PDA

View Full Version : Appetite increase



steph
03-16-2004, 14:14
I am trying to buy for maildrops a couple months into our hike, and I was wondering how much your food intake increases as you get further down the trail. I don't want to send too much, or too little. How much GORP do you consume per day on average?

Footslogger
03-16-2004, 15:11
I am trying to buy for maildrops a couple months into our hike, and I was wondering how much your food intake increases as you get further down the trail. I don't want to send too much, or too little. How much GORP do you consume per day on average?
I would imagine that everyone is a little different when it comes to food intake and appetite increase. For about the first 2 weeks on the trail in 2003 I was more tired than I was hungry. Somewhere around the 3rd week on the trail I noticed that my actual meals weren't getting any larger but that I needed more "between meals" stuff to keep me going. Rather than make any big adjustments to my meal sizes I started buying and carrying a lot more snacks to keep my energy levels up during the day.

Peaks
03-16-2004, 21:24
One reason to limit maildrops is that you don't really know how hungry you are going to be. Your appetite, as well as your tastes change as the hike goes along.

Other than that, if I were to pick a point at random, I'd suggest planning on 4000 calories per day.

steph
03-22-2004, 14:59
I don't want to send myself too much gorp, being that it can be a heavier food item. But it will get eaten, I'm sure. It and everything else!

A-Train
03-22-2004, 15:19
Steph, The general rule of thumb on food is about 2 lbs/day. That is once your hunger kicks in. I'd say its about a pound a day at the beginning. I had NO appetite the first 4-5 days. I quickly got the appetite back and by Erwin (about a month in) I found the normal backpacking meals were not doing it for me. Like Slogger said I needed to add lots of extra snacks. I did GORP in the mail drops i did have and enjoyed it. Even if you get tired of it you can always find someone who wants some. Most everyone loved my gorp because I used some tasty ingredients (almonds, peanut m+m's and choclate covered raisins). There is no need to have an exact amount of GORP so I wouldn't be too concerned. Like Peaks said, I would suggest more buying along the way compared to maildrops simply because you can't predict what your appetite will be like a month or four down the trail.

Peaks
03-22-2004, 18:02
I don't want to send myself too much gorp, being that it can be a heavier food item. But it will get eaten, I'm sure. It and everything else!

If you look at the calories in Grop, it's usually got a high calorier per ounce weight. So, don't skip it just to save weight.

You can make your own grop at most grocery stores. Buy various nuts, dried fruits, and M&M's. Mix them all together in a zip lock bag. In the beginning, one bag of gorp went a long way. As I got further along, the bags went fewer and fewer days.

A-Train, 2 pounds per day is a little light. If you figure 100 calories per ounce, that equates to 3200 calories per day, and I think that 4000 calories is a better figure.