[pct-l] Determining how much food to take

[Eric Lee]

Scott wrote:
>
What I can tell you is that you will starve on a pound per day. You will
need at least twice that much.
>

For the six-day section hikes I usually do, I plan on 1.5 pounds of dry food
per day (dehydrated soup mixes, nuts, dried fruit, energy bars, Snickers
bars, etc).  I can't force myself to eat much more than that per day.  (I've
found that when I push my body too hard I actually lose my appetite and it
becomes difficult to eat.)  Depending on where my section is, I might get a
restaurant meal in there somewhere, too.  I'm about 6' 1" and about 180
pounds.  I can do about 140 miles in 5.5 or 6 days.  Curiously, I usually
lose little if any weight over a six-day trip on that food budget.

Many thrus report that their appetite takes a sharp upward turn after a
couple weeks but I've never had the pleasure of being out that long at one
stretch.

Eric