Me and my hiking buddies are going on the 24 hour AMC Hut-to-hut traverse in the white mountains and we had some nutrition and hydration concerns. For those unfamiliar, the idea of the hike is to do 50 miles in 24 hours [midnight to midnight]. We want to pack superlight but aren't sure what kind of food to bring along. We've read that there is food at the huts along the way but we don't really want to stop for food along the way. I calculated on a website that we'll be burning about 10,000 calories. Is this true? and if it is true, what kind of foods should we take along to replace all those calories and nutrients that will be lost. thank you.

The Presidential Traverse is a great hike. Check out the thread "24 Hour White Mountain Traverse"

Depending when you go you may want to ditch the stove and bring lots of energy bars. The huts (when they are open) have water and hot food like soup and pancakes.

Ely,
There are other threads (below) addressing this...but it depends a bit on how you plan to do it. 50 and 100 milers rely on stuff like HammerGel, Perpetum, and the like. They don't stop, they are at LT - 20, and burgers won't go down.

HammerGel is 2200 calories a bottle. (& 26 ounces of weight)
Perpetum is a powder that can be mixed on the trail.

On the other hand, if you're planning on a 30 minute breaks along the way, then real food might work for you.

Take a look at

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=8943&startat=40

and

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=2273&disable_pagination=1

Don't forget electrolytes.

And most importantly, test your food during your training.

Edited by greg23 on 03/05/2008 19:54:00 MST.

Make up one loaf of white Hi Fibre bread each into sandwiches. Do some with jam/sweet stuff and some with savoury (eg Houmous or Vegemite if you can get some). Cut them in half, squash them flat, mix up the halfs, and put four halfs in a ziplock. Add a couple of bananas to the pack. Throw in a can of sardines for dinner, about 6pm. Some choclate covered coffee beans to avoid decaffeination and you're good for 24-30 hours, provided you have access to water refills. You'll want to stop pfor 20min to eat the sardines, but you'll want to stop for 20 min by then anyway. The rest of it you can eat on the go.

Try to plan for some salty stuff at the end. Chips and gatorade are good for this.

Cheers, Rod