PDA

View Full Version : Starting SOBO, Food question...



slugger
06-02-2010, 12:50
How easy is it to get the Millinocket? Do most people start big K with enough food to make it through the 100 Mile wilderness or is their a resupply I should know about?

Donnie
06-02-2010, 13:28
When I started last yeah I summited Katahdin with a full pack and enough food to get me to Monson. Although there is a small resupply at White House Landing, I chose to avoid it and just carry the extra weight. Given, carrying enough food to get through the Wilderness is easier when you start out doing twenty-mile days as I did.

Depending on your concerns with weight, money, and time, it may be worth buying food and carrying less right off the bat. Also, look into borrowing a day pack from the ranger's station so as to avoid carrying the whole weight up and down Katahdin. When push comes to shove, hike your own hike and don't let anyone tell you what you did was wrong.

wcgornto
06-02-2010, 14:12
Unless you already have your trail legs, closer to ten miles a day is more like it for the 100 mile wilderness, i.e., 10 days.

You can resupply at White House Landing ... Knorr Sides, Ramen Noodles, candy bars, energy mars, etc. It is not a wide selection, but it is adequate. It does cost more than you will find at other locations, but not outrageously so as some posters here might claim.

I carried ten days of food into the 100 mile wilderness last year. If I had it to do over, I would carry six or seven days of food and then top off with a three day resupply at WHL.

slugger
06-02-2010, 16:18
Yeah, about those 20 mile day trail legs.......


Okay I'll have to look in to WHL. So you still need 7-10 days of food when you start at big K? Awesome.

emerald
06-02-2010, 16:33
Take Pennsylvania, subtract bridges, add water, bumps and substitute vistas of forests for fields.

wcgornto
06-02-2010, 16:39
Okay I'll have to look in to WHL. So you still need 7-10 days of food when you start at big K? Awesome.


Ten days without resupply, Seven days with three day resupply from WHL. Four days with six day resupply from WHL.

I stayed at WHL last year ... enjoyed the pound burger and the pizza. I didn't resupply there because I took ten days food into the 100 mile wilderness.

vonfrick
06-02-2010, 17:10
there is also the store at abol bridge

singing wind
06-02-2010, 19:18
As vonfrick and others have mentioned about resupply options

1. store at abol bridge
2. whitehouse landing - &/or
3. campground at mary-jo road (it's a bit down the road & I'm not sure what they have)
+

4. can hitch out on Katahdin Ironworks road to the Brownsville Jct. area - small grocery store on side road near town or smallish gas station type stores on the main road. Ask the locals for more info - they were super helpful last year when I ran short.



Good luck and enjoy your hike!

Phreak
06-02-2010, 19:32
I carried 4 days of food for Mt K to Monson and stopped at WHL for a burger and a night in the bunkhouse.

wcgornto
06-02-2010, 19:37
I carried 4 days of food for Mt K to Monson and stopped at WHL for a burger and a night in the bunkhouse.


Yes, but you don't count. You hike about a million miles a day.

BigFoot2002
06-02-2010, 20:09
I was twice the age of the OP when I got up off the couch to hike SOBO. We made it from Abol to Monson in 8 days, with no stops. My brother in law, 10 years older, was with me.

One other thing about food planning the start of a hike. My appetite is very light the first few days of a hike, but maybe that's just me.

Blissful
06-02-2010, 20:41
We are resupplying at WHL and then we are getting resupplied by a friend in the wilderness before the Chairback range. We are also staying near Abol Bridge on night #2.

And we are not going to knock ourselves dead. 10-12 mile days to start and we want to see the ponds. I also want a chance to do this thing and southern ME and NH are too tough to get hurt early. And there are mtns to climb in the 100 mile wilderness, surprise, surprise. WIth our resupply, we may try for Gulf Hagas (I missed it in '07)

BigFoot2002
06-02-2010, 20:50
The campground on the river across from Abol's store is great.

D-wreck
06-02-2010, 22:22
I had the same food questions at the beginning of my SOBO hike. This was roughly my schedule:

1st day, ~10 miles: Katahdin Stream Campground to Katahdin back to KSC. There are no supplies at KSC. I slacked it and left most of my stuff at KSC.

2nd day, ~10 miles: KSC to Abol bridge campground. Some supplies here but not a lot. Fun place to camp and roast hot dogs with other SOBO's.

Days 3-12: THIS is the start of the 100 mile wilderness. 10 mi/day for 10 days would be a nice pace. Whitehouse landing is about 30 miles in?

For some reason, I thought the 100 mile wilderness started at KSC and planned accordingly. Lucky I was able to pick up more food at WHL. I think sending a resupply box to WHL is a great idea, then you would only have to carry 4 days of food out of KSC.

Have fun!

wcgornto
06-02-2010, 22:25
I think sending a resupply box to WHL is a great idea, then you would only have to carry 4 days of food out of KSC.

