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?
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.
there are no set times. you eat when you feel a need
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.
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.....
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.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
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.
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.
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
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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
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.
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
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.
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)
+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
Eat when your hungry not by a clock.