 days on the JMT in 2013 and I'll have a slightly longer food carry this year on the PCT/JMT. With 16 pounds of food and a couple of liters of water, my pack is still not going to be much more than 35 pounds, so sure, I feel like a wimp compared to those who are doing 3 weeks without resupply. I personally don't mind going into town every so often. Probably the sweet spot is a four day food carry for me. A good balance between being out on the trail, not carrying lots of weight, and not having too much town time.

LoneStranger
03-31-2015, 18:26
I just finished packing up my Bearikade for shipment to Kennedy Meadows for my PCT hike. It contains about 7 1/2 days of food with the rest of it being carried outside the canister on the first day. I shoot for 4,000 calories per day and no more than 2 pounds of food per day. My longest food carry was 7 days on the JMT in 2013 and I'll have a slightly longer food carry this year on the PCT/JMT. With 16 pounds of food and a couple of liters of water, my pack is still not going to be much more than 35 pounds, so sure, I feel like a wimp compared to those who are doing 3 weeks without resupply. I personally don't mind going into town every so often. Probably the sweet spot is a four day food carry for me. A good balance between being out on the trail, not carrying lots of weight, and not having too much town time.

I actually agree with you pretty much on the sweet spot. 4 or 5 days keeps you light enough to move fast safely.

Do you have your food plan posted somewhere Coffee? I always like to see what other people are doing to see if I can learn any tasty tricks.

Coffee
03-31-2015, 18:43
I haven't really made up a food plan except for the Kennedy Meadows resupply because it had to be so dense in order to fit in the canister. Very boring and repetitive. Oatmeal with dry milk (Nido) and nuts for breakfast. Granola/craisin trail mix and pecans for snacks throughout the day, a rice/pasta dinner (with olive oil ) and M&Ms for dessert. About 4000 calories. I'm going to be sick of M&Ms after that segment but they take up space in the canister very effectively...

4eyedbuzzard
03-31-2015, 19:10
I always like to point out Eric Ryback's AT thruhike in 1970 when he loaded up his old Jansport pack with 21 days worth of food and felt great about it. He liked knowing he could stay out on the trail for 3 weeks w/o interruption. Plus, his legs were like pistons.
Then again, he was what, 18 years old or so at the time? I don't know (yeah, actually, I do - it can't) if this old spine could handle that 70 lb +/- pack even on level ground.

Hangfire
03-31-2015, 19:24
thanks I enjoy riding informational post, There no question now that I can do a 6 or 7 days on the AT trail threw the smokies...

What, no Gatlinburg??? You don't know what your'e missing!

I carried 6 days of food through the 100 mile wilderness, the extra weight is definitely noticable.

LoneStranger
03-31-2015, 19:34
I haven't really made up a food plan except for the Kennedy Meadows resupply because it had to be so dense in order to fit in the canister. Very boring and repetitive. Oatmeal with dry milk (Nido) and nuts for breakfast. Granola/craisin trail mix and pecans for snacks throughout the day, a rice/pasta dinner (with olive oil ) and M&Ms for dessert. About 4000 calories. I'm going to be sick of M&Ms after that segment but they take up space in the canister very effectively...

Boring and repetitive tends to be the best solution which is why I'm always looking for something better hehe. I can see you have good fat content in that diet as I use a lot of the same tricks. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your hike!

tim.hiker
04-01-2015, 07:03
amazing the info you all have, I would much rather read your post than article in hiking magazines ...

earlyriser26
04-01-2015, 07:40
I took 18 days worth of food on a hike in Maine in 1970. My pack weighed 70 lbs.

brancher
04-01-2015, 08:46
These days, most of my hikes are 3-5 days, so 6 days' of food is fine - putting my load at about 20 lbs for Day 1 (pending climate, of course). On this year's thru, I will take 6 days' food, PLUS an extra 6 days of dinners. Reason for that is I make my own dinners, pre-prepared, so I only want to bounce my stuff every 2 weeks or so. The rest (grits, oatmeal, snickers, lunches, etc) I can scarf up in an hour or two in town. I also supply my own freeze-dried fruit and carry 2 weeks of that as well.

Odd Man Out
04-01-2015, 12:43
...In case that seems like an exaggerated calorie density, I can list my diet. It is the same every day.

Yes please, I'm curious.


All my backpacking trips are long without food resupply. My longest was 24 days and my last trip in March was 22 days on one food load. It's easy, you just have to be willing to carry 40 or 50 lbs of food along with all your other gear.

To me frequent food resupply ruins a backpacking trip as I go into the woods to avoid cars and roads and stores and folding money and syphilization. Constant food resupply is very common for AT backpackers as they seem to need their ultralight packs and their frequent town visits as they will never carry a 40 lb food load.

I want to be Tipi when I grow up :)

BirdBrain
04-01-2015, 12:45
Yes please, I'm curious.



http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/110238-Calories?p=1959866&viewfull=1#post1959866

I plugged those items and amounts into Myfitness Pal app and it came up to around 3200 calories. The app does not have the correct calories for the cheesy bacon mac n cheese. Correcting for that error, the total is about 3000. The 1.3 pounds per day includes the NUUN and Via.

One key to keeping the calorie density high is to not carry food with water in them. If it requires a container to carry it, chances are it has a low calorie density. Besides, containers weigh more than ziplocks.

I am going back to edit my post in the link to show weights.

evyck da fleet
04-01-2015, 18:14
6 days of food from MTR to Whitney Portal. My pack weighed 35 lbs at the start. On the AT I mostly went 3 or 4 nights at most between resupplying. Any longer and it would've included a weekend which is like going into town when I stopped to talk to the day hikers.

I never really understood the start in Feb/early March to avoid the crowds. I also thought the crowds were on the weekends. Those were the only times I knew what day of the week it was.

Feral Bill
04-01-2015, 18:29
A week is easy for me without undue weight. I could do 10 days, I suppose, if the trip was worth it.

rickb
04-01-2015, 18:40
I sobo'd Maine with just one resupply -- plus town food in Monson (had my mail drop forwarded).

Made for a heavy pack up Katahdin, but made sense at the time.

10+ Days on the AT between re supplies was not so uncommon among those who didn't know better. In part because all you might have know about facilities might have been G 3.5 miles east.

Did help preserve that illusion of Wildness that some refer to from time to time.