Have fun!


WHL does not accept mail drops. You have to buy from their stock to resupply. It costs a bit more than the grocery store, but not unreasonably so.

wcgornto
06-02-2010, 22:29
And we are not going to knock ourselves dead. 10-12 mile days to start and we want to see the ponds. I also want a chance to do this thing and southern ME and NH are too tough to get hurt early.


Smart move. There were a few SOBOs who started around the same day I did last year who quit their hike in the 100 mile Wilderness because of injuries they received by doing too many miles too soon, right from the start.

jwalden
06-03-2010, 03:53
I'd say ten days' food to hike Katahdin and get south to Monson. If by WHL you realize you might not have enough supplies, get one or two things to tide you over for slightly longer. I would not under any circumstances resupply fully at WHL; it's really not that hard to hike the 100MW all at once without resupply, and a pre-hike grocery store will be cheaper. (Take it from someone whose ending pack weight at Monson was probably higher than some people's starting pack weights at KSC!)

Don't let cost scare you away from WHL completely. I get the impression where you really lose there is if you stay overnight. One or two things won't hurt -- my midday stop for a burger and a pop and some batteries only put me out $13.60. And hey, it's part of the trail culture, live a little. :-)

Daily mileage in the 100MW can be variable due to relative flatness at the start and mountains at the end, but I'd say you can do 11-12 miles/day average without pushing much -- and if your pack's not as bad as mine was it may be easy. I had two days over fifteen miles even with an excessively heavy pack, and this was after little more prep than maybe a couple miles of flat walking every day.

vonfrick
06-03-2010, 06:41
Don't let cost scare you away from WHL completely. I get the impression where you really lose there is if you stay overnight. One or two things won't hurt -- my midday stop for a burger and a pop and some batteries only put me out $13.60. And hey, it's part of the trail culture, live a little. :-)

i don't think $39 is unreasonable for a bed with clean sheets, a hot shower and AYCE breakfast in one of the most beautiful settings on the trail. that's less expensive than 99% of the crappy motels along any interstate. definitely shouldn't be considered "losing"!

Marta
06-03-2010, 07:11
Ten days seems pretty extreme to get to Monson. Seven or eight days is a slack schedule, given how flat a lot of the terrain is. And even if you don't buy food to carry away from WHL, if you stop there and eat, it will extend the food you've got with you. I agree with VF that WHL is not unreasonably expensive and I found it a very pleasant place to stay.

slugger
06-03-2010, 08:05
Is WHL a place you need to let know your coming or can you just kind of show up?

emerald
06-03-2010, 12:58
www.whitehouselanding.com (http://www.whitehouselanding.com)

Jack Tarlin
06-03-2010, 13:03
I agree with Marta. 10 days seems like a lot for the wilderness, especially since the first 50-odd miles from Abol bridge is essentially flat.

I think even starting hikers will get to Monson in around 8 days or so, and this doesn't matter whether you vist WHL or not.

wcgornto
06-03-2010, 14:25
It took me 10 days last year from Katahdin Stream Campground to Monson. The weather was very rainy and I opted for space in shelters. Most days, there was a choice between 8-10 miles or 18-20 miles based on shelter spacing. The weather conditions (plus not having fully developed trail legs) caused the group I was hiking with to opt for the shorter distance each day.


Here is how I passed through the 100 mile wilderness.

Katahdin Stream
Hurd Brook - 13.4 miles
Rainbow Stream - 11.5 miles
Wadleigh Stream - 8.1 miles
WHL - 7.7 miles
Cooper Brook Falls - 13.8 miles
East Branch Pleasant River - 8.1 miles
Carl Newhall - 10.8 miles
Chairback Gap - 9.9 miles
Long Pond Stream - 10.9 miles
Monson - 15.1 miles

So, I was ten nights from Katahdin Stream to Monson. One night at WHL and nine nights at shelter. Thus, I needed nine days of food.

I could have pushed it a day or so faster. It would have been more unpleasant given the weather conditions. In the second half of June last year, few people were rushing through the 100 mile wilderness SOBO.


Katahdin Stream Hurd Brook Rainbow Stream Wadleigh Stream White House Landing Cooper Brook Falls East Branch Carl A Newhall Chairback Gap Long Pond Stream Shaws

The Unknown Hiker
06-03-2010, 16:01
Just what I have done in the past (SOBO): Put 8 days of food in your pack (you won't carry that much)

Climb Katahdin and stay in leanto at KSC - 1 day of food used - 7 days remaining

KSC to Abol/Hurd Brook Lean-to - 1 day of food used - 6 days remaining (buy 1 day of food at Abol campstore so you have get back to 7 days of food)

Days 1 through Day 7 in 100 Mile Wilderness - seven days hiked - seven days of food.

