Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion whitney day hike food?

Hey everyone I'm new to the forum. So I have scored a set of permits to hike the day hike for mount whitney in late july . I've been training and simulating elevation as best I can here on the east coast. I'm trying to organize my pack.. weight.. what to bring.. and I'm stumbling trying to find info on how much food to bring and what food to bring I've read that you should eat constantly on the trail because of altitude it's going to make you not want to eat.

Look forward to hearing from yall. Any other tips or pointers would be great!!

Happy trekking
Sam

1. Have a solid breakfast on the morning of each day hike.

2. Take whatever high-carbo energy snacks you prefer, with plenty in reserve. Include electrolyte replacement powder to add to your water.

3. Most important of all is to drink plenty of water during the hike. I drink a little every 15 minutes or so, instead of one big drink occasionally. This will help stave off altitude sickness. A good thing to remember is that if you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

4. Allow plenty of rest time during the hike; don't push it.

Don't bring and eat foods you are not accustomed to eating regularly. If you don't like cold pizza slices, don't eat cold pizza slices on your hike. Eating food you are not used to eating can or may cause major gastrointestinal problems.

In other words, don't experiment...but experience the grandeur!

A good rule to follow and I got this from Kurt Wedberg:

Pace, pace, pace...Nibble, nibble, nibble...HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!

And yet another: Co-"pee"-ous and clear...s"pee"ks volumes. You get the picture regarding hydration.

My favorites on day hikes:

Canned sardines (in oil, for the extra calories), with a fresh flour tortilla. Bring salt, too.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Fruit: banana, orange, juicy peach. I've found with AMS when I have no appetite, a fruit can be eaten, while those other things are like cardboard in my mouth.

Granola bars. I have several favorites, and I'll take at least 4 for a day hike.

Candy: shot blocks, everlasting gobstoppers.

Trail mix: I like almonds and pecans, and those giant raisins from Trader Joes.

When climbing Whitney, eat often, and sooner rather than later. As you ascend, your appetite may disappear as altitude issues set in, so eating before this occurs is best.

Drink: At least a pint an hour for serious hiking/climbing. I bring lemonade or Koolaid mix for the added sugar. Add one or two of those electrolyte tablets you buy in the tubes. They make the drink taste sooo good -- like a lemonade soda!

Hi gang,

I've got the same question. How much food should I plan to bring for my day hike on June 24, 2015?

My practice hikes here in the southern California hills have shown me I can tolerate snacking about 200cal every 3 miles. I am eating sweet rice rolls(Costco), freeze dried fruit, fruit and nut Cliff bars, and small packages of beef jerky. For my main meal on the trail I have been having a can of sardines in olive oil.

I currently have about 2300cals (7 packs of 2 snacks) of these snacks packed in my bag based on my pace of snacking every 3 miles.

So my question is is this insanely overthought out, a good plan, or do I need to adjust? Do not be gentle with me. I am a first time extreme hiker but I'm a big boy and I have my asbestos britches on for forum chat.

Mike

I am guessing I would carry about 3 lbs. If it got over 4, I'd start throwing stuff out.

Currently, including recently added GU jells, my food weighs 2lbs, 2.5oz

Take foods you like and have your second big meal of the day at elevation you know you can eat at. Personally, once I cross 12,000' it's over most of the time until I return to about 10,000'.

Everyone is different...experience counts.

Yesterday I day hiked Mt. Langley, which I considered as tough a day hike as Whitney. I kept it simple & packed only foods I knew I like that contained nutrition given the circumstances. Ate two hard boiled eggs & a banana the first three miles or so. Sipped lots of water along the way, then a PB&J sandie. Lots of hard candies all day too. Every hour or so I consumed fruit, veggies or string cheese. At the summit I enjoyed my soggy turkey sandwich & Gatorade. Trail mix, Cliff Bars on the descent.

Thank you Gina.

That is exactly the type of report that I was hoping for.

Wish me luck.

Best of luck to you, Mike! It will be a day to remember.

