Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

outsideonline.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 281 posts

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#191

Post by hprotagonist »

ceocoder wrote: post #138
jon_richards wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

> Some people actually just drink cooking oil, but it's rarely worth the tiny bit of extra weight efficiency. Is this really a thing? I've read quite a bit about thruhikers and have never encountered this. If you have any more details, mind sharing?

it's more common in extreme environments where your caloric expenditure is very high.

antarctic sled teams do this sometimes, because you're burning about 7,000 calories a day just staying warm.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#192

Post by nabla9 »

jon_richards wrote: post #112
Dowwie wrote: post #36

I came across three emaciated, bearded men on the continental divide trail in glacier national park. When I asked one of them where he was from he looked at his buddies and they all replied excitedly, in unison, "Mexico!". It was at that moment that I came to realize that these men were one day away from completing the entire thru-hike. I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag.…

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

I carried oatmeal, brown sugar and cooking oil.

You make a porridge with oats, add few table spoons of sugar and so much oil that it looks more like soup than porridge.

100 ml oil contains 900 kcal. You can go all day with 3-4 oatmeals

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#193

Post by Ntrails »

jon_richards wrote: post #112
Dowwie wrote: post #36

I came across three emaciated, bearded men on the continental divide trail in glacier national park. When I asked one of them where he was from he looked at his buddies and they all replied excitedly, in unison, "Mexico!". It was at that moment that I came to realize that these men were one day away from completing the entire thru-hike. I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag.…

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

And I thought it was all about the Malt Loaf

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#194

Post by Dowwie »

beachstartup wrote: post #173
gydfi wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm embarrassed to admit how many times I've eaten that while not on a hike. "Sure, I could boil some water. Or I could just sprinkle seasoning on the top and eat it now..."

david chang agrees with you: https://youtu.be/ikr5wVxzpjk?t=95

great reference -- I love this episode

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#196

Post by jon_richards »

jon_richards wrote: post #112
Dowwie wrote: post #36

I came across three emaciated, bearded men on the continental divide trail in glacier national park. When I asked one of them where he was from he looked at his buddies and they all replied excitedly, in unison, "Mexico!". It was at that moment that I came to realize that these men were one day away from completing the entire thru-hike. I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag.…

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

Noticed too late that I reversed the fat content percentage, it's usually 30-40% fat. Roughly 4 calories per gram, compared to most candy's 3. Pure fat or cooking oil is around 9.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#197

Post by BarkMore »

wapz wrote: post #149
BarkMore wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people will want some sort of netting when there's moderate to heavy pressure from biting insects. I carry a three ounce mosquito net in these situations. A full tent is not required. Insect repellent and site selection (don't sleep next to lake) handle low bug pressure situations. I don't worry about other critters where I hike in the PNW.

How light do you get your pack (minus the starting liquids).

Some people get down to six pounds. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHmtdtctzzc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LggWPhMv-H4.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#198

Post by kevinwang »

morgante wrote: post #81
Dowwie wrote: post #36

I came across three emaciated, bearded men on the continental divide trail in glacier national park. When I asked one of them where he was from he looked at his buddies and they all replied excitedly, in unison, "Mexico!". It was at that moment that I came to realize that these men were one day away from completing the entire thru-hike. I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag.…

> I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag. I'm embarrassed to admit how many times I've eaten that on hikes. For my next long hike I'm probably going to ditch my stove completely: it's not so much the weight, but personally the last thing I want to do after a day of hiking is cook.

I've heard before (could be made-up) that instant noodles in dried form is, while enjoyable, basically indigestible and devoid (even moreso than if cooked) of nutritional content

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#199

Post by tea-flow »

jon_richards wrote: post #112
Dowwie wrote: post #36

I came across three emaciated, bearded men on the continental divide trail in glacier national park. When I asked one of them where he was from he looked at his buddies and they all replied excitedly, in unison, "Mexico!". It was at that moment that I came to realize that these men were one day away from completing the entire thru-hike. I vividly recall one of their dinners: Dried ramen noodle, straight from the bag.…

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

Lonnie Dupre thru hiked the Alaskan trail and brough a giant bag of wild rice cereal combined with pumpkin seeds and dried fruit. Seemed to work well for him...

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#200

Post by gaius »

david-given wrote: post #158
jon_richards wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

One of the classic British walking rations (we don't use the word 'hiking') is Kendal Mint Cake: http://oakden.co.uk/kendal-mint-cake-recipe/ It's a slab of peppermint-flavoured sugar, doused in glucose syrup, covered in chocolate. It's one of those things that you cannot possibly imagine yourself eating, until you're actually out on the hills after a long day (or several days) and you're cold and you're tired and th…

we don't use the word 'hiking'

Yes we do.

Post reply on HN