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Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Food is DONE -77 pounds

 

hiking food in boxes

Here it is... all the food for this hike. The total is 77 pounds and a few ounces. Sounds like a lot doesn't it? But I am really pleased. Remember, this is for four people for two weeks!

This came out really close to my target weight. It's actually 2 pounds light, but I think that's well within tolerances.

Here's how I figured it. Marie and I know from lots of experience that we should carry 1.2 pounds of food per person per day (ppppd). (That's the dehydrated weight, don't forget). But on this hike there are two other men going. I talked with them about how much they thought they would eat. One of them thinks he will be satisfied with the same amount as we are, and the other thought he would eat a little more. I agree with their decisions. So we now have 3 people eating 1.2 ppppd, and 1 person at 1.5 ppppd. We need to pack 15.5 days worth of food. So (1.2 x 3) + 1.5 = 5.1 pounds per day x 15.5 days = 79.05 total pounds of food.

The trick with backpacking is to carry enough food that you are not hungry, but not more than you will eat, because that is dead weight. You might as well carry rocks.

Marie arrived this evening. We are too tired to be very excited right at this moment, but tomorrow is another day! The remaining food task is to divide the stash into three piles: the one we carry first, the first supply box, and the second supply box. It's imperative to get the correct quantities in each one! I have at least a dozen other small to medium tasks to do as well.

That's all for tonight, folks! I'll do a post tomorrow with the contest winner and an "adieu." Hey, on the contest, don't forget to guess on the word part. A little online dictionary sleuthing should get you 4 easy points.

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4 comments:

Julia said...

You are obviously an organizational wizard!!! Have a great trip and take lots of pictures.

Rick (Ratty) said...

You've been giving the rest of us an excellent lesson in backpacking. That seems like a lot of food to try and carry, but just from reading along I know you have a great plan for everything.

Joe Todd said...

Could you pkg. some of your energy and send to all the rest of us LOL

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

Hi Julia- Well, I try! People who cook do it all the time, just not in such big doses!

Ratty- We only carry a third at a time, spread out over 4 people. It's all very do-able.

Joe- Well, I'm fresh out right now. Yesterday was just a death march to get that food done. I was determined, so that today would be free for all the rest of it! And morning and I are not friends. Ask me about 3 this afternoon!