Just a different spin on this subject as I did something earlier this year that threw my hiking menu for a loop - I got braces. So things in the past that I relied on - sandwiches, fruit, balance bars and the like, hard candy and beef jerky are now big no-nos. Here's what I ate last Saturday that got me up and down the mountain:

Breakfast (such as it is at 2:15 am - does not count towards hiking weight)
2 pop tarts
Starbucks doubleshot + protein
Odwalla OJ

3 fruit and cereal bars
3 Gu's
Naan bread
Jif Peanut Butter pack
snack pac pudding

I use Nuun for electrolytes so they hardly count towards weight and calorie counts.

So that adds up to a little over 2000 calories. I did not weigh it but it's not that much. Enough calories to get me up and down the mountain (just under 200 lbs).

I have tried fruit pacs and the like and while they taste good, they are not very calorie dense.

Thanks everyone for the responses they have helped a lot my other kinda question is "big meals" I plan on having a big breakfast I normally down a backpacker's pantry meal for the morning before Mt hike.when do you suggest another meal is?.. I'm gonna snack through out the hike as suggested above but is there suggests certain distance or elevation everyone tends to have another other solid meal at or should I just wait till the top??

Tha ns

Do not plan on eating much at the top. Most people are affected by the altitude enough that they have no appetite at 14,500'. I would try eating the most by Trail Camp, and plan on just snacking after that -- because snacks may be all your stomach can take.

A few years ago - 2010 I think - a large group actually hauled a freakin' smorgasbord to the summit to celebrate something. They killed themselves doing it, only to find that at the top they had very little appetite. They had all this food - heavy food like salmon, cheese and fruit - laid out on the summit rocks and were begging other hikers to, "please, PLEASE help yourselves! We do NOT want to haul all this back down!"

There must have been 50 people on the summit watching in fascination, but they got very few takers. I and my partner each took an apple and munched on them half-heartedly, more from pity than hunger. We left the summit before they did so we didn't see the end result, but I suspect the marmots had a field day.

It varies by person, but the more acclimated you are, the more likely you are to have an appetite at altitude. My appetite, however, goes MIA once I'm above 12.5K' or so, regardless of acclimation.

Cardinal rule: take ONLY what you enjoy eating. And the less effort chewing, the better. It feels like work.

That's a great story Bulldog34. I still remember my first summit many years ago. The ONLY thing I could eat at the summit was a juicy nectarine -- because it was juicy, and could be swallowed. My mouth could not generate a drop of saliva to swallow anything else.

...and I recall that nectarine tasted Oh So Good!

Steve, I've learned to eat totally differently on a mountain than I do during a normal day. It's almost like cheating. I'm burning these tremendous caloric amounts, so I can eat the stuff I love but usually deny myself due to bad carbs and sugar. On Whitney, I take a lot of two things: Honey Buns, and one of Doug's Portal pancakes broken up and stored in baggies. The beauty of it is that they consist of both complex and simple carbs - dually needed on a long, strenuous hike.

That's what I keep telling myself, anyway . . .

A long time ago...a couple of local (Bishop) climbers, who shall remain anonymous, started their hike to Iceberg Lake, for some east face Whitney climbs, but discovered that their climbing partners had taken all the food, leaving them with just a loaf of bread and a jar of mayo. They reported to me that they have never had so much energy on an approach hike.

During the same era, another four locals ascended Mt. Williamson from the valley floor (!), taking four days for the climb. Each guy took a bottle of wine, which they drank as part of their dinners.

Whatever fuels yer tank, I suppose.

A few years back when I did my day hike, I grabbed a footlong subway and ate it at trailside meadow, even though I was not that hungry. I was feeling great UNTIL I STOOD UP. I was nauseated and in a world of hurt until I finally snapped out of it a good way up the switchbacks. I'm fairly sure the heavy meal was at least a short-term disadvantage, but it may have helped the rest of the trip.

For me though, I think water is the biggest concern once you know you have enough snacks to stretch out through the day.

Bob, that reminds me of a certain Bishop-area mountaineer who thinks nothing of hauling up a bladder of wine, a bladder of scotch, several steaks, a few salmon . . .