daily calories

[Trevor J]

first post here and though im a avid back country hunter im relatively new to backpacking, doing mostly day hikes from a base camp. this year im going to start staying in the back country. from everything ive read it seems 4000 calories a day seems to be about the standard for physical back country living. i would love to hear from some of you experts as to the best way you've found to obtain this. thanks

[Trevor J]

no one has any knowledge they want to share huh?

[Anonymous]

"no one has any knowledge they want to share huh?"

Hi Trevor,

I don't think it a matter of not wanting to share the information. Most likely it's backcountry diet fatigue. I know that is the case for me. The subject has been discussed pretty thoroughly in numerous threads here over the past 3-4 years. Probably your best bet would be to do a search on calories, diet, etc and see what you come up with. I'll bet if you get the search arguments right, you'll probably come up with more information on the subject than you probably have time or desire to read.

[Ben Crowell]

On short trips, most people eat about 15-20 calories per day per pound of body weight. This may be far too low for long through hikes, where you can't stay in calorie debt, and for extremely strenuous hikes (25-30 miles/day) in cold weather.

[Mary D]

So much depends on the individual's build, metabolism, gender, conditioning, how much "extra" weight they are carrying that it's hard to generalize. In addition to searching on this site, the articles on Thru-hiker.com by Brenda Braaten, PhD (also a long-distance hiker and well-known PCT trail angel) are most helpful: http://thru-hiker.com/articles/pack_light_eat_right.php

[Diana Vann]

You might find this previous discussion helpful:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/2273/index.html?skip_to_post=16839#16839

[Diana Vann]

Hi, Trevor,

I just noticed that the link I posted takes you the middle of the discussion. Just scroll up to get to the top.

[Trevor J]

thanks guys. ill do a search and check out the links posted. sorry if i was beating a dead horse with the post but Ive only been on here a short while. oh and i love the bear pic in your avatar. you take that?

[Greg Mihalik]

Aim for 3500 a day.

If you come home 10 pounds lighter and hungry, take more the next time.

If you bring food home, take less.

The only way to figure it out is to hike your hike, and then adjust.

[Diana Vann]

Trevor,

Yes, I took the photo in Alaska. If you look closely you can see that Mama bear has a fish in her mouth. I saw her dart out of hiding, grab a fish from the stream, then run back into the bushes, where she had stashed her cubs. She then led the cubs to higher ground before sharing her catch with them.

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