Your Appetite while Backpacking?

[rlown]

Bearzy?

I know, that would be really low on my list as well.

[Rockyroad]

Rockyroad writes:

after reading about Harlen's fasting experiment, I considered going out with only Fritos and peanut M&Ms. However, I decided against it because if I got tired of them, I wouldn't have anything else to fall back on.

Regarding "nothing else to fall back on"- why not very small pieces of one's own flesh? I read somewhere that cannibalizing oneself when starving doesn't really work well because one burns as many calories healing the wound as you gain from the piece of yourself. I wonder how well studied this technique really is though? The lack of of data leaves the question open, at least it does to me ..... perhaps the NOLS could do further experiments- WD? For instance, what if after taking a bite out of your shoulder or biceps you immediately cauterize the wound, pop a pain pill, and just keep on truckin' down the Rockyroad? An extreme version of the "self-sufficient" trip.

Rocky, do you hike with a partner, if so, another option presents itself.... Alexander Pearce anyone???

Well I have heard, and then read a lot about obscure Alexander Pearce, and his grisly backcountry traveling methods. Mainly because my friend Shaun Pearce- the mild looking Tasmanian school teacher pictured below, likes to think he's related, and calls him "Uncle Alex." If nothing else, Alexander Pearce was a survivor.

Ahh, the age-old conundrum of who gets eaten when the food supply gets low, or unappetizing (to stay on topic). I hike solo most of the time so haven’t had to wrestle with this problem, but I have wondered whether marmot tastes like chicken.

Do you hike with Shaun? Probably a good idea to carry plenty of food if you do.

[jbinsb]

I have discovered that I am, as one of my backpacking partners once observed "one of those people who needs to eat all the time." I'm 5-9 and 150 (same as in high school some 45+ years ago) and can't eat a lot at one time but need the energy for 10-mile days at altitudes between 8k and 13K mostly in the Eastern Sierra. I keep a couple gels and a pack of Shot Blocks on me, and a mix of salted spicy cashews, macadamias, raisins and coconut in my pocket. Oatmeal with dried fruit in the morning and a freeze-dried Mountain House at night, though sometimes I can't finish it. Sometimes at altitude, I'm just not hungry but try to eat. Salami and cheese are my Nirvana on trail. And electrolytes help a lot.

[phoenix2000]

I've learned not to bother bringing a dinner for the 1st night out because I've never been hungry enough to eat anything on the 1st night. For breakfast I have 2 packets of oatmeal and a breakfast bar. I put a handful of trailmix, 6-7 pieces of home made beef jerky, 1 packet of fruit bites and 1 quaker chewy granola bar in a sandwich bag and stick it in my pocket. I then snack on it thru the day and eat the bar and bites at lunch time. It's not much food but for the 1st 3-4 days it's enough. At night I eat a freeze dried meal. I had been eating Mountain House or Backpacker's Pantry meals but they've declined in taste over the years. Thanks to people on this site I discovered how good the food from Packit Gourmet is. My favorite is the All-American Works Burger.

The first few nights I can barely finish dinner but later in the trip I can finish them without a problem. I do carry a summer sausage and M&Ms. I don't feel like eating them until day 4. Then I crave them and pull them out and eat them at the end of the day's hike.

[Lumbergh21]

I tend to eat less while backpacking than I do while at home, but my appetite is fairly consistent from day to day and from one hike to the next. I can count on wanting to eat 2800 to 3000 calories per day. Of course, my longest trip was 18 days, so my appetite may change over a long hike. I focus on meeting that 2,800 calorie goal and getting over 100 g of protein per day. I avoid expensive freeze dried meals with their low nutritional content, as I'm trying to stuff as much food (calories and protein) as I can into my bear cannister. Also, I haven't tried a freeze dried meal that I enjoyed more than salami and cheese burritos, peanut butter burritos, or refried beans with cheese and corn chips all of which cost less and give me more calories and more protein. Or, maybe I'm just "frugal".

