View Full Version : How many days between resupplies
I am just doing some prep work figuring out about how long it will take me to get to some places to resupply and I was just wondering, for those who have hiked the trail...how often did you resupply?
rjhouser
08-23-2011, 16:20
This might depend on how much weight in food you are willing to carry but I would venture to say anywhere from 4-6 days on average...
garlic08
08-23-2011, 16:27
Average four days for me, never more than five. There are lots of restaurants within walking distance in the mid-Atlantic states, too, and waysides in the Shenandoah, and huts in the Whites, decreasing the need to carry a lot of food.
Tipi Walter
08-23-2011, 18:15
I just pulled a 19 day trip on the AT and carried all 19 day's worth of food. Anybody can do it and it keeps you from having to parlay with the city folk and their electric wonderland. After the trip, THEN you can get back and hobnob with syphilization.
bigcranky
08-23-2011, 18:32
4-6 days. I like getting into town and meeting people.
I just pulled a 19 day trip on the AT and carried all 19 day's worth of food. Anybody can do it and it keeps you from having to parlay with the city folk and their electric wonderland. After the trip, THEN you can get back and hobnob with syphilization.
Very well done.
How many lbs of food to start?
On the AT the average time between resupplies seems to have decreased a bunch over the years. Not sure about that, but that is my sense of things.
swamprat
08-23-2011, 19:24
Originally Posted by Tipi Walter http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/images/Eloquent/buttonsgreen/viewpost-right.png (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1192474#post1192474)
"I just pulled a 19 day trip on the AT and carried all 19 day's worth of food. Anybody can do it and it keeps you from having to parlay with the city folk and their electric wonderland. After the trip, THEN you can get back and hobnob with syphilization."
What the heck were you carrying it in a duffle bag!!! :D What is the saying .... "com'on Maaaan !!
couscous
08-23-2011, 20:14
I just pulled a 19 day trip on the AT and carried all 19 day's worth of food.
Reminded me of the Arctic 1000 five years ago - 1000km, 24 days, no resupply.
http://backpackinglight.typepad.com/2006_arctic/
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
I tipped the scales with 60 lbs ocasionally for 7 to 10 days in 76-77 course that was before freeze dried was edible.
O ya and when men were men.
Many ways to go about this, to me lightweight rules, I just enjoy it so much more! I resupply every 4-7 days depending.
4eyedbuzzard
08-23-2011, 21:01
I tipped the scales with 60 lbs ocasionally for 7 to 10 days in 76-77 course that was before freeze dried was edible.
O ya and when men were men.The old Lipton freeze dried beef stroganoff was the only stuff I liked.
Tipi Walter
08-23-2011, 23:03
Very well done.
How many lbs of food to start?
On the AT the average time between resupplies seems to have decreased a bunch over the years. Not sure about that, but that is my sense of things.
My food load was set for 21 days and I had between 40-45 lbs of the edibles. When Eric Ryback thruhiked the AT back in '71, he commonly carried a 15-20 day supply of food. He said coming out of a town with a three week food load made him feel very "secure"---it was a "good weight"---and I get it.
Reminded me of the Arctic 1000 five years ago - 1000km, 24 days, no resupply.
http://backpackinglight.typepad.com/2006_arctic/
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
I'm familiar with the 2006 Arctic trek. There's also an interesting 4,700 mile Alaska-Yukon trek done by Andrew Skurka when he had to go around 15 days without resupply towards the end. His "ultralight" pack then weighed in at around 55 lbs. He allotted himself around 2.3 pounds of food per day. Or maybe it was 2.1 lbs. Anyway, when the length stretches out the food load gets heavy, duh.
Trailbender
08-24-2011, 00:12
I tipped the scales with 60 lbs ocasionally for 7 to 10 days in 76-77 course that was before freeze dried was edible.
O ya and when men were men.
Yep, carrying a heavier pack makes you more of a man.
garlic08
08-24-2011, 09:25
Another way to ask the question, and get different answers, is, "How many miles between resupplies?"
The 12 mile per day hiker in the Hundred Mile Wilderness is going to carry a different food load than the 20+ miler. Is the guy who loads up with three weeks of food actually hiking somewhere, or setting up base camp somewhere and staying there? Either way is OK and it doesn't really matter. There are just different styles and reasons to be out there.
