WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 28
  1. #1
    Registered User LittleRock's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-10-2014
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Age
    38
    Posts
    803
    Images
    24

    Default When do you stop to eat along the trail?

    Just curious - If you're hiking all day, how often do you stop to eat on the trail? How long do you stop each time? Do you wait to reach a shelter, a good view, a nice rock or log to sit on, etc. or do you just stop wherever?
    It's all good in the woods.

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-20-2002
    Location
    Damascus, Virginia
    Age
    65
    Posts
    31,349

    Default

    there are no set times. you eat when you feel a need

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-01-2014
    Location
    Anchorage, AK
    Age
    62
    Posts
    2,500

    Default

    Pretty much all of the above. I often don't stop to eat, I often nibble while walking. I rarely stop to eat at a shelter unless the weather is bad because I'm out to enjoy the outdoors not some dirty old shelter. I try to keep my stops to 15 minutes or so because longer and I start getting stiff. If the view or swimming is good I might stop for quite a while and even take a nap. If I'm tired, I'll stop right where I am and just rest for a minute or two, maybe take a bite of something and then move on.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  4. #4
    Registered User colorado_rob's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-20-2012
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Age
    67
    Posts
    4,540
    Images
    3

    Default

    I'd say most days never (stop to eat). I'm a grazer. I eat continuously all day, every day as I walk. All trail food is in one of my huge hip-belt pocket, easily accessible.

    However, it is nice to stop at great views, etc, and consume snacks there. But mostly, just while walking. Unless it's a steep uphill..... thankfully not many of THOSE on the AT.....

  5. #5
    Registered User DavidNH's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-02-2005
    Location
    Concord, NH
    Age
    61
    Posts
    2,050

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by colorado_rob View Post
    I'd say most days never (stop to eat). I'm a grazer. I eat continuously all day, every day as I walk. All trail food is in one of my huge hip-belt pocket, easily accessible.

    However, it is nice to stop at great views, etc, and consume snacks there. But mostly, just while walking. Unless it's a steep uphill..... thankfully not many of THOSE on the AT.....
    Not many steep hills on the AT? did I read that right??? or was this a sarcastic remark? I remember quite a few steep hills!

  6. #6
    Registered User colorado_rob's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-20-2012
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Age
    67
    Posts
    4,540
    Images
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidNH View Post
    Not many steep hills on the AT? did I read that right??? or was this a sarcastic remark? I remember quite a few steep hills!
    YES! Sarcasm. I should have used a smiley. The AT really surprised me as I'm used to the kind, gentle trails here at west.

  7. #7
    Registered User soilman's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-29-2010
    Location
    Chillicothe, OH
    Age
    69
    Posts
    600

    Default

    I stop whenever I am hungry. I ran into 3 hikers who I had met in the Smokies at the bottom of Big Bald who were eating lunch. They said to me as I passed, "It's noon why aren't you stopping for lunch?" I asked if they were in a union. I also told them I had no watch and that I ate when I was hungry. Often times I stop and eat dinner then continue hiking because I was hungry but not ready to camp.
    More walking, less talking.

  8. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-01-2014
    Location
    Anchorage, AK
    Age
    62
    Posts
    2,500

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by soilman View Post
    . . . Often times I stop and eat dinner then continue hiking. . .
    I love eating dinner early and then hiking a while before making camp. That way I can stop at eat near a water source and/or a good view, and don't need to worry about cleanup and animals around camp, and I can dry camp without having to carry a bunch of water with me.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  9. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-10-2005
    Location
    Bedford, MA
    Posts
    12,678

    Default

    Whenever I feel like it. A nice rock or log to sit on, or a nice view... maybe a patch of sun when it's been cold, or a patch of shade if it's been hot or a shelter when it's been raining. I often have to remind myself to eat during the walking part. Not so much at camp.

  10. #10

    Default

    The nice thing about hiking is that you gotta carry your own food, there are no stores along the trail, so you really don't have enough to stop and have a meal; more like, just stop, get out a few bites' worth of grub and move on, that's a good thing, because than you train your body to feed off your fat stores for energy, as opposed to feeding off the more easily attainable fuels you throw down your gullet. This is why anyone that has failed in life to lose weight can succeed at losing weight on the trail.

    The extreme hunger is the best part of a long-distance hike. It sucks why your going thru it, but what comes out at the other end is a new you. And that's why those that say you should enjoy yourself on a hike are wrong! Go thru hell, then enjoy the results.

