View Full Version : 100 mile wilderness food
Hedgehog
06-07-2007, 13:14
I''m going to be SOBO in mid-June and I'm curious as to whatother people have carried for food through the 100 mile wilderness. Soem sample lists would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Appalachian Tater
06-07-2007, 14:41
Hi, are you doing only the 100 mile wilderness? Have you hiked before? How many days do you plan to be out? Give us a little more information, please.
hammock engineer
06-07-2007, 14:58
I am planning on carrying 10 days of food with me, plus another dinner or 2.
I haven't put my food together yet, but I am deyhdrating meals.
12 dinners
2 bags of gorp
10-15 candy bars
10-15 ceral bars
lots of coffee
little debbie snacks for dessert
mints (my food luxory)
12 oz of liquid refreshment
Hopefully that all gets comes to around 15 or so pounds. Look into dehydrated meals. I dehydrate my own, they are a lot lighter than most meals.
I'm not a big breakfest guy. I usually pack up and stop after a little hiking and snack. I usually just snack throughout the day instead of stopping for actual meals. For me that seems to keep my energy up more.
I also tend to eat dinner before I get to camp. That helps he get through the end of the day. A snack in camp holds me over to the following day.
Hopefully that all gets comes to around 15 or so pounds. Look into dehydrated meals. I dehydrate my own, they are a lot lighter than most meals.
That sounds about right to me. Barring exceptional circumstances, a reasonably fit hiker should be able to get from Katahdin to Monson in seven or eight days.
Jack Tarlin
06-07-2007, 16:00
Why 12 dinners?
Most thru-hikers make it from Monson to Abol Bridge in around six and a half days. Assuming you're going slower, you'll need no more than eight. Keep in mind, you also have White House Landing as a possible re-supply point if you don't want to pack food for the entire section. But 12 days of food is an awful lot, and will probably weigh more than 15 pounds. Unless you are very slow indeed, you won't need to carry this much food or this much extra pack weight.
It won't take you 10-12 days unless you CHOOSE to go that slow. Carry 7-9 days worth of food and you'll be fine.
Hedgehog
06-07-2007, 18:46
Appalchian tater - I'm Thru hiking, just a little nervous with no resupply available. I was planning on 10 days to Monson and then resupplying there.
Hammock engineer - Thanks for the list, it's helpful.
Any other suggestions?
Appalachian Tater
06-07-2007, 19:12
Baltimore Jack gave good advice. Starting out your hike you'll be on the slow end of the range and that's a really nice section you don't want to hurry through, anyway, so it may take closer to ten than seven days.
There may be a tendency for starting thru-hikers to carry too much food. You may actually have a decreased appetite right at first, certainly not the persistent "hiker hunger" you'll have in a couple of months.
Be sure to get Baltimore Jack's supply article from the article section. It gives a good estimate of days between supply points.
I agree with the philosphy of one main meal a day, in the evening, of Lipton's, two packs of ramen, or other starch like stuffing or potatoes with a pack of chicken, fish, or bacon, or a freeze-dried meal; plus a combination of sweet and salty items (crackers, nuts, jerky, peanut butter, M&M's, food bars, toaster pastries, candy bars, dried fruit) for breakfast, lunch and snacks.
I also like having powdered drink mix and an extra day's worth of food. Even if you don't take an extra day, sometimes you may want a hot lunch.
So it may help to think in those terms: main meal, and sweet and salty for other times.
There is also the idea of the "third ingredient" that makes a meal so much better:
Stovetop stuffing + chicken + dried cranberries
Tortellini + bacon + sun-dried tomatoes
Ramen + cashew nuts + fresh squeezed lime
Onion and garlic flakes, Mrs. Dash, or powdered hot peppers make meals better, too.
ric2hunt
06-07-2007, 20:13
The is a hostel called The Little White House about 60 miles southbound that has mail drops. Also, when we hiked the wilderness, we put out food drops in bear proof drops at specified GPS locations so we were only carrying three days food at any one time. The LWH has some great one pound hamburgers,pizza, veggies and brew.