For the OP, when I pack food for a thru hike, I don't count days. I count miles. My "formula" is 1 pound of food for every 10 miles, with variations for season, terrain, and trail difficulty (and on the AT, how many restaurants or huts you walk past). (I carried 9 pounds heading into the Hundred Mile Wilderness, for instance, which turned out to be 4 days and 4 nights. If I'd hiked slower and easier, I'd have eaten less per day.) When I pack for a trip with a base camp, it's a different story.
Tipi Walter
08-24-2011, 10:02
Another way to ask the question, and get different answers, is, "How many miles between resupplies?"
The 12 mile per day hiker in the Hundred Mile Wilderness is going to carry a different food load than the 20+ miler. Is the guy who loads up with three weeks of food actually hiking somewhere, or setting up base camp somewhere and staying there? Either way is OK and it doesn't really matter. There are just different styles and reasons to be out there.
I don't suppose you're familiar with Ryback's AT thruhike? He actually did hike somewhere, from Georgia to Maine. There are definitely different styles and reasons to be out there, but currently there's a push for backpackers to tune into the ultralight "style" with big mile days and a fascination with frequent resupply. A great percentage of backpackers push this notion of traveling ultralight with a minimal food load, and on my AT trek I saw a great many of these boys breezing thru at a high rate of speed to reach the next town for something unclear, perhaps food, perhaps a hot shower, perhaps the comforts of a substitute home.
In any event, their trip was a near constant interruption with AYCE buffets and hot showers---not my idea of a backpacking trip and not a trend I like to see but I accept it of course and can easily avoid the AT if I don't want to be bothered by these types. Many of them also don't want to be bothered by carrying a shelter of any kind, thereby keeping their pack weights very low, and instead rely exclusively on the AT shelter system. I often wonder what they would do if their favored rat-box shelters didn't exist?
There's another way, though, and one I support, and it's to get backpackers who have large blocks of time to be out (AT thruhikers come to mind), and let them experience a different sort of challenge by carrying more weight in food/fuel so they can experience a large amount of time uninterrupted by car traffic, town trips, and grocery shopping. The ultralight types won't be able to do it of course as they'll balk at carrying 40 lbs of food, and don't even have the packs to support such weight with the rest of their kit, but I think there could be a need for some backpackers to stay out longer w/o town interruption which could make for a better trip. It all depends on the person and his or her personality.
Jack Tarlin
08-24-2011, 11:37
If you look at the "Articles" section of this website, there is detailed info on precisely this subject, i.e. places to re-supply; how long each stretch of the Trail will likely take you, etc.
3-5 days.
You don't have to hang out in town every time you resupply.
Tipi Walter
08-24-2011, 12:54
3-5 days.
You don't have to hang out in town every time you resupply.
Once you're in, you might as well, as the spell of the woods is broken. My take on it, anyway.
Trailbender
08-24-2011, 13:08
I hiked big mile days on my thru, but I didn't hike fast, I just hiked for 14 hours or so every day. Preferred carrying a tent, hated the shelters. Would like to carry more food and stay out longer, but repeated lower leg injuries force me to carry a lighter pack. I do try to get my pack weight lighter, one reason for this is so I can carry more food. I can carry about 5-6 days worth comfortably right now. I took a 32lb pack out on the BMT in May, and tore some cartilage in my knee. I was not hiking fast, and I didn't twist my leg or anything. So I came back home and recovered, and started cutting more pack weight. Currently, it is about 25lbs with 5 days food and 2L water. That isn't bad, but I'd like to get it lighter. Still, 12lbs base isn't bad for a winter capable kit. I carry the same gear year round, I don't like owning a lot of stuff, even hiking gear, so I have a 0 degree quilt and winter pad year round.
I didn't hang out in towns, I got in, took care of business, and got out. I did stay in hostels several times for a zero, but even on my zeros I got bored and wanted to hike, had to force myself to take the day off, since I really needed it.
Once you're in, you might as well, as the spell of the woods is broken. My take on it, anyway.
I did around 1,500 consecutive miles with 1 restaurant meal and never staying indoors.
There's no 'spell of the woods' in the lower 48. There are only a few places where you can go even a half-day without massive exposure to humanity (view of city/factory, dam, livestock, road crossing, etc.). For most of the AT you can't even go 2-3 hours without such exposure.
