Top 10 mistakes beginning thru-hikers are making

[DuneElliot]

After careful study and experience I would have to say this is incorrect. With careful meal and menu planning, a normal healthy adult can carry 30 days worth of food in one load without resupply. My longest such trip was 24 days and I still had several days of food left. Tweak it a little and 30 days is doable.

I'd really like to know how you did it. I just can't conceive of someone my size (petite female) being able to do that without pack animals or caches (as someone else suggested but which aren't always possible in some of the backcountry). Sure, my pack is as light as I can possibly make it because of my size, but even carrying 7 days of food this summer is going to be near my upper limit. There'd be no way for me to carry 60lbs of food plus all my other gear...that would be close to 2/3 of my body weight.

On the other note...I don't think any hiker is superior to any other. You can always learn something. I've been around horses all my life and trained them for years, and even someone new to horses can teach me something by asking a question, seeing something in a different way than I do etc. Those new and old to an activity can all teach something...if we're open to learning!!!

[Tipi Walter]

I'd really like to know how you did it. I just can't conceive of someone my size (petite female) being able to do that without pack animals or caches (as someone else suggested but which aren't always possible in some of the backcountry). Sure, my pack is as light as I can possibly make it because of my size, but even carrying 7 days of food this summer is going to be near my upper limit. There'd be no way for me to carry 60lbs of food plus all my other gear...that would be close to 2/3 of my body weight.

On the other note...I don't think any hiker is superior to any other. You can always learn something. I've been around horses all my life and trained them for years, and even someone new to horses can teach me something by asking a question, seeing something in a different way than I do etc. Those new and old to an activity can all teach something...if we're open to learning!!!

Good question. Allowances would have to be made for physical limitations and here is a solution:

Get two large BearVaults and load up with food at home before the fantasy "30 Day Trip." I know Class of 2016 AT Thruhikers won't be reading this so please skip over it.

Anyway, go to the area you want to explore and leave the bear vaults at the trailhead away from the car or drop-off point. Go into the "wilderness" and do loops on most all the trails and then on Day 15 backtrack to the vaults and pick up the next 15 days worth of food and continue the adventure or hike to your evac shuttle point.

With a good map and home study you could easily come up with a Cache plan and weave it into a 30 day trail itinerary. People used to do this all the time on the AT back in the 1970s. They would spend a week or two driving up the AT and placing caches before their thruhike. Imagine going 2 months on the AT and picking up food caches and not going into a town for 60 days. Paradise.

[nsherry61]

I'd really like to know how you did it . . . There'd be no way for me to carry 60lbs of food plus all my other gear...that would be close to 2/3 of my body weight. . .

Tipi suggested 30, not 60 days. As a petite female, with appropriately calorie dense food, you would probably need to carry 30-35 lbs of food. So, for summer, a 15 lb base weight plus 30 lbs of food is 45 lbs, not too bad. As a young and silly 165 lb boy/man in my late teens and early 20's I frequently carried packs up to 95 lbs with climbing gear and food (I occasionally resewed ripping backpack seams in camp). It really wasn't all that bad, although it would kill me now many times over. The beauty of food weight is that it disappears more every day, and by the end of the trip you can't believe how light your pack is.

I haven't gone on extended backpack trips in a while. I now weigh 215 lbs (50 lbs more than my "race weight"), so carrying a 45 lb pack now would be the same as a 95 lb pack back then, and I'm not nearly as strong! Now, I would plan for about 1.5 lbs of food per day knowing that I would loose a little weight on the trip, and that's okay. As a petit female, you might well be able to get by with just 1 lb of food per day.

I say, go do it! And have fun.

[Tipi Walter]

Tipi suggested 30, not 60 days. As a petite female, with appropriately calorie dense food, you would probably need to carry 30-35 lbs of food. So, for summer, a 15 lb base weight plus 30 lbs of food is 45 lbs, not too bad. As a young and silly 165 lb boy/man in my late teens and early 20's I frequently carried packs up to 95 lbs with climbing gear and food (I occasionally resewed ripping backpack seams in camp). It really wasn't all that bad, although it would kill me now many times over. The beauty of food weight is that it disappears more every day, and by the end of the trip you can't believe how light your pack is.