[Harlen]

Lumbergh21 wrote:

Or, maybe I'm just "frugal".

I like everything you say up there Lumbergh, about real food and frugality, as for the latter, I reckon my standard top ramen dinners are as frugal as one can get. They used to be 5 for a buck, not sure now, but it's still a pittance. I may have phoenix2000 beat too (with regard to the cost at least) with my homemade roadkill jerky.

[Wandering Daisy]

Speaking of frugality, I have an eccentric friend who gets most of his backpack food (as well as his town food) from dumpster diving. Harlan- I bet you could get your Raman free at your local food bank for the homeless. Just do the not washing or bathing act for a week and nobody would be the wiser.

[Harlen]

Daisy writes:

Speaking of frugality, I have an eccentric friend who gets most of his backpack food (as well as his town food) from dumpster diving. Harlen- I bet you could get your Ramen free at your local food bank for the homeless. Just do the not washing or bathing act for a week and nobody would be the wiser.

Two things, Nancy--first, I wonder if you're referring to a Wyoming friend we may share when you speak of your "eccentric friend" who is an unapologetic dumpster diver. We met Juan L.--climber/caver/Antarctica worker-traveler extraordinaire, when my family and Vermont friends all stayed with Juan at his home in Lander, Wyoming, as part of the "Couchsurfing" community. He showed us the gallons! of olive oil, and on and on, fine food that he retrieved from the dumpsters behind various big markets of Lander. Juan is an exceptional worker: welder, mechanic, rope access worker, tree worker/high climber (higher than me!) Antactica project guy...and fine-art photographer, who figured out long ago that if he parked his ego outside the bin, he could take care of most of his alimentary needs by dumpster diving. I hope this is the guy you also have the pleasure of knowing, Nancy--we were so impressed with him. He mentioned having worked at the same NOLS that you have spoken of--that's why I think we may be speaking of the same great guy.

Secondly, you're not far off regarding my potential for free Sierra (and other?) food. When I sit outside our local Safeway with Bearzy while my wife shops, I often get the sense that much of the public passing by look askance at me as a homeless beggar guy...must be my Goodwill-style clothing. Nobody has offered me any money yet, but I can see it coming soon. What will I say?

[Wandering Daisy]

Yep, it is Juan. He was one of my NOLS students when he was 16 years old, and we have been friends since. He prefers to be known as a salvager, not dumpster diver. I helped him put "recycled" siding on one of his houses- Wyoming license plates. We spent three days screwing license plates. They were free, made to withstand weather, with the only unintended consequence was that the house glowed in the dark when approached at night with car lights on. I have enjoyed many a meal made from dumpster salvages.

Since Lander is the headquarters of NOLS, he also gets all his backpack gear from their dumpster. It is amazing what the rich students simply throw out after a course because they do not want to bother taking it home. He still backpacks with his 1970 Kelty pack. He went on several trips with me I did while researching for my guidebook.

By the way, if you get into Lander, go to the NOLS store. They have a big stack of Wind River USGS topographic maps that students do not keep and they give them away free.

[Harlen]

Nancy writes:

Yep, it is Juan. He was one of my NOLS students when he was 16 years old,...

That's great--small mountain world isn't it? I am still in touch with Juan, and he sent photos of the house in Idaho with the licence plate siding. Now I can imagine you up there banging away with Juan. I hope to see him again one day; I am always looking for giant, complex tree jobs that I can put him on to. If he comes to visit us, I'll let you know and we can all go for a hike.

As a nod back to the food topic- I finally managed to make the perfect persimmon fruit leather. If like us, anyone has giant trees full of unused Hachiya persimmons rotting away in the neighbor's yards, you can fill a blender with the ripe fruit, add one big lemon's juice per blender, and then pour the mix onto the fiber sheets and cook in the dehydrator for a few hours. It's really nice, and lasts for months in the frig., and makes great mountain food.