I am starting a NOBO thru hike soon and am strongly considering going stoveless to save weight with the stove/fuel/pot and utensils. Is there anything I should know about going stoveless before I actually do. I have been experimenting with it and have around 1500 to 2000 calories per day planned with stuff like pop tarts, bagels and tuna, bagels and peanut butter, powerbars, nuts, etc. Should I bring more calories per day? Anybody have experience going stoveless? pros/cons?
Tortuga
I’ve never done a thru, but everything I’ve read says that you should be planning to eat at least twice what you’re talking about.
I think the added versatility of being able to boil water is well worth the weight of an alcohol-burning soda can stove and a small mug/pot. Leave the heavy/bulky stoves and gas canisters at home.
pebbles
You might consider carrying the stove in the beginning and again at the end. The days that are cold or bad weather are really improved when you can get a hot meal or hot drink to warm your body back up. I gave up doing a hot meal for breakfast real early in my hike but did a hot meal for dinner almost every day. I used an alcohol stove, gatorade bottle for fuel and a small pot. Worth the weight to me.
socks
Hi Tortuga, I went stoveless in 2003 and bought all my food along the way, resupplying on average every 5 to 7 days unless obvious resupply was close to the trail. It worked for me but I don’t much worry about food. Also I started mid April and finished mid Sept so I avoided any super cold conditions. A stove can be an essential piece of safety equipment in certain conditions (cold/remoteness) but I think the AT has so many options for getting to town reasonably easily that this is not a concern. I also know of a girl who went stoveless during 2003.
Neil
I used an alcohol stove for the first half of my hike but only on occasion during the second half. I agree it depends on when you hike. I hiked May - Aug so there were few cold days. I kept my stove with a very small amount of alcohol for cold/wet days when a hot drink really helped. I made wraps for most meals. Used GORP a lot because it has a lot of calories. I did suffer from anemia which almost ended my hike. I added chewable vitamins with iron, protein powder, and emergen-C which contains all the electrolytes. I cannot recommend these enough.
Steady On
Steady On
I’ve tried the stoveless idea a couple times. Works, but I like to have a hot meal at least once a day. Having said that, going stoveless on the AT isn’t as much a problem on the AT as other trails. You’re always within a couple days of a town (up north, often within a half day most of the time) and if you really need a hot meal, it’s always a short hitch to town for a sit down meal, or whatever your budget will allow.
Bear Bag Hanger