I was packing way too much food for my trips and didn't know it

I finished a 4-day loop in the White Mountains last fall and hauled out over 3 pounds of uneaten snacks. The moment I dumped it all on my kitchen counter, it clicked. I had been following generic meal plans from old guidebooks that called for huge calorie counts. My actual hiking pace and appetite were much lower. Now I pack about 1.5 pounds of food per day and actually eat it all. What's a better method for planning food weight on a 5 to 7 day trek?

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3 Comments

lily_stone765mo ago

Listen to your body, not the book.

7

robertc445mo ago

Ever wonder why backpacking feels like a punishment? You're basically training to be a pack mule for snacks you'll never touch. Lily_stone76 has the right idea, forget the old books. My method is to pack one day of meals I know I'll actually eat, then just multiply that for the trip. Weigh it once and write it down, then you have your own personal guide. Those generic calorie counts are for someone hiking twice as hard in a different decade.

7

taylorm892mo ago

But what do you actually do when you're on like day four and suddenly crave something totally different? I've tried the "just pack what you know" method but halfway through a trip my body starts demanding weird stuff like salty crackers or extra sugar. How do you plan for that without just bringing everything and the kitchen sink?

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