Running Out Of Food

[rlown]

I'm 6'2" and 210.. I wouldn't say burly. I just don't get that hungry until maybe day 3 or 4 out. I don't mind a scramble but once Markskor asked me to fill his flimsy water bottle in the middle of a stream. Almost fell in.

It was funny though on the last trip. I had fuel, a working stove and food. I enjoyed where I was just below evelyn lk. I sent my friends ahead. Their stove didn't work even though I begged one of them to take my extra stove head. He didn't and the other friend ended up eating cold rehydrated freeze-dried meals. I have an affection now for tortillas, pasta, hard cheese and tuna packets.

[bobby49]

bobby49- I would disagree with you that "running out of food" is a sign of poor planning. On the contrary, if you really plan your food carefully (I have a spreadsheet to do this) you will know EXACTLY how many calories you are carrying, and its nutritional content. And if you are disciplined enough to stick to the meal plan, then zeroing out food the last morning of a trip, is good planning, not poor planning. And if you have the survival experience in going without food, as well as foraging, you will easily survive those few times when you are delayed. In fact, most of the time, big delays is a result of poor overall trip planning. I think a lot of people take too much food, because they have never experienced a day without food, so are scared to do so. In some cultures, fasting more than a day is regularly done. It takes 30 days to starve to death; 3 days without water to die, and 3 minutes without air. Food is not the top priority. Food alone does not prevent hypothermia; you need proper clothing and the sense to know when to hole up and wait out a storm.

The thing is, as the length of the trip gets longer, the more little odds and ends you will have, which after about 10 days, actually can become a complete, if quite crazy, meal. The only time I take "emergency food" is on day hikes or an overnight trip.

I've never made any such claim, and I don't know what the hell you refer to.

[balzaccom]

I'm with Daisy. We never run OUT of food, but we've finished the wine with only an energy bar or two in the pack.

And while we've sometimes offered food to hikers that looked/acted like they might need it, the only time they have accepted was when we ate GORP and offered to share a handful with them ..

[rightstar76]

Yes one time I asked for food. Dumb and young and poor planning. I was on a mountain climb on Mt. Whitney with a friend and we asked some climbers if they would share their food with us. We had a great time eating top ramen with all the trimmings of manly conversation. The next morning another climber wanted to get rid of some weight and had heard about our situation so he gave us some Hawaiian bread.

As for giving food to other hikers, that also happened to me. I was on a dayhike in Point Reyes and a father and daughter stopped me and my wife. He said that he was on a long journey and would we not have the heart to give them provisions? We said no problem and pulled out some Clif bars and offered them bottled water. That's when things got interesting. He said he didn't like Clif bars but would we give them our granola bars instead? He then went on to ask us for specific items in our food stash while talking about how late he and his daughter were going to be to a fancy restaurant. Needless to say, I was peeved. On Mt Whitney, I had accepted what I was offered graciously, but this guy had the nerve to be choosy. Later, upon reflection, I realized I was being unreasonable and I began to see things differently. Although I had not been choosy when asking for food, I did ask for food from hungry climbers who cheerfully gave up badly needed calories. In return, my friend and I had received nourishment and camaraderie. On my day hike, I could easily give up a couple of granola, chocolate and fruit bars to father and daughter without any adverse effects to my wife and myself. It was basically paying it forward. Karma.

[tlsharb]

Well count me as one who usually ends a trip with extra food. I've never figured this out, but my first few days on the trail, i'm just not that hungry. The hunger sets in on day 3-4. So I've learned to take less (bet I average about 20oz/day), but Ive never come close to running out. I also take 5 dinners for a 7 day trip.... planning fish for the other two. So far Ive never regretted that decision, but my day may come . Two years ago, I made the big mistake of leaving the butter at the trailhead. Made for some lousy trout. Won't do that again.

[oldhikerQ]

I have never run out of food, so I have never had to ask for food from another hiker. The only thing that I have been asked for was some spices by a group camped next to us many years ago.
I try to carefully plan meal by meal. No spreadsheet, just 50+ years of trial and error. I still walk out with extra food each time. I try to cut it down, but it seem like I can't start out unless the bearikade is near bursting. During the final pack check, I invariably add a few goodies to the can "just in case". I'm hoping to break my extra food habit someday, but don't hold out much hope. Guess that I'm too set in may ways regarding certain things.

[tarbuckle]

Once. When I took four teenagers with me. Spent the last day with no dinner and no breakfast when we hiked out. I had coffee, so I was good

[Wandering Daisy]

bobby49- your comment that you never run out of food and the LeConte ranger example and the "his excuse" comment, was taken by me that you thought running out of food was poor planning. If I misinterpreted, then I apologize. I just wanted to say that not everyone who "runs out of food" is making excuses for poor planning. Some of us actually plan to run out of food.

Accepting some hunger vs. 100% assurance you will not run out is a personal choice. However, if either is unplanned, then you need to think about why this happens. Personally, if I never had an appatite the first two days, I would then cut those rations in half. If I knew I regluarly cut my trip a day short "hot to trot" for that buger, I would accept that quirk and take less food. But I think we all subconciously "ration" as we go, regardless of how we cut back, to avoid that hungry last day; or throw in more food the last minute when the food pile we planned looks too meager. It is human nature. To some degree my choice to minimize food and water is coming into backpacking from climbing, where extra weight (particularly water) is simply not done because of the "speed is safety" philospophy. The other end of the spectrum is the "be prepared boy scout" philosophy. I do not think there is a right or wrong here, just a personal choice as well as each has its appropriate place.

I have to be pretty hungry to beg food off others. I have meet a few backpackers at rest stops who spread out their extra food and try to give it away. I do not want to carry the extra any more than they do so turn down the offer. I actually know someone who uses "beg and plunder bear boxes" as an actual strategy to supplement.

By the way, IF I have a few days food left, I just stay add to my trip and do more exploring until the food is gone! This is one advantage of being retired - no job to have to go back to and my family is trained not to freak out unless I am more than two days late.

[AlmostThere]

I've never run out of food but have given food away when asked for it.

I did not give any to the couple of guys who were looting the bear locker my food was in, however. Told them to move on. We were camped in the line of sight, you don't ask, you don't get rewarded for being a thief.

[longri]

I've been on both sides, giving food to someone in need and receiving food when I've run out (or was going to run out).

On the JMT it's tempting to try and cut it really close because there are always lots of people who bring too much. I've had other backpackers just about beg me to take some of their food. One couple wanted to give me a 2lb jar of peanut butter! Another couple that included a professional chef offered to make me a five star backcountry meal. I was on an unsupported (no resupply) JMT trip and accepting any food wasn't part of the game I was playing. So I declined. I ate crackers and salami for dinner (no stove).

The preponderance of backpackers with too much food allows some people to actually plan on mooching. I caught a PCT hiker in the process of stealing my food out of a bear box one time. He thought any food in the box was for the taking. It was part of his game plan.

You could actually walk the JMT without carrying much, if any, food. You can buy it at Tuolumne, Reds Meadow, and Vermillion Resort. You can dig through the abandoned supplies at Muir Trail Ranch. And you could mooch off of the hoards of people who overpack. It would be kind of a sleazy thing to do though.

More typically when I've realized my food requirements were greater than I anticipated I've cut the trip short. I can't always determine in advance what my body will need, especially on a longer trip. And without food I crash and burn.