[pct-l] Wise dehydrated food and other bulk disaster foods

[Melanie Clarke]

>From what I have read from the through hikers on this list, you can get
sick of foods or change your diet plan in some way so I would only send
food drops up to South Lake Tahoe or Ashland.  (I still have to work so I
can only hike about 300 miles at a time.)  My BF only sent food drops up to
Ashland and then I met him in the city and together we put together the
food drops for the rest of his hike while he rested a few days.  Go to
a Shakespeare play in the evening!  The Post Office has a supply of
Priority (or was it Express?? can't remember the terms).  Make sure you
have your "Yogi" book in one of the food drops so you can plan for this.

I've never actually seen anyone carry 5,000 to 6,000 calories, just too
much weight to carry for a week.  That is probably what you need but I
guess people lose weight, "food-up" in towns.  I see people carry, and pull
out of their food boxes, about 3,000 to 4,000 calories per day.  I measure
my calories per day that I pack so I have a sense what this looks like.
 This probably sounds like I have OCD or Aspergers (maybe I do) but I have
always had serious weight issues and I've had to count calories my entire
life.  Still, I don't actually monitor the calories that other people are
eating.  Also, I hike with an older crowd so get advice from your
demographic on this site.  I ate more when I was young, period!  I hike in
the crowd doing about 18 to 25 miles per day (definitely averaging 20/day
or a bit more)

Hiking all day seems to mitigate the appetite a little bit relative to the
calories one is actually burning.  You do have to keep eating, however, to
keep from "bonking".  Sometimes, you won't sense hunger but your energy
stores (blood glucose, muscle glycogen) will all be depleted and you will
feel drained.  You will need to replenish these immediate energy stores
with food, to keep hiking.

In most cases, the body won't allow you to just die of starvation so if
you're thin I wouldn't worry about wasting away completely.  You need
poverty or a psychological condition to achieve this. The human body has
marvelous coping mechanisms!

Toga

On Sun, Mar 3, 2013 at 11:35 AM, Patrick Seibt <texaspoo666 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hey there,
>
> I am starting to put together my food for my mail drops and was wondering
> if the best way to purchase dehydrated foods was in bulk off Amazon and
> other discount companies. I am on kind of a tight budget and need calories.
> Hs anyone had success using companies like this and does anyone have any
> suggestions for high calorie CHEAP backpacking foods. I am starting in
> Campo and will start buying stuff for my first couple of maildrops this
> week so I can get them sent off. I am leaving April 15 and need some input
> before the end of the week so I will have time to order the food and get it
> packaged and sent before I leave. I wanna leave yesterday but gotta have
> that food. Getting stoked for my thru hike and want to make sure I have
> enough calories. I weigh about 162 so I am figuring I will need between
> 5000 and 6000 calls a day.
> Thanks and see you out there!
>
> Patrick aka TexasPoo
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
>