Comment by pythko | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pythko | Hacker News Reader

I always love hearing about the logistics of trips like these, and this article leaves me with lots of questions.

On the AT section, they mention starting out with packs that weighed over 20 pounds, which is extremely light for backpacking. That’s probably a few days of food, a change of clothes, 2-3 liters of water, and an ultralight sleeping bag. But then they mention a tent, too! In contrast, I talked with someone who thru-hiked the AT in the winter, and they said that their packs were routinely over 70 pounds, and that they had ditched their tent in favor of staying in the shelters and wrapping their sleeping bags in Tyvek. How were the guys in the article resupplying? Trips into town every few days sounds very time consuming.

The article also casually threw out that they went through 26 pairs of shoes! Are they buying those at retail? Did they get sponsored by someone?

It also says they mailed themselves packages of food to be picked up at post offices, but it wasn’t dehydrated backpacking food: “Almost half of the airtight bags they had stuffed with rice and beans, tortillas and other fare broke, leaving their food covered in mold.” Has anyone else heard of people relying on perishable food to sit in a post office for weeks/months?

Overall, I read this article with a tremendous amount of respect for the physical and mental accomplishment (that’s a lot of miles and those trails are not easy!), envy, and…bewilderment, I guess? Is dropping $25k and taking a year off school to speedrun three of the most iconic trails in the US a good use of time or money? Part of me would have loved the idea when I was that age, but part of me thinks about all the travel, gear, time asked of family, and time asked of myself, and thinks it would not be worth it.

That "20 pounds" is certainly their base weight--not counting whatever food and water they are carrying. Quite possible with ultralight gear, although a little light in the safety department for my tastes.

26 pairs of shoes between the two of them I actually find surprising--that they used that few.

I'm surprised at the mold--you don't have it sit around all that long, you update whoever is sending them with your location so they know when to send them. There's a limit to how long a post office will hold a package for pickup. And that sort of fare doesn't sound that perishable. I can't imagine beans on the trail, though--they take too much cooking time. Fuel is weight!

(And, no, I've never done any of the great trails, but they certainly sound like an experience. Section hiked in decent weather, not a speedrun like these guys did. I don't think I could handle any of them, though.)

A typical, ultralight backpack weighs about 10lbs, but that can be anything from 5lbs to 15lbs, depending on your preference. Winter conditions add 2 or 3 lbs roughly.

An ultralight tent weighs less than a pound.

Typical stretches between resupplies are sth like 2-6 days, depending on region and preference. Food for a day weighs sth like 1 - 1.5 lbs. So packs with about or a bit over 20lbs sure is no magic. 70lbs with modern equipment sounds weird or unnecessary. Resupplies are time consuming but necessary, you need to wash yourself and your clothes, repair or replace gear and first and foremost eat. Because while on trail it’s unlikely you manage to eat enough.

Your food weight sounds low. High fat food may give you 2,000 kcal a pound; while carbs and protein half that. A 60-something might need 3,000 a 25-mile day; closer to 5,000 for a college student. Its OK to hike a week at calorie deficit. But that could weaken or injure you stretched out to months.

It is what it is, I don’t think I’m an outlier here. Personally I bring sth like 600 grams (1.3 lbs) worth of food a day. Keep in mind that typically you don’t have that much time left to spend on eating. But people are different and there sure are people who carry and eat a lot more.

Also, as I mentioned, when in town you use that opportunity to re-stock. A single meal of 6,000 kcal is not unusual.

And yes, all that is quite un-healthy.

My most typical weight on the Sierra portion of the PCT, with a typical amount of water, food, was about 30 lbs. That includes warm clothes, tent, bear canister, microspikes (but no ice axe). And my luxuries: Crocs, Kindle, inflatable pillow. No stove.

But where I started (mile 652, Walker Pass) was hot with no sure water until 30 miles in, so for that stretch I started with 13 liters of water, my total weight about 45 pounds.

On a 5-day, 4-night trip I'll bring 4-5 pounds of food. I'm getting better at not carrying more water than I need. If I have to go 10 miles to the next water, I'll drink up and carry 3 liters.

My hiking boots were good for about 400 miles. Now I use trail runners and I don't trust them after 200 miles - the souls get too smooth. Their combined 14,000 miles divided by 26 means they were getting 540 miles out of each pair.

My tent is about 3 pounds and the sleeping bag and insulator padding another 4 pounds. They said they purified a lot of water using pills, so they did not carry too much water with them. 20 pounds is light, but doable.

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