Tipi Walter
08-24-2011, 15:10
I did around 1,500 consecutive miles with 1 restaurant meal and never staying indoors.
There's no 'spell of the woods' in the lower 48. There are only a few places where you can go even a half-day without massive exposure to humanity (view of city/factory, dam, livestock, road crossing, etc.). For most of the AT you can't even go 2-3 hours without such exposure.
A half day? You need to get out more in the Southeast forests. I pulled a 15 day February trip in the Cherokee NF and didn't see a single human or a single car. I just got back from an 18 day trip where I didn't cross a road and saw only one group of fellow backpackers. This is the "spell of the woods" I am talking about.
it was a function of survival back than
most available gear was heavy
hikers were regarded with suspicion and unwelcome in many towns before it all became a 'rage'
o ya today I max out with 25# for trekking, no doubt lighter is better
A half day? You need to get out more in the Southeast forests. I pulled a 15 day February trip in the Cherokee NF and didn't see a single human or a single car. I just got back from an 18 day trip where I didn't cross a road and saw only one group of fellow backpackers. This is the "spell of the woods" I am talking about.
Where do you go?
Tipi Walter
08-24-2011, 20:00
Where do you go?
Citico wilderness, Bald and Upper Bald wilderness, Brushy Ridge backcountry, Slickrock wilderness---TN and NC.
ahh winter. That'll do it. Still 18 days without crossing a road is pretty hard unless you're walking in circles!
fiddlehead
08-25-2011, 05:38
The most I ever carried was 12 (my first JMT hike). I got sick of stuff like Ramen and instant oatmeal quickly.
On the AT, I rarely carry more than 3. (5 for the wilderness if NOBO)
Don't really understand why people would carry more than they have to.
But, hey, if it's more important to you to carry a bigger load than necessary for whatever reason: go for it.
Usually when I hike, the amount of food in my pack is determined by how many miles to the next town. Of course on the AT, that would be a lot so, I only hit the ones with the better stores.
garlic08
08-25-2011, 09:24
...Don't really understand why people would carry more than they have to.
But, hey, if it's more important to you to carry a bigger load than necessary for whatever reason: go for it....
Maybe this falls in the same category as speed hiking and setting trail records. Not everyone understands that, either, and there's a lot of contention that those who attempt it are not hiking "the right way", not "smelling the roses", etc. In other words, to quote Mags, HMHDI (Hike My Hike, Damn It)! Mags would also tell us to get approval from the HHCOH (High Holy Council of Hiking) for whatever we do, lest we be panned on Whiteblaze for it.
Resupplying every 4-5 days is a good rhythm for me. My food weights out between 1.0# and 1.25# per day, that's about 5.0# to 6.0# of food. I hike about 10-12 miles per day depending on the terrain, so every 50 miles or so I resupply. I like that pace.
Tipi Walter
08-25-2011, 10:20
Maybe this falls in the same category as speed hiking and setting trail records. Not everyone understands that, either, and there's a lot of contention that those who attempt it are not hiking "the right way", not "smelling the roses", etc. In other words, to quote Mags, HMHDI (Hike My Hike, Damn It)! Mags would also tell us to get approval from the HHCOH (High Holy Council of Hiking) for whatever we do, lest we be panned on Whiteblaze for it.
The AT is not the only game in town, and there are fairly vast wilderness areas and huge tracts of national forest where a backpacker can go out for 18 or 20 days and not have, need or get resupplied. Some won't even bother with BearVault type caches, so a large food load must be carried to keep the trip going. What's so hard to understand? What ScottP may call walking in circles is in fact hiking the trails of an area and exploring. If you look at the map of Skurka's Alaska-Yukon trip, I guess you could say he was walking in circles too.
jersey joe
08-25-2011, 10:31
On my thru hike I planned an average of 7 days between maildrops. This was a lot, but I wanted to limit myself to post offices near the trail.
Here is a link to my maildrop schedule(it may serve as a good skeleton for your planning purposes.) http://www.joealaya.com/appalachiantrailthruhike/mail.php
If I were to thru hike again, I would either plan more mail drops or increase my mileage per day in order to carry less food at a time.
garlic08
08-25-2011, 11:48
Resupplying every 4-5 days is a good rhythm for me. My food weights out between 1.0# and 1.25# per day, that's about 5.0# to 6.0# of food. I hike about 10-12 miles per day depending on the terrain, so every 50 miles or so I resupply. I like that pace.
