I have been thinking about base weights and I created a plot. On the vertical axis is the base weight and on horizontal axis is the average total food consumption per day (assuming a 5 day trip). As people discuss reducing grams of base weight, it seems that equally important part in the planning process is food consumption. It was interesting to see that a 17 pound base weight with a 1.1 pound consumption rate was equal to a 13 pound base weight with a 1.9 pound consumption. Maybe, I am late to the party but I thought that this was an interesting chart. For me particularly, I do plan out my meals, however, some of my snacks get tossed in late in the game and the weight of snack can be quite high. It would be interesting to see a detailed list (not approximate) of the actual weight of food that other people carry. Jon

I just completed food prep for the JMT.

I'm at 1.49 pounds, for 3000 calories, per day.

Just curious... that number of 3000 kcal/day strikes me as low..
How much do you weigh? How many miles per day are you planning on hiking? Do you find you loose a lot of weight on trail at that many kcal/day or do you maintain weight?

I usually try to eat about 5500-6000 calories per day and still lose weight on the trail but I have a mega metabolism..

Edited by mailesdad on 09/01/2012 15:40:38 MDT.

I weigh 175#. Pack weight will be around 25#.
I'll average 18 to 20 miles a day. Maybe a couple of 24's if things are clicking.
I'll lose about 5 pounds over 12 days.

Edited by greg23 on 09/01/2012 15:56:43 MDT.

"Maybe a couple of 24's if things are clicking."

If I hear clicking, it is probably something in my backbone.

--B.G.--

interesting how big a difference individual metabolism makes. I'm nearly the same weight, but if I did that same hike, I'd lose probably twice (or more) that much weight.

Consider yourself lucky. I always end up carrying massive poundage in food just to keep from losing a ton of muscle every time I head out.

An issue with food is that in the early days of a hike, or on a short hike, you may not want to eat anywhere near what you need.

I have trouble eating more than 2400 cal/day in the first week. Im probably burning 5000+

I always bring too many snacks, which I like. Candy bars, fig bars, oatmeal pies, trail mix.

I have them left over. Simply not hungry enough to eat more than a certain amount.

On that last day, I like to go hungry though, and really pig out at pizza buffet and ice cream on the way home, guilt-free.

Dave,
I'm back from the JMT. (well...Shepard Pass to Toulumne Meadows - 7 miles less than over Whitney, but 2000' more feet of climbing on the first day.) I did it in eleven days.

As expected, I lost about 5 pounds, or less. I did add about 100 calories per day for the last 5 days via MTR's hiker boxes by swapping out 5 Harvest Bars for ProBars. I needed a change in taste and texture.