I haven't gone on extended backpack trips in a while. I now weigh 215 lbs (50 lbs more than my "race weight"), so carrying a 45 lb pack now would be the same as a 95 lb pack back then, and I'm not nearly as strong! Now, I would plan for about 1.5 lbs of food per day knowing that I would loose a little weight on the trip, and that's okay. As a petit female, you might well be able to get by with just 1 lb of food per day.

I say, go do it! And have fun.

I think DuneElliot assumed 2 lbs of food per day, which is my usual calculation. So for a typical 20 day trip I am carrying 40 lbs of food along with the necessary 44 oz of white gas fuel for my stove (or a little less in the summer).

A one-lb-a-day food load is interesting although most experienced backpackers like Ray Jardine and Andrew Skurka recommend the 2+lb number. Interesting discussion though revolving around "calorie-dense foods" and all else. And maybe a "petite female" CAN get by with 1 lb a day. Unclear. Probably not as metabolism would kick in hard with more calories desired. And a wide variety and amount to please the palate.

I like to eat and my menu is varied: Fresh red apples, plastic jars of honey and peanut butter and almond butter and cashew butter, loaves of Ezekiel bread, bags of roasted nuts, dried tempeh and brown rice, YOU NAME IT.

This is right on---
"The beauty of food weight is that it disappears more every day, and by the end of the trip you can't believe how light your pack is."

I routinely start a typical 18-21 day trip with a butt heavy pack in the 85 lb range (with full winter kit). If I go 4 miles the first day I'm happy with myself. Been known to do 7 with such weight. I call my demon pack the Gun Safe or the Red Strap-On or the Nylon Hippo or the Refrigerator but as you say by Day 12 or so of the trip the thing is MUCH lighter.

[DuneElliot]

Good suggestions all round. It's not something I'll be planning any time soon...too many other things in the works...but the theoretical solutions are good. And I do agree that caches are necessary for something like that.

Tipi suggested 30, not 60 days. As a petite female, with appropriately calorie dense food, you would probably need to carry 30-35 lbs of food. So, for summer, a 15 lb base weight plus 30 lbs of food is 45 lbs, not too bad.

I was going with his suggestion of 55-60lbs of food for 30 days. Yes, for me I could probably get away with less, and I'd be prepared to lose weight (not that I can afford to lose much). I know some women have carried much more than 45lbs but I know it's out of my capabilities. I have horses for a reason!!!

[Mtsman]

... I know Class of 2016 AT Thruhikers won't be reading this so please skip over it.

I used to enjoy your posts until I realized, just now, that you are the one "holding court" and preaching your way as the only way.

BTW I am an attempting class of 2016 AT Thruhiker and I read it all. I came away with more bigotry than great ideas but it must be because I'm not doing it your way.

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[Secondmouse]

Indeed. I'd rather be out there making mistakes than inside on an Internet forum talking about those making the mistakes.

and yet, here you are...

[AlyontheAT2016]

...I know Class of 2016 AT Thruhikers won't be reading this so please skip over it...

I'm not sure where you got that idea, but I hope to be a member of that particular group of people. I read through both pages of this thread because it's insightful information. I would also like to try and carry more food than the average thruhiker simply to avoid too many lengthy town stops where money disappears, because I am on a budget. But now you're coming across holier-than-thou and honestly a little bitter as well. Why on earth wouldn't future thruhikers be reading this?

[Tipi Walter]

I'm not sure where you got that idea, but I hope to be a member of that particular group of people. I read through both pages of this thread because it's insightful information. I would also like to try and carry more food than the average thruhiker simply to avoid too many lengthy town stops where money disappears, because I am on a budget. But now you're coming across holier-than-thou and honestly a little bitter as well. Why on earth wouldn't future thruhikers be reading this?

This is the Class of 2016 thruhiker forum and our side discussion on long trips without resupply is a thread drift and doesn't apply to them, hence my comment.

AT thruhikers do not need to carry large food loads as resupply is frequently available, and this thread pertains mostly to the Class of 2016 thruhikers.

