Quote Originally Posted by Jake2c View Post
Have not done the AT yet but planning to start with 5 days worth. My problem is I don't want to eat just junk but carrying enough calories is a trick. I am doing a gear test hike in a week for 5 days and have my food packed but only coming in at about 3500 calories a day. Ok for the short hike but everything I read says that is not enough for a full thru hike. Need to work on that.
one thing to watch for here that I found out - a gear test hike / short hike / section hike ain't no thru-hike. I've done a ridiculous amount of research on food on the trail (hey, I like to eat) and thought I knew down to each meal how much / what I wanted etc. breakfast, lunch, dinner, 4 snacks, the works. I packed my 12lb food bag to put in my ruck, headed out for 3 days - and didn't put even a small dent in it.

when you're first starting out you don't have that hungry-thru-hiker thing going. As a matter of fact I just did 20 miles a week or so ago (unicoi gap to dicks creek) and only ate a pack of beef jerky the day + couple hours out there (started 5p one evening, came off 6p the next day). Drank a lot of water, and AFTER I was off and in Helen I ate like a cow, and I imagine if I was on the trail that evening I would have eaten quite a bit - but it wasn't 3500-calorie-intake eating.

all that to say - as you do your gear-shakeout hikes, or shorter 3-5 day hikes, don't set your food supply expectations by that experience. your initial requirements are going to be a lot less. From what I've read / researched (no personal experience yet) - 4-5 days of food, at whatever level you're consuming, should be good. Me personally, I hate hungry so I imagine I'll probably lean more towards the 5-day, and throw in a backup ramen or two.

ymmv