Jester2000
06-07-2007, 20:14
Why 12 dinners?
Most thru-hikers make it from Monson to Abol Bridge in around six and a half days. Assuming you're going slower, you'll need no more than eight. Keep in mind, you also have White House Landing as a possible re-supply point if you don't want to pack food for the entire section. But 12 days of food is an awful lot, and will probably weigh more than 15 pounds. Unless you are very slow indeed, you won't need to carry this much food or this much extra pack weight.
It won't take you 10-12 days unless you CHOOSE to go that slow. Carry 7-9 days worth of food and you'll be fine.
Keep in mind that Jack thinks going SOBO is an unnatural act and in violation of the laws of both God and Man. So he talks about going to Abol rather than from it. You'll probably go slower than a NOBO would, but faster than Jesus, who, I believe, spent forty days in the wilderness. As you don't have the ability to make due with one fish and one loaf of bread, I think 10 days is a good amount, keeping in mind that you have a bailout opportunity at Whitehouse Landing if you realize that you should have brought an extra meal.
I recommend bringing serious cheese.
Appalachian Tater
06-07-2007, 20:19
The LWH has some great one pound hamburgers,pizza, veggies and brew.
Damn fine burger!
hammock engineer
06-08-2007, 01:10
Why 12 dinners?
Most thru-hikers make it from Monson to Abol Bridge in around six and a half days. Assuming you're going slower, you'll need no more than eight. Keep in mind, you also have White House Landing as a possible re-supply point if you don't want to pack food for the entire section. But 12 days of food is an awful lot, and will probably weigh more than 15 pounds. Unless you are very slow indeed, you won't need to carry this much food or this much extra pack weight.
It won't take you 10-12 days unless you CHOOSE to go that slow. Carry 7-9 days worth of food and you'll be fine.
Like they said, I am going SOBO. I don't want to start too fast. 10-ish mpd is as fast as I want to start.
Also with my dehydrated dinners, each dinner only comes in at about 3-4oz. 12 dinners x 4oz = 48oz or 3lbs. Add in 12 candy bars at about 4.5 lbs, 3+ lbs gorp, 2 lbs of cereol bars, 1 lbs of debbie snacks, and that gets me to about 13.5. The rest will be extra snacks, coffee, mints, and drink mixes.
Sorry I forgot to add that I will have drink mixes and spices. There is only so much water I can drink.
Also my gorp bag usually has cookies and candies to feed the sweet tooth.
"There is only so much water I can drink." Hmmm...
Wait until you get a taste of cool Maine water, with just a hint of moose poo.
Good stuff.
You might not like it if you are on city water. No essence of swimming pool.
boarstone
06-08-2007, 06:25
Appalchian tater - I'm Thru hiking, just a little nervous with no resupply available. I was planning on 10 days to Monson and then resupplying there.
Hammock engineer - Thanks for the list, it's helpful.
Any other suggestions?
Resupply is availlable providing you ship your own resupply to me and I'll drop it off at cooper brook trail crossing (see maine map #2) Do a search on this forum for "100 mile wilderness" and you'll find the info I have posted before about this very subject.:)
hammock engineer
06-08-2007, 08:43
"There is only so much water I can drink." Hmmm...
Wait until you get a taste of cool Maine water, with just a hint of moose poo.
Good stuff.
You might not like it if you are on city water. No essence of swimming pool.
Trust me I can't wait to drink the water up there. Just after drinking a couple/four liters of water a day I like to have a little flavor.
I went past White House Landing last year. My friends who visited them were treated very rudely. Also expect the cost of resupply to cost 4 times what it should! My friends were not happy.
However, I tried to carry 10 days worth of food through. I was not fit enough to do it in the conditions. It had been raining for 3 months and we were slogging through water 90% of the time. The trail was often under the ponds!
