Running Out Of Food

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giantbrookie
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by giantbrookie »

I did run out of food on a short trip (3 days) and it was an experience I vowed never to repeat. It was a case of counting on catching fish (and carrying correspondingly less food) and then failing to catch fish when I needed to. The irony was that I caught and released a ton of fish hiking to where I camped, then struck out when I needed fish for dinner. Accordingly on night 1 the "reserve" dinner food was consumed, so on night 2, we moved our camp back to a place where I had caught and released a mess of fish the day before--I struck out. The last of the breakfast food was then consumed for the last dinner (along with what was left of the trail snacks). It wasn't near enough. The next day we took off for the car without breakfast; we were really hurting. I stopped at yet another lake in mid morning on the way out and caught some very nice fish which led to a belated feast on the trail.

After that you could say I've gone overboard on food. The plan after that has been to always bring enough food to eat well, even if the the entire trip pitches a fishing skunk. I always end up carrying out food (have not skunked at a dinner fishing spot since that fateful trip in 1987), but this is OK with me, I'd much rather err on the extra food side then be hungry and I still haven't reached the point where I am bothered too much by the weight, even off trail.

Nobody has ever asked my group for food, nor have we ever asked anyone for food.
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Harlen
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by Harlen »

My longtime backpacking buddy Brooks, who knows that I never pack too much food, couldn't wait to tell me about another guy he was with who packed so many pounds of extra food that one night he began feeding the fire with sausages, and a whole big block of cheese! I was appalled, and ever after have called this guy "Cheese in the Fire" Jones. "Why didn't you take it yourself?!" Brooks said his pack was already perfect. I never come out with any food left, but I don't mind fasting either.
Bobby49 wrote:
I use a different metric. I place my bear canister away from my shelter at exactly the range of the flash on my camera. If Mister Bear starts playing with it, I want to be able to get the photo at night.
rlown wrote:
My bear can is sitting right there where I can see it outside my tent's vestibule.
And I use the bear can for a pillow Russ. :nod:
Last edited by Harlen on Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by rlown »

Bear (dog) will alert you before you even need to move :) I tether my pack to a tree as well and put my pot on the top with the handle through the tether.

Nothing like a can of spray cheddar cheese, a summer sausage and several mini sourdough rolls to get you through a trip..
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by mrphil »

I've never run out of food unless that was the plan. Given some away, and had it offered with just too many delectable goodies to pass up. It's the wannabe backpackers that are really campers that decided it would be fun to strap on a pack and walk for a couple days that are great for that, if any of you (Markskor) are looking for likely targets (Hint: evaluate the tent). The only thing I've ever run out of that I actually scrounged hard and begged for is coffee. Learned that lesson the hard way. Now, if I'm walking out with anything, it's an extra four days worth of Via packets and maybe a few Clif bars.
Last edited by mrphil on Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by rlown »

Ran out of Via packets on the last trip. My bad. Friend came back and I had tea. works.
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by Lumbergh21 »

balzaccom wrote: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 ..
That's funny, because gorp is the last thing I would accept. I've never been in a situation that I felt the need to risk a food borne illness. Not throwing mud at you, it's just that I think we all know that hygeine takes a pretty steep dive while hiking. A food that you eat by hand and are dipping your hand into is not safe in my book, especially if you're just someone on the trail that i don't know. I guess that risk assesment might be a "symptom" of Western civilization where food is rarely in short supply.
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by Lumbergh21 »

longri wrote: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.
I agree that stealing is "sleazy". It's actually beyond that in my book; it's a crime, a particularly bad crime in a back country situation that could easily result in more than a talking to if someone did it to me. But, how is resupplying through hiker buckets supplemented by purchases at places like Reds and VVR "sleazy"? Who owns that food in the hiker buckets that I shouldn't eat it? Is it better that it be thrown away (which most of it is)? What is sleazy about taking food that other people have decided they don't want and leave in the hopes that someone else will take it?
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by Lumbergh21 »

I've never been asked for food nor have I asked for food. I have accepted food from others when offered (and they are offering something I really like :D ). I also gave away food at the end of my JMT hike in 2015. I had suddenly lost my appetite and still had 15 bite size Snickers and a bag of ginger chews, so I asked all of the people I saw on the top of Whitney if they wanted either. One guy took a couple of Snickers and that was it. Imagine that, not being able to give away Snickers. :D
I always count up the number of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and daily snacks I will need going into a trip. I know from experience that I can't eat more than 3000 calories per day when on trail (strangely, I can easily eat more than 3000 calories when off trail), and plan accordingly. I usually aim for 2700 to 2800 calories and 100 to 120 grams of protein per day. I have been hungry at times, but I usually take stock of my supplies when I start to get low and either ration or modify my hike to take me to a place like MTR, VVR, Reds, etc where I know I can get more food as long as i'm not picky. I have turned down offers of food, but only when I already have a full bear cannister or when offered food with little nutritional value (had someone offer me dehydrated non-fat milk once when they had more than they could fit in their bear cannister; I'll just drink water since it has about the same amount of calories and tastes better, lol).
I do appreciate the thought when people have offered me food, though, whether I needed it or not. It's one of the things that makes the hiking community so wonderful and so different from every day life, the willingness to share and help out someone, even someone you don't know.
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by Harlen »

What has really helped us to accurately ration our food on long trips is to make up separate bags for each day's lunch. This was especially helpful when the boys were with us, to keep them from cherry-picking the sweet stuff. Our meals were a lot more complicated then too, as the boys had their definite favorite foods in each meal, so we would have to pack everything into individual meal bags. With Lizzie and me, we just pack our lunches for each day, since we are both fine with our standard dinners: 2 ramen mixed with 2 Knorr's soup mixes, plus some cheese or salami thrown in, or not ... and for every breakfast: 3 packets of instant oats with berries or raisins.
At one point the boys decided to each carry their own separate lunch in their own packs, which meant even more damned baggies, and usually they would have wiped out their "lunches" by 10 AM, so when lunch rolled around, they got most of ours too. Didn't seem to matter to Lizzie and me, for like you Lumbergh21, we generally have very slight appetites in the mountains, regardless of miles or mountains covered. It doesn't make sense, but we've given up worrying about it, and are happy with the light food pack. Beautiful Sierra stream water is enough!
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Last edited by Harlen on Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Running Out Of Food

Post by longri »

Lumbergh21 wrote:I agree that stealing is "sleazy". It's actually beyond that in my book; it's a crime, a particularly bad crime in a back country situation that could easily result in more than a talking to if someone did it to me. But, how is resupplying through hiker buckets supplemented by purchases at places like Reds and VVR "sleazy"?
I don't know whether you were lazy when reading what I wrote or I was lazy when I composed it. But I never meant to imply that either stealing or going through the resupply buckets was sleazy. The former is a crime, and I was joking about it as a possible way to get food. The latter is perfectly legal and more or less encouraged. I've done it. On one trip (where I couldn't fit enough of my own food into my canister) I actually planned in advance to do it.

What I think would be sleazy would be to plan on mooching off of other hikers. It would be perfectly legal; just not something I'd set out to do.
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