I brought up the "30 Day Backpacking Trip w/o Resupply" as an alternative to a thruhike and wondered why AT thruhikers couldn't swap out a month on the trail for a month somewhere else with no resupply? Sounds like a plausible alternative since these hikers have already made the time commitment beforehand.

My scenario goes like this: Hiker X has reserved 4 months for his/her thruhike. Why not pull one month in a "wilderness area" without resupply instead and go from there? My only desire is to see backpackers get more uninterrupted forest time and less town visits (which I admit is a thread drift on a Class of 2016 thread).

[Mtsman]

This is the Class of 2016 thruhiker forum and our side discussion on long trips without resupply is a thread drift and doesn't apply to them, hence my comment.

It's not just that comment in this thread that has me a little heated. I understand you are allowed your point of view and I respect that, but to trash every style but your own puts you as the court holder.. hell, you even spewed all over the hiking viking thread as well saying something close to the idea of ' I can't believe he went to town after getting wet and cold'

Meh, HYOH. I guess I just need a deeper understanding or there is a lesson here I just don't understand yet.

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[AlyontheAT2016]

It's not just that comment in this thread that has me a little heated. I understand you are allowed your point of view and I respect that, but to trash every style but your own puts you as the court holder.. hell, you even spewed all over the hiking viking thread as well saying something close to the idea of ' I can't believe he went to town after getting wet and cold'

Meh, HYOH. I guess I just need a deeper understanding or there is a lesson here I just don't understand yet.

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+1000


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[Another Kevin]

With a good map and home study you could easily come up with a Cache plan and weave it into a 30 day trail itinerary. People used to do this all the time on the AT back in the 1970s. They would spend a week or two driving up the AT and placing caches before their thruhike. Imagine going 2 months on the AT and picking up food caches and not going into a town for 60 days. Paradise.

Paradise for you, perhaps. Most of us aren't you. I, for one, really hate the though of a 15-day food carry. I just don't like a pack that heavy.

Also, there are fewer and fewer places where caching food is lawful. For some of us, that's a consideration as well.

I'm sure you enjoy your approach. It doesn't particularly appeal to me. (For that matter, neither does thru-hiking. HYOH.)

[Tipi Walter]

Paradise for you, perhaps. Most of us aren't you. I, for one, really hate the though of a 15-day food carry. I just don't like a pack that heavy.

Also, there are fewer and fewer places where caching food is lawful. For some of us, that's a consideration as well.

I'm sure you enjoy your approach. It doesn't particularly appeal to me. (For that matter, neither does thru-hiking. HYOH.)

But a 15 day food carry keeps you out in the woods longer.

I would like to know if food caches are illegal between Springer and Fontana?? Any info on this? They used to be common on the AT.

Mt Ranier has a 93 mile route where food caches are encouraged with the proper permits.

HikingDude mentions the food cache alternative---
http://www.hikingdude.com/hiking-food-supply.php


AT backpacker Old Goat mentions setting up food caches in the 100 mile wilderness---

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=434137

[Tipi Walter]

hell, you even spewed all over the hiking viking thread as well saying something close to the idea of ' I can't believe he went to town after getting wet and cold'


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I don't consider writing a short review of the Hiking Viking's blog posts to be "spewing" unless by spewing you mean expressing an opinion you disagree with. I only reviewed the short section of his blog already posted, from December 2015 to January 16 and his Mahoosuc Notch encounter. He seemed to have stopped trail blogging after January 16.

And if you think my short review here on Whiteblaze is spewing, you should read my latest Trail Journal account.

[twistwrist]

Hike your own way. Focus on what you can learn from an article or discussion. Discard what's meaningless to you.
Peace y'all. It's really all good.

[Mtsman]

I don't consider writing a short review of the Hiking Viking's blog posts to be "spewing" unless by spewing you mean expressing an opinion you disagree with. I only reviewed the short section of his blog already posted, from December 2015 to January 16 and his Mahoosuc Notch encounter. He seemed to have stopped trail blogging after January 16.

And if you think my short review here on Whiteblaze is spewing, you should read my latest Trail Journal account.