If it was dry, I would have been fine. Make sure you do not take more than 1 1/2 lbs of food per day per person. Make sure you weigh your bag. It is very easy to overpack food.
Jester2000
06-08-2007, 09:26
I went past White House Landing last year. My friends who visited them were treated very rudely. Also expect the cost of resupply to cost 4 times what it should! My friends were not happy.
Were they unhappy people generally? Your third sentence should have read, "expect the cost of resupply to be significantly more than it would if you were standing in a grocery store in a town." What you think it "should" cost bears little relationship to the actual cost, which is mainly determined, I would think, by the fact that A) the owners have to haul in all supplies and B) there is zero competition selling what you might want or need.
You might as well say "the folks at White House Landing treat hikers badly by running their business as a business." Sounds silly, no?
In my experience, many people decide they have been treated rudely whenever they don't get exactly what the want how they want it. If the owners pushed one of your friends off the boat that they are nice enough to come pick hikers up in, that would be rude. Did this happen? What sort of "rudeness" did your friends encounter?
Lone Wolf
06-08-2007, 09:29
I went past White House Landing last year. My friends who visited them were treated very rudely. Also expect the cost of resupply to cost 4 times what it should! My friends were not happy.
ALL Inn/hostel/motel owners are rude at some point thanks to the high number of arrogant, elitist, Ahole thru- hikers they have to deal with.
Creek Dancer
06-08-2007, 09:37
I don't believe that White House landing accepts mail drops. I tried to send one to Nimblefoot a couple of years ago and the package was rejected. When he got there, they told him they don't take mail drops.
sparky2000
06-08-2007, 09:54
Keeping it in mind uze didn't ask for mud pies to spread thru-out but rather uze asked for a food list--- I don't won't pack candy or honey but will pack cereal w/dry milk mixed w/sugar 1 box in the zip, i buy dehy. meals because i can't cook but after much practice and schooling have managed to boil water. These may be transfered to zip bags and cooked in the .9l can.
RockyBob
06-08-2007, 12:34
Keep in mind that Jack thinks going SOBO is an unnatural act and in violation of the laws of both God and Man. So he talks about going to Abol rather than from it. You'll probably go slower than a NOBO would, but faster than Jesus, who, I believe, spent forty days in the wilderness. As you don't have the ability to make due with one fish and one loaf of bread, I think 10 days is a good amount, keeping in mind that you have a bailout opportunity at Whitehouse Landing if you realize that you should have brought an extra meal.
I recommend bringing serious cheese.
Or the Hebrews who spent 40 years in the wilderness.
fiddlehead
06-09-2007, 00:50
2 very light items you may want to substitute for those extra meals: powdered potato flakes,(high carb, good fuel lightweight food) and a Ramen or two (you may get sick of your snacks and appreciate hot soup on a rainy day)
I agree you may not have the huge appetite of the NOBO hikers unless you have been training hard in which case you will probably move faster.
Have fun. sounds like you are planning it well and will eat better than most.
TJ aka Teej
06-09-2007, 08:05
I don't believe that White House landing accepts mail drops.
No maildrops at WHL anymore.
TJ < ALDHA Companion guy for the 100 Mile
superman
06-09-2007, 08:22
I have this theory that works like this; the lighter the pack the more smiles on the face.
I try to never carry more than three days food. If it's a long stretch I throw in some extra ramens. Having said all that by the time I got to the 100 mile wilderness the temps were cool so I carried loaves of bread, ham and a squeeze bottle of mustard. I had gotten so sick of eating trail food I carried real food.
You've already gotten enough alternatives to carrying so much food. Have a great hike.
Jester2000
06-10-2007, 14:36
Or the Hebrews who spent 40 years in the wilderness.
Man, the Hebrews were slow hikers. How much food did they carry? And is Ramen kosher?
During my 2001 thru I did the 100 mile wilderness SOBO. I sent a mail drop to White House Landing with 5 days worth of food. When I called about a mail drop they said they would except it if I was going to spend the night.
I thought that the folks that run it were nice and yes, they do run it as a business. That is they have to make money from the hikers. I expected exactly what I got. You can take what they offer and be greatfull that they are there for hikers. No one else is where they are located.
boarstone
06-11-2007, 17:26
During my 2001 thru I did the 100 mile wilderness SOBO. I sent a mail drop to White House Landing with 5 days worth of food. When I called about a mail drop they said they would except it if I was going to spend the night.
I thought that the folks that run it were nice and yes, they do run it as a business. That is they have to make money from the hikers. I expected exactly what I got. You can take what they offer and be greatfull that they are there for hikers. No one else is where they are located.
Please....Some of you guys/gals shouldn't be posting OLD information.:( Listen to TJ and read your trail guide/companion, he keeps stuff up to date on here on a regular basis. :) A lot of stuff has changed since 2001.....
i was at white house last year in the monsons.. they had just opened for the season they now go south for the winters they are expensive but the food is good and the shelter and shower great
Last year I carried 8 days of food when I started SOBO. I stopped at WHL, ate supper and breakfast there, but did not buy resupply food. (Had I known ahead of time what they carry, I would have bought some things there.) The eight days did not include food for the day I climbed Katahdin.
I planned my food by laying it all out on a table, arranged day by day, one breakfast, one dinner, and a number of snacks (energy bars and candy). I added up calories, making sure I had 3000/day. (I am female and over 50, so I don't need as much food as most young men do.) Each day's food went into a separate gallon bag so I wouldn't eat up more than one day's supply per day.
I think you're wise to plan for a slow trip through the Wilderness. A number of the young men who started about the same time I did ended up running out of food because they thought they'd get through faster than they did, for one reason or another, or because they underestimated how much they'd need to eat each day. If you don't want to use the calorie-count method the way I did, the weight method (1.5 pounds per day) should work for you.
Best wishes for a good hike!
Marta/Five-Leaf
RockyBob
06-12-2007, 13:44
Man, the Hebrews were slow hikers. How much food did they carry? And is Ramen kosher?
Don't know, but you can pack a whole lot of matza!!!!!!!!!!!!
Frolicking Dinosaurs
06-12-2007, 14:53
Knowing Hammock Engineer and the research and planning that have gone into his hike, I believe he knows what he needs to carry. Marta definitely knows what to carry going southbound. Listen to them.
hammock engineer
06-12-2007, 15:18
Thanks, a lot of it to is that I have trouble hiking hungry. So I am planning a little extra. I loaded up my pack and added 15 lbs of water weight to simulate food and went for a day hike. Man it's been awhile since my pack would not register on my 35 lbs max scale. Probibly pushing 38+ with half a day's water.
I am also thinking about what I can do without for the first part. I am going to go with a lighter ccp (only use it as backup insulation and a frame for my pack. Camp shoes and book are also getting put in the Monson mail drop. Thinking about putting the long sleeve sleeping shirt in there and just use my 100 wt fleece to sleep in at night. I am going to lay out everything I am taking and see what else I can do without or make do without for the first section.
I'm going south from Abol Bridge in a couple of weeks and I'm planning 10-11 days to Monson. I'm bringing my teenager along who has never hiked overnight before so I'm planning on a slow trip with lots of fishing and low milage days. This is the heaviest I've ever packed and I've got about 12 days worth of food.
If you can leave a car with resupply food midway somewhere, does it work to leave it at white house landing, or is there a logging road that would work? or is it likely the car will be trashed? or should i just suck it up and carry a week's worth of food?
boarstone
06-13-2007, 16:41
If you can leave a car with resupply food midway somewhere, does it work to leave it at white house landing, or is there a logging road that would work? or is it likely the car will be trashed? or should i just suck it up and carry a week's worth of food?
Don't plan to leave a car anywhere near WHLanding.:( Can't get there by car. Don't plan to leave a car midway on a dirt road and expect it to be --(1)-there when you get back and (2)- in the same condition you left it in!