  11. #11

    Default

    I stop to eat when I'm taking my pack off for a break. The rest of the time I don't stop and eat while I'm walking.
    “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait until that other is ready...”~Henry David Thoreau

    http://lesstraveledby.net
    YouTube Channel
    Trailspace Reviews

  12. #12
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-03-2002
    Location
    Minneapolis
    Age
    66
    Posts
    5,446
    Images
    558

    Default

    I power-up with little snacks I put in my pocket before I start for the day, but I do tend to stop for more structured meals at a target location (view, water source, shelter) or when I run across a nice spot and it's time for a break. As others have mentioned earlier, stopping to eat an early dinner (3-5 pm) at a water source provides a ton of energy to keep hiking into early evening, allowing me to camp without much concern for water. This worked really well on an early June hike just north of Damascus, turning a 19-mile day into a third consecutive 24+ mile day with a strong finish. On nice mornings where I know of a view 2-4 miles away I will break camp early and stop for a prepared breakfast. If nothing else, it breaks up the day a bit more.
    GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014

  13. #13

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    I love eating dinner early and then hiking a while before making camp. That way I can stop at eat near a water source and/or a good view, and don't need to worry about cleanup and animals around camp, and I can dry camp without having to carry a bunch of water with me.
    Me too! Some of the joys of backpacking are eating and sleeping in awesome locations.

    I tend to carry a snicker or Cliff, or some kind of bar in my hip belt for those gotta-have-a-snack but need to keep moving times.

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-08-2012
    Location
    Penn's Woods
    Posts
    253
    Images
    7

    Default

    I eat when I feel the need to, I don't stop so much as I just graze. I'll have a cliff bar twice a day as I walk and I also have breakfast a mile or two down the trail, PopTarts on the move yummy. If it coincides with a view all the better cause I stop for views, sometime for too long. Cargo pockets are just the trick for food and one pocket is the trash pocket, till I eat the evening meal.

  15. #15
    Garlic
    Join Date
    10-15-2008
    Location
    Golden CO
    Age
    66
    Posts
    5,615
    Images
    2

    Default

    In my style of hiking, stopping every two hours or so for a small meal works very well. The concept of three meals a day just evaporates when I'm hiking.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  16. #16
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-28-2015
    Location
    Bad Ischl, Austria
    Age
    66
    Posts
    1,588

    Default

    Usually I start out of camp just like that - hungry and chilly, munching one or two granola bars on the go, until I find a nice spot to have a first break maybe an hour or two in.
    During the day I usually take two lunch breaks at random times and points. Nice view, water, good place to sit down are welcome.
    Given its not raining I take the shoes off at every break to dry out.
    I found, similar to what mentioned above, breaks of 10-15minutes most efficient.
    I never sleep during breaks, in order to sleep really well during the night.

  17. #17
    Registered User lonehiker's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-18-2005
    Location
    Cheyenne, WY
    Age
    60
    Posts
    1,440

    Default

    I eat breakfast and snacks on the move but usually stop for 10-15 minutes for lunch. I eat snacks/lunch on basically a set "schedule". This ensures that I eat all of my food and go into a resupply totally out of food. This schedule is especially useful early in a long hike before the hiker appetite kicks in.
    Lonehiker (MRT '22)

  18. #18
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-04-2015
    Location
    Bobs, Your Uncle
    Posts
    684

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    I love eating dinner early and then hiking a while before making camp. That way I can stop at eat near a water source and/or a good view, and don't need to worry about cleanup and animals around camp, and I can dry camp without having to carry a bunch of water with me.
    +1 to this. The midday is the best time to dry things out too, so I like a midday break to spread anything damp out, cook up the biggest meal of the day, wash anything that needs it with water nearby, and then set out for the second session. Breaking the day's hiking up into two sections makes it less fatiguing as well, or so it seems.

  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-13-2015
    Location
    Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
    Age
    73
    Posts
    441

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Casey & Gina View Post
    +1 to this. The midday is the best time to dry things out too, so I like a midday break to spread anything damp out, cook up the biggest meal of the day, wash anything that needs it with water nearby, and then set out for the second session. Breaking the day's hiking up into two sections makes it less fatiguing as well, or so it seems.
    Interesting idea to make mid-day the cooked meal! I'll try that.
    I'm thinking that I'll break camp sunrise-ish, hike until I'm warmed up and loosened up, stop for coffee & breakfast, then hike and browse snacks/food on a loosely continuous basis, stop late afternoon for a cooked meal, hike until nearly sunrise or a good camping spot, snack, and sleep. The mid–day cooking is a nice option.
    I'm a paddler by experience, wilderness canoeing. Snacks and lunch were as-things-developed, based on good spots appearing and on conditions. I'm thinking the same flexibility will happen on the trail (though we always ate breakfast after camp was struck, and stopped to camp well before dark, eating supper in camp).


    Bruce Traillium

  20. #20

    Default

    Eat when your hungry not by a clock.

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •