A recent post indicated potential resupply on the AT every 3-5 days. With the focus on ultalight, at least by those who post, there seems to be an urging that people resupply as frequently as possible to avoid carrying food weight.
Are there hikers out there who prefer to carry more food on the AT in order to hike further and avoid the need to resupply every 3-5 days?
Simmer
I might get flamed for this, but there are so many reminders of civilization along the AT that leaving the trail for a few hours to resupply isn’t exactly breaking up your hike. While the desire to go lightweight does make frequent resupply more attractive, I looked at it as an opportunity to better understand the trail community as a whole, not just the trail itself.
Pacer
For the record, I would rather carry more food and travel farther.
While I enjoy towns when the trail passes through their middle, making my arrival inevitable (eg, Damascus, Hot Springs), thumbing or walking long distances to resupply is something of no interest to me.
Basically, this sort of resupply effort is an unwanted, time consuming interruption, or another appointment to be kept, which I’d rather do without.
Sincerely–Conan.
Conan
Since I am restricted to section hiking now, my desire is to keep away from the rat race as much as possible for the week or two that I can get out to the trail. So I might start out with as much as 8-10 days of food, and plan to re-supply along the way only if it is very convenient.
Dioko
I think Conan and Dioko have made the distinction between thru hiking and section hiking on food resupply. Our thru hike was a different kind of hike than our section hikes. When we sectioned GA we did it in 5 days when we thru hiked it we did it in 7 days. We spend more time getting to know each hiker, we took longer breaks, we stopped in the towns and we kept our pack weight down. Our goal was to get to ME and enjoy the trip to the most.
I really think that is part of the reason most of the former thru hikers said 3-5 days of food. Hitching into town with your friends and getting a good meal, resuppling, and hitching out is part of the adventure.
If you are only out for a few weeks, by all means take as much food as you can carry and enjoy being out there away from the rat race. If you are planning for 6 months…that is about 12 lbs extra you’ll be carring for a few days. Something to think about: 1 extra lb picked up 5 million time equals 2,273 tons!!! The AT is 5 million steps long.
I saw written on the bathroom wall in GA “Hiker Prayer: Lord if you can just pick my feet up… I’ll figure out a way to get them back down.”
Papa Smurf
I would like to stay away from artificial distinctions based on an artificial hiker hierarchy.
The question is pretty simple: “Are there hikers out there who prefer to carry more food on the AT in order to hike further and avoid the need to resupply every 3-5 days?”
Simmer
Simmer
Where are you guys? Answer Simmer’s question.
In answering your question, it appeared to me (for what that is worth) in the first few weeks you saw 5 to 7 days of food often, but after that very few times did you see anyone carrying more than 5 days. You start to crave (I mean really crave) Pizza, ice cream, salads, fresh vegies, a hot shower, etc, etc. In Harpers Ferry I started craving an airconditioned restaurant, with table cloths and cloth napkins! Of coarse we found one, and before we left, we scarfed up two slices of pie from the table next to us that two small children didn’t eat. (it’s the hiker way!!) We should start a string on how many hikers asked somebody at a restaurant, “are you going to eat that?” or “can I have those fries?”
Simmer, IT IS YOUR HIKE. If you want to carry 14 days of food carry it.
Papa Smurf
It would appear that the long-range hikers are too busy hiking to be on the computer.
Jabber
Jabber
It’s not about artificial categorization of hikers, Simmer. The reality of it is that the length of your hike (specifically how long you’ve already been out hiking), has a huge impact on how much food you need to carry.
When you’ve been out there for many weeks, you just don’t have the luxury of carrying significantly fewer calories than you are burning. You get to the point where you don’t have enough body fat left to tap. After many weeks of long-distance hiking, the result is a HUGE appetite. You actually get to the point where you have a hard time carrying as much food as you would really prefer to eat.
A shorter-distance hiker can carry way much less food and be perfectly comfortable, because the body can handle a significant negative energy balance for short periods of time.
As a long-distance hiker, the number of days between resupply really comes down to how you choose to balance your caloric needs against what your back and legs are willing to carry.
One rule-of-thumb for long distance hiking is 2 pounds of food per person per day. If you go with the 2 lb. rule, you can stay out for 2 weeks between towns as a long-distance hiker as long as you are willing to carry about 28 lbs. of food. Ouch.
If your legs, back, and common sense say that’s too much weight for an enjoyable hike, then just carry less and resupply more often. Simple!
Have fun out there, regardless of how long you’re out!
-Chipper
Chipper
Dear Chipper,
Who said anything about carrying and consuming significantly less calories than you need? My question wasn’t about who can operate at a significant caloric deficit the longest. My question was about carrying more food in order to avoid having to resupply every 3-5 days. The assumption is that whatever you’re doing, you’re eating adequately, not eating inadequately.
Your basic proposition is this: That when people consistently put out more calories than they take in, they will eventually reach a point of depletion, exhaust their bodily reserves of fat, and fall into poor health as a result.
Furthermore, your response assumes that hikers cannot meet their caloric need while hiking and always operate at a substantial caloric deficit.
Well, your first proposition is true of the human race, regardless of activity or non-activity.
But, your second proposition is not true. Hikers can carry the food they need to meet their caloric and other nutritional needs. Whether they do so or not depends on their intelligence and inclination. My point is, it’s not hard to do.