Tipi, that was one example off of a very, very long list and even YOU admitted in the same post the it was so critical you may have to amend it..........

Like I said in the begging, I have no problem with others opinions and I often learn from them. I am a strong believer in HYOH I just wish others were as well, but I guess that would mean they couldn't HYOH...

Where I have an issue is when that point of view is so strong it becomes bigoted and the generalization (or developed schema) becomes so strong that you don't see a problem with lumping every thru hiker into a mass group and a mass method of hike.

I admire your style just as I do Kevins or maltos or muddys or elfs etc I guess I feel as if you are missing out on the beauty that different methods of hiking bring to the table.

I didn't mean this to be pick on Tipi day. The mindset you presented was very strong without apology or possibly even understanding. I felt like it needed defending and I feel I've said my part to do so.

HYOH YMMV

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[Another Kevin]

But a 15 day food carry keeps you out in the woods longer.

Ah. I think this is where we differ. You want to stay in the woods as long as possible. I like being Out There, but after 4-5 days Out There, I'm more than ready to spend a day being able to use 21st-century conveniences like charging my devices (I know, you don't like such things either. HYOH), touching base with my wife, getting a hot shower, having a poo in a warm room, and getting all my stuff clean and dry.

Once all that happens, I'd be more than ready to get Out There again, but by then I've usually run out of time and it's time to get back to my other priorities. Which is fine, they're important to me too.

Different styles. Mine is better for me.

[Tipi Walter]

Tipi, that was one example off of a very, very long list and even YOU admitted in the same post the it was so critical you may have to amend it..........

Like I said in the begging, I have no problem with others opinions and I often learn from them. I am a strong believer in HYOH I just wish others were as well, but I guess that would mean they couldn't HYOH...

Where I have an issue is when that point of view is so strong it becomes bigoted and the generalization (or developed schema) becomes so strong that you don't see a problem with lumping every thru hiker into a mass group and a mass method of hike.

I admire your style just as I do Kevins or maltos or muddys or elfs etc I guess I feel as if you are missing out on the beauty that different methods of hiking bring to the table.

I didn't mean this to be pick on Tipi day. The mindset you presented was very strong without apology or possibly even understanding. I felt like it needed defending and I feel I've said my part to do so.

HYOH YMMV

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Good post. I agree on Hiking Your Own Hike and also agree on having opinions on the hikes of others. And the opinions of others on My hike. It works both ways. I have heard countless times about carrying too much weight or injuring myself or going Stupid Heavy (vs stupid light) and even not adhering to the current fascination with UL and SUL gear. But HYOH should not curtail active discussions and opinions and even criticisms. Because when the day is done, and after all the talk, it always returns to HYOH. In the meantime we sort thru what procedures work for us while comparing them to the hikes of others.


When I presented my take on the Thruhiker phenom, I wrote and carefully added "some" thruhikers exhibit such behavior. Lumping every thruhiker into a mass group? Nope. That might qualify as being bigoted.

[rickb]

Used to be carrying 7 to 10 days of food between resupply was considered a reasonable plan on the AT.

Now that would considered to be foolhardy-- stupid, in fact.

Interesting how perceptions change over time, and how the hiking community as a whole adopts its collective norms with so few outliers.

[Odd Man Out]

Used to be carrying 7 to 10 days of food between resupply was considered a reasonable plan on the AT.

Now that would considered to be foolhardy-- stupid, in fact.

Interesting how perceptions change over time, and how the hiking community as a whole adopts its collective norms with so few outliers.

You are also considered foolhardy and stupid to hike without a mobile phone. Not only do we adopt collective norms, we don't tolerate the outliers. However we need the outliers (such as Tipi) so we can all make informed decisions. The article in the OP listed 10 "mistakes" that newbies tend to make. But they are mistakes only if people are doing these things while unaware that there are other options that may work better for them. One could also argue that those who conform to the collective norms without considering the outliers may also be making mistakes. When I get a chance to take a long-distance hike, I would be interested in trying out a long stretch without resupply, just to see if I like it. There's no way of knowing without trying. But I'd probably become comfortable with carrying more conventional 5 day food load before I try it.