At first look, that's a light load per day, but the food per mile is exactly what I pack (see post #14). For a 50 mile hike, I would pack 5 pounds of food, too.
Another point--I think most hikers in general carry too much food at least when starting out. I think many, not all, could do fine on just over one pound per day like Jersey Joe, but carry twice that. I love running into AT section hikers just as they realize that and start giving away expensive food. (There's a concurrent thread on all the extra food found in hiker boxes.) It feels a little risky cutting down your food load, but it's also a good feeling hiking into town just after you've eaten your last peanut--perfect planning.
I've been reading, and taking copious notes from Baltimore Jack's series, "Re-Supply Information." http://whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=resupplypart1
(http://whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=resupplypart1)From that, you can develop an idea of where the best resupply points are, where you might benefit from a drop box, and where you just might want to carry more food to skip towns (ie Gatlinburg), and hike longer to get to a better place.
I gotta say, I take Tipi's comments to heart. I'd prefer to carry a bit more, pick the towns I really want to visit, skip the ones I don't, and spend a lot more time in the woods.
max patch
08-25-2011, 12:13
Doesn't always work out - depends where the towns are and my current pace - but in a perfect world I would hike 6 days and then take a zero.
What ScottP may call walking in circles is in fact hiking the trails of an area and exploring. If you look at the map of Skurka's Alaska-Yukon trip, I guess you could say he was walking in circles too.
By 'walking in circles' I mean repeating the same trails over and over again. I'm genuinely curious where you could go in the east and not cross a road for 18-20 days.
I haven't been able to
find anywhere where I could do so without repeating trails.
Tipi Walter
08-26-2011, 07:32
By 'walking in circles' I mean repeating the same trails over and over again. I'm genuinely curious where you could go in the east and not cross a road for 18-20 days.
I haven't been able to
Compared to going into a town for resupply, merely crossing a road shouldn't be such a big deal or upsetting to the folks who want to carry a big food load and avoid "syphilization". But if you're goal is to push out 30 mile days you are right, it will be very difficult to explore a region in the Southeast where you don't repeat a trail or cross a road, yet with a 20 day food load you won't be doing 30 mile days so in a way the food load dictates slowing down into a balanced rhythm of both hiking and camping. For the long trip types out to explore a region, say the Cohuttas or the Citico/Slickrock or the Mt Rogers backcountry or the Wilson Creek area of Pisgah NF, well, they can easily stay out for 18 days in these areas and slow their mileage down to 7-10 miles a day and still carry a tremendous food load without resupply.
Here's a challenge: Take out the detailed Cohutta map ("Cohutta and Big Frog Wilderness" put out by the Forest Service) and study it well. There are dozens of trails and a long 18 day backpacking trip w/o resupply isn't a problem for someone interested in exploring the whole area w/o interruption. So what if you backtrack a bit or cross a dirt road that rarely has traffic on it anyway? The whole point is to step into the woods with everything you need for three weeks and not come out until those three weeks are done. Anyway, food resupply from the Cohuttas would be a real hassle and to me would be an interruption I'm not willing to have.
Here's another point: On long trips your zero days can be done out in the woods and inside your tent or other shelter, and do not have to be done in a town or hostel. After seven or eight days of straight backpacking, it's sometimes nice to find a campsite and sit tight for a zero day, especially during a long rainstorm or blizzard. With enough of a food load these zero days can be spent in the woods---a novel thought to the AT types who as a rule never zero out a day unless they're in a town.
Red Beard
08-26-2011, 08:29
I just pulled a 19 day trip on the AT and carried all 19 day's worth of food. Anybody can do it and it keeps you from having to parlay with the city folk and their electric wonderland. After the trip, THEN you can get back and hobnob with syphilization.
Tipi,
That is awesome! Could you elaborate on what kinds of food you carried? Thanks!
For the long trip types out to explore a region, say the Cohuttas or the Citico/Slickrock or the Mt Rogers backcountry or the Wilson Creek area of Pisgah NF, well, they can easily stay out for 18 days in these areas and slow their mileage down to 7-10 miles a day and still carry a tremendous food load without resupply.