The claim that a long-distance hiker cannot do this falls apart when we look at the facts. First, people carry sufficient food all the time, it’s clearly possible. Second, the experience that comes with long-distance hiking should increase one’s ability to maintain good health and nutrition while hiking, not decrease it. The question is clearly one of preference, not impossibility.
The responses in this thread indicates that people vary in their preferences. Some would rather avoid going out of their way to have to resupply; others don’t mind at all because there are things at the end of the effort that appeal to them.
It’s preference, nothing more or less. My interest was in hearing about the “why” of the preference.
Simmer
Simmer
Simmer, when we got to the Furnace and I took on the half gallon challenge, I finished the half gallon in 13 minutes, helped Flame finish hers, got two cheese burgers and a double order of fries (1pm) by 6pm I was starving. I think what Chipper was saying was you just can’t carry enough to meet your requirements. I carried 6,000 calories per day and lost 30 lbs by the time we got to VA and that encluded hitting every AYCE between Springer and Damascus. By Maine, some of the hikers looked like scarecrows, they were eating everything in site. The demands on walking everyday, carrying the weight, and climbing the mountains is a tremendous drain on the system. We’re not telling you to resupply every 3-5 days, you carry what you want. But it will be hard to find a significant number of thru hikers that carried a lot of food. There were many days we could hitch into town, resupply, eat a big meal at a restaurant, and still get in 15 miles. “Model T” (he is on his fourth AT thru hike this year) told me before our thru hike, “too many miles, too heavy a pack, and too fast, will send you home!”
I guess my question is have you attempted a 500+ mile hike carrying 14 days of food?
Papa Smurf
Dear Papa Smurf,
I know what Chipper was trying to say. The point of my response was to point out that he was incorrect and that impossibility was not the issue as other people are routinely doing what he contends cannot be done.
Again, my question was a simple one: “Are there hikers out there who prefer to carry more food on the AT in order to hike further and avoid the need to resupply every 3-5 days?”
Based on the responses, there answer is clearly “yes.”
Simmer
Simmer
Please don’t beat me up because I did more that answer the question. I was just trying to be helpful…
In my defense, I pretty clearly said that it is a hikers’ choice to balance how much they’re comfortable carrying vs. how long they want to stay on trail between resupply points. Period.
I never said that carrying 14 days’ worth of food can’t be done!! It can, and it is. I’ve met hikers who’ve done it. So, of course the answer to such a narrow question is “yes.” There are as many hiking styles as there are hikers.
As for the energy balance issue - it’s a real problem for many hikers. If you can avoid it completely and have no weight loss after a couple thousand miles on trail, you’re doing pretty darn well.
I’ve seen a lot of skeletal hikers as thruhikes progress, especially among male hikers. I watched one hiker lose half a pound every hiking day of his 1100 mile AT hike (42 lbs., and obviously an extreme case). Other hikers barely lose any weight after 2000+ miles, but they’re in a pretty small minority. Why all the weight loss?? Because it’s genuinely hard to carry and consume 5000-7000+ calories per day. Please note I said “hard,” but not impossible.
I’ve hiked as both a short-distance hiker (200-300 miles at a time), as well as a thru-hiker (AT and PCT). The amount of food I need varies wildly between those two cases. For the first couple weeks I’m out, I’m perfectly happy and comfortable eating only half to two-thirds my normal thru-hiker rations . I’m not hungry, not tired, etc. I couldn’t consume 6000 calories if I tried during those initial weeks - I’d feel sick.
After about 4-6 weeks on trail, though, I’m devouring every bit of food I can carry and looking for more. I pack about 2 pounds of very calorically-dense food per day, and I still end up losing about 10 lbs. over 2000+ miles.
In short, my long-distance food requirements do not equal my short-distance requirements. This difference influences how long I want to stay out between resupplies.
That’s my personal experience, just the facts and no assumptions, so no arguments, please. Your mileage will definitely vary.
Play nice out there.
-Chipper
ps. Speaking of assumptions, you can’t assume gender by trailname. Chipper = Jennifer
Chipper
By the way, I don’t know why people are talking about carrying 14 days worth of food. There are many places on the AT where one can resupply every 3 days (or less). Therefore, one could avoid a hiking interruption or two, and several long walks or thumbing incidents, simply by carrying 4-5-6-7 days food. Also, by employing some dehydrated food, food weight can be less than the 2 pounds per day figure (although there’s nothing unmanageable about 2 pounds per day).
Chipper/Jennifer: Thank you for pointing out the difference between facts and assumption. Generally speaking, assumptions run wild around here.
As to gender assumption, I wasn’t really making one, I was just following the rules of the English language, which are what they are, however annoying sometimes.
Simmer
Hey Simmer, just do what makes you happy. I hate hitching and avoid it when I can. 5-7 days’ rations are no problem to carry, and that’s what I usually aim for. The most I’ve ever carried was 8, but that was only under duress, and felt a bit too much like work for me. : )
If you like to make your own dehydrated food, check out Lip Smackin’ Backpackin.’ There’s also a vegetarian version with lots more recipes. The recipes list calories and weight per serving. My husband and I made lots of our own degydrated food for our thrus. It’s a really good way to get some better nutrition out on trail, though it’s a fair bit of work.
Have fun.
-Chipper
Chipper