Day 8 - About 6-10 miles into Monson (don't need food for this brief stretch).

So you will take approximatey 7.5 days to go through the Wilderness and carry 7 days of food. The first 2-3 days (going SOBO) are relative flat and you can opt to increase your miles per day. The remaining portion is not flat and will take more time.

jwalden
06-07-2010, 02:14
i don't think $39 is unreasonable for a bed with clean sheets, a hot shower and AYCE breakfast in one of the most beautiful settings on the trail. that's less expensive than 99% of the crappy motels along any interstate. definitely shouldn't be considered "losing"!

My understanding, from other people who stayed there summer 2008, was that it was $50 a person (even for a couple in a single bed, in one case, no discounts). I don't remember ever hearing that that cost included AYCE breakfast. A bed and a shower at $50 definitely seemed pricey to me compared to typical hostel rates. But if my understanding was mistaken (I'm not actually sure how it could have been, this was from a sectioning southbounder, a solo southbounder, and one couple southbounding, but you sound much more precisely knowledgeable about this than I am), I can well see why others might think it a more reasonable overnight stop.

But, speaking purely for myself, I'm not sure it would have been a good idea to get in the habit of stopping indoors at "every available chance" (psychologically exaggerating slightly) so early on. Later on, once you've hopefully long since demonstrated to yourself that stopping indoors is usually a bonus and not a necessity, it'd be an entirely different matter. (I'm thinking of Kincora/Mountain Harbour/Greasy Creek Friendly/Uncle Johnny's in particular here.)

wcgornto
06-07-2010, 07:42
My understanding, from other people who stayed there summer 2008, was that it was $50 a person (even for a couple in a single bed, in one case, no discounts). I don't remember ever hearing that that cost included AYCE breakfast.

As of last June, it was definitely $39 and did include AYCE breakfast. However, if you have lunch and / or dinner while there (depending on what time you arrive), the price will go up considerably. The pound burger and pizza are both scrumptious. Realistically, unless you only opt for the night's stay / breakfast and nothing else, it will cost from $60 to $80 to stay there. I found it to be reasonable, given location, quality, service, etc., but some hikers feel otherwise.

ragincajun
06-07-2010, 08:03
just made it through 100 mile didnt get a chance to do kahtahdin and since i started may 20 didnt get to do abol bridge they opened on june 1. dont make same mistake i did dont literally follow lake like i did when guidebook says take trail to lake and follow shore dont go kneedeep in lake and follow shore only to find they not open yet duuu pulled a homer then i stopped at jo mary campgreound they let me stay for free on day seven, they no longer have any food or supplies this year even though new guidebook says they do they don t but they do have showers and laundry really more like 10 miles from trail not 6 youl need a hitch. if your in shape fine if your packs light cool if you have heavy pack and your overweight outta shape like me start with 10 days get 2 at abol bridge so leave abol with 10 days on first 2 days or 15 miles from abol terrain very boggy hard the speed depends on dryness of ground more than anything. someone said earlier youll do 9 or 18 do 9 miles a day dont slip the terrain demands looking where each step lands over 90% of trail ive already seen all the fast hikers get injured or blown off trail every one of them go slow be carefull and do not try and hike in rain out here,first 2 sunny days out from abol only eat half rations because you will have 1-2 rain in days at shelters where you should not be out rrying to get injured this isnt a sprint main focus is get your pack load finalized nad get routines for trail out here not speed good luck see ya all in startton in 10 days

Blissful
06-07-2010, 20:34
just made it through 100 mile didnt get a chance to do kahtahdin and since i started may 20 didnt get to do abol bridge they opened on june 1. dont make same mistake i did dont literally follow lake like i did when guidebook says take trail to lake and follow shore dont go kneedeep in lake and follow shore only to find they not open yet duuu pulled a homer then i stopped at jo mary campgreound they let me stay for free on day seven, they no longer have any food or supplies this year even though new guidebook says they do they don t but they do have showers and laundry really more like 10 miles from trail not 6 youl need a hitch. if your in shape fine if your packs light cool if you have heavy pack and your overweight outta shape like me start with 10 days get 2 at abol bridge so leave abol with 10 days on first 2 days or 15 miles from abol terrain very boggy hard the speed depends on dryness of ground more than anything. someone said earlier youll do 9 or 18 do 9 miles a day dont slip the terrain demands looking where each step lands over 90% of trail ive already seen all the fast hikers get injured or blown off trail every one of them go slow be carefull and do not try and hike in rain out here,first 2 sunny days out from abol only eat half rations because you will have 1-2 rain in days at shelters where you should not be out rrying to get injured this isnt a sprint main focus is get your pack load finalized nad get routines for trail out here not speed good luck see ya all in startton in 10 days


Really helpful info but oh boy, really tough on the eyes and brain. :)