I do food drops at Cooper Brook for hikers voluntarily. e-mail me at
[email protected] if I can be of help.:cool:
[quote=Jester2000;370083]Were they unhappy people generally? Your third sentence should have read, "expect the cost of resupply to be significantly more than it would if you were standing in a grocery store in a town." What you think it "should" cost bears little relationship to the actual cost, which is mainly determined, I would think, by the fact that A) the owners have to haul in all supplies and B) there is zero competition selling what you might want or need.
I stayed at the WHL in 04 and absolutly loved it! The burgers rocked! they sold me enough food to keep going the last few miles of the trail with a full belly, and there hiker box was a goldmine! I also had a wonderfull day swimming off their boat dock and lying in the sun! The owners went way out off their way to treat you like royalty! I found thier storys relaxing and enjoyable. Having said this A number of my fellow thrus had an awfull expieriance there and thought the oqners were very rude. It seems the diference between the two groups is the overnight stay. Come just for the maildrop they might be rude? I'm not sure since I only expierianced good from them. I cant blame them though.... think about it... you run a lodge and twice or three times a day you here this horn, you drive the boat accross the lake to find some smelly person who just wants thier mail and free food from the hiker box... I might be rude too.
My recomendation, folow B Jacks advice don't bring so much grub. 12 dinners will just wiegh you down and make you trip less enjoyable. enjoy the 100 miles and definitly go swimming and stay the night at ther White hose landing:D
Enjoy your hike!!!
Nightwalker
06-13-2007, 23:13
Another reason that someone might not like it at WHL is if they blow the horn more than once. Even if you wait 30 minutes, the guy just doesn't like that. At all.
Lone Wolf
06-13-2007, 23:17
us real backpackers back in the day didn't need slacks, resupplies or lodging in the "100 mile wildness". it was scary though!:eek: y'all are weenies these days. crissakes. suck it up and carry your chow.
Nightwalker
06-13-2007, 23:20
us real backpackers back in the day didn't need slacks, resupplies or lodging in the "100 mile wildness". it was scary though!:eek: y'all are weenies these days. crissakes. suck it up and carry your chow.
Careful. Somebody will call you Wambo again.
I did like his knife, though. :)
I'll also say that I'm glad that I did the 100-mile SB. It was nice doing the flat parts heavy and the steep parts light!
smokymtnsteve
06-13-2007, 23:22
Careful. Somebody will call you Wambo again.
I did like his knife, though. :)
I'll also say that I'm glad that I did the 100-mile SB. It was nice doing the flat parts heavy and the steep parts light!
now that's getting kinky frank,,you'll get LW all excited agin
hammock engineer
06-13-2007, 23:23
us real backpackers back in the day didn't need slacks, resupplies or lodging in the "100 mile wildness". it was scary though!:eek: y'all are weenies these days. crissakes. suck it up and carry your chow.
Pretty soon you will say that you did not have people throwing free food at you everywhere. Oh wait, don't think I will have that problem SOBO. Kind of like it that way.
Lone Wolf
06-13-2007, 23:28
Pretty soon you will say that you did not have people throwing free food at you everywhere. Oh wait, don't think I will have that problem SOBO. Kind of like it that way.
i SOBOd in 98. carried my own s**t. always have. never slackpacked or had food delivered in 16,000 miles.
Nightwalker
06-13-2007, 23:45
now that's getting kinky frank,,you'll get LW all excited agin
I've got no idea why he fusses at me, but gets all huffy when I fuss at him. Makes no sense.
He's too smart to be a hypocrite, and he just plays dumb on the internet. If you figger it out, please let me know. :-?
Nightwalker
06-13-2007, 23:50
i SOBOd in 98. carried my own s**t. always have. never slackpacked or had food delivered in 16,000 miles.
Hey, I didn't re-supply at WHL. If I had it to do over again, though, I would have. That pack was freaking HEAVY leaving Baxter.