I think that I'm pretty much incapable of doing 7-10 mile days. I'd go crazy.
I do think that your trips are pretty cool though, just not something i'm really capable of
max patch
08-26-2011, 09:05
I think that I'm pretty much incapable of doing 7-10 mile days. I'd go crazy.
I do think that your trips are pretty cool though, just not something i'm really capable of
I agree. I'm like a shark, gotta keep moving.
Tipi Walter
08-26-2011, 13:22
Tipi,
That is awesome! Could you elaborate on what kinds of food you carried? Thanks!
I posted a detailed food list here on WB once but it's buried and I'm too fried to look. Basically, it's all about Variety. I divide my three food sacks into:
** Cookables
** Snackables
** Overflow third bag for 15+ day trips.
For the ultralight types, they will certainly limit their cookables bag down to strict portions of dehyrdated meals and have the exact amount of meals for the time they are out. I've grown tired of these overly salty meals although real weight can be saved by carrying them (Mt House, Backcountry Pantry, Hawk Vittles, Mary Jane's Farm, Lipton's Pasta Cides, etc etc). And NOT MRE's!!
Menu ideas change over time and currently I'm in a Tasty Bite meal fixation (jodhpur lentils are very good) augmented with baked tofu and tempeh packages which can be fried in my little hydrolon stickless fry-pan. Oh, and don't forget oatmeal---it's the standard breakfast meal and can be spiced up with honey, black walnuts, even cheese. The Tasty Bites are heavy (10 oz each) soup-type meals in burnable pouches and made in India so are vegetarian and/or vegan, my preference. If I take ten TB meals, well, that's 100 oz already, but I have ten days worth of meals I like.
My main point is to take a variety of food items which will keep your interest, and here's a little secret for the long-term backpacker: Do not eat these foods at home, save them for the trail. This way, when you start your trip you'll have a bunch of mouth-watering food you've been putting off eating at home and saving for outdoor prep. For instance, I never eat oatmeal at home, or Tasty Bites, and rarely cheese.
I've also been on a long-term Pro Bar kick for the last several years and highly recommend these 400 calorie little meals. I buy them in bulk cartons (as I do the Tasty Bites) and take out 18 or 20 for an 18 day trip. That's 60 ozs of Pro Bars, almost four pounds, so you can see how the food load starts climbing.
For weekend backpackers or those who get frequent resupplies, none of the above is really relevant, and food can be purchased along the way with the selection available dictating what you'll be getting and eating. My only pet peeve is against junk food and loading up on crap---Snickers, ice cream, doughnuts, you name it. On the AT, these types of foods can be avoided by mail drops or leaving caches.
Since it's all about variety, a backpacker shouldn't be surprised that he chooses to carry a couple cantaloupes or avocados or a bag of grapes or three apples or even a whole watermelon---take anything and everything, at least once, and just try to eat healthy.
Trailbender
08-26-2011, 14:13
So, I am interested in your trips. I mentioned I could not carry heavy weight because of medical reasons, I do like remote wilderness areas, though. Could someone do one of your trips, more mileage per day, say in 7 days or so? I live in TN, as well, just south of Nashville, so it would probably be a long drive, that I would have to park somewhere and loop back. One of my favorite trips is Land Between The Lakes, but its like a 3 hour drive, so I don't get there much, it's mainly the cost of gas, not the drive time.
Tipi Walter
08-26-2011, 14:26
So, I am interested in your trips. I mentioned I could not carry heavy weight because of medical reasons, I do like remote wilderness areas, though. Could someone do one of your trips, more mileage per day, say in 7 days or so? I live in TN, as well, just south of Nashville, so it would probably be a long drive, that I would have to park somewhere and loop back. One of my favorite trips is Land Between The Lakes, but its like a 3 hour drive, so I don't get there much, it's mainly the cost of gas, not the drive time.
You could squeeze one of my long 18 day trips into 7 days and thereby keep your food load low, but the areas I backpack have numerous rugged trails with frequent 3,000 foot climbs and drops, which means a 15 mile day will include not only one 3,000 foot climb but two---a tough nut to crack. Six thousand feet elevation gain in one day? Good luck.
Just go with your feelings. This kinda thing is different with everyone.