[pct-l] Do the math - Packing a Bear Canister

[Pea Hicks]

stillroaming wrote:

> I want to see someone cram 40,500 calories (4,500 for 9 days) of power bars 
> into a bear can. That's 175 power bars @ 230 calories per bar!
> 
> In my opinion, Tom has just highlighted why canisters are not practical for 
> most thru-hikers. 

personally, i've never seen anyone, not even a thru-hiker, eat 19+ power 
bars a day for *any* length of time. correct me if i'm wrong, but i seem 
to recall that even squeaky reported eating only 12 power bars a day.

in reality, folks make do with far less calories in the sierra than what 
you're implying is required.

in 2004, i hiked the entire jmt with a friend of mine, with one resupply 
at vvr. we took just one bear canister between the two of us, and 
managed to fit ALL of our food into it, and even had leftovers when we 
got to vvr. at whitney, we were at the tail end of our food, but still 
had enough to share with another hiker who had come up a 1/2 day short.

in any event, my suggestion to anyone who anticipates they'll need 
massive quanities of calories in the sierra is to suck it up and 
resupply in independence. the side trip is scenic, and is not that much 
extra miles in the grand scheme of things.


girlscout