I've yet to slack, but I'm not saying that I won't ever do it. It might be fun.
Hey, fella, I'm slowly catching up with you. If I can manage to quit these stupid medical problems, I'll roll over 6,000 next year somewhere in the Spring. :) I plan on being one of those old suckers that just never stops. I plan on dying out there instead of in some stupid nursing home. Of course, I don't get the final say...
I may have came to the party late, at 36, but I've been having some real fun since. :banana
Nightwalker
06-13-2007, 23:52
i SOBOd in 98. carried my own s**t. always have. never slackpacked or had food delivered in 16,000 miles.
I seem to remember that you're against organized trail magic as well. Which is what I think Hammock Engineer was talking about. Who knows.
hammock engineer
06-14-2007, 00:06
i SOBOd in 98. carried my own s**t. always have. never slackpacked or had food delivered in 16,000 miles.
I seem to remember that you're against organized trail magic as well. Which is what I think Hammock Engineer was talking about. Who knows.
That's what I was getting at. I will be the first to say that I have not thru'ed yet. I leave SOBO in a few weeks. But I also don't really care for all of the organized feeds. I don't think I would turn it down if I came across it and I would think the people putting it on, but I think the trail would be a better place without it.
At least for me it takes away from the independence part of it. And again though, I am not really planning on seeing much of it going SOBO which is fine with me.
Nightwalker
06-14-2007, 00:08
I think the trail would be a better place without it.
It slows me up when I don't wanna be, usually. It seems impolite to take the goodies and not talk to 'em awhile, when I'd really rather be going up the next hill.
Hedgehog
06-14-2007, 08:38
Sorry for not posting was out of town on business. Thanks for all the info! See you out there.
Jester2000
06-14-2007, 18:55
. . .But I also don't really care for all of the organized feeds. I don't think I would turn it down if I came across it and I would thank the people putting it on, but I think the trail would be a better place without it.
At least for me it takes away from the independence part of it. And again though, I am not really planning on seeing much of it going SOBO which is fine with me.
For right now you're offering opinions on what you think you might do, and how you feel about something you've never experienced. You may discover that your (currently) uninformed opinions are dead on. But one of the reasons I don't often write about how I feel about what goes on at Mt. Everest is that I know that I would be speaking from a point of view based in ignorance.
Before I got on the trail I thought my hike was going to be about self-reliance and independence. Once I was out there, I realized that someone else built the trail, other people maintained it, some towns were easier to get to when someone pulled over and gave me a ride, other hikers were nice enough not to mess with my stuff, locals were helpful when I needed directions or even a place to stay, and that, in fact, even if you never slacked or got a food drop, you were never actually independent, although it was nice to think that you were.
Lone Wolf
06-14-2007, 18:59
But I also don't really care for all of the organized feeds. I don't think I would turn it down if I came across it and I would think the people putting it on, but I think the trail would be a better place without it.
i've turned them down many times. feeds are a dime a dozen anymore. there's nothing magical or special. everybody knows about them days or weeks before
hammock engineer
06-15-2007, 01:18
For right now you're offering opinions on what you think you might do, and how you feel about something you've never experienced. You may discover that your (currently) uninformed opinions are dead on. But one of the reasons I don't often write about how I feel about what goes on at Mt. Everest is that I know that I would be speaking from a point of view based in ignorance.
Before I got on the trail I thought my hike was going to be about self-reliance and independence. Once I was out there, I realized that someone else built the trail, other people maintained it, some towns were easier to get to when someone pulled over and gave me a ride, other hikers were nice enough not to mess with my stuff, locals were helpful when I needed directions or even a place to stay, and that, in fact, even if you never slacked or got a food drop, you were never actually independent, although it was nice to think that you were.
Yeah I try not too. But I get caught up in cyber hiking. That's why I wanted to make sure that I said that I haven't hiked yet.
You make a good point though on self relience. There is only so far you can get. I guess some though get farther than others.