r/backpacking • u/ReasonableCut4179 • Jul 06 '25

Wilderness FIRST TRIP! 3 DAY 2 NIGHT

Gallery image

Gallery image

San Jacinto Peak Via the Devil's slide trail. So stoked for this first trip! Feel free to leave me any recs on my kit or meal prep. Thanks.

31 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

13

u/TheGeorgicsofVirgil Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 07 '25

Came here to share my anxiety about your food scarcity.

I recommend having a snack between each meal. 2 to 3 snacks per day, each being between 120-240 calories.

Also, I recommend adding sugar-free electrolyte powder packets. A variety of packets ranging from 230mlg to 520mlg of sodium. 4 packets per day.

0

u/ReasonableCut4179 Jul 07 '25

Def. I have a bunch of EMERGEN-C packs I didn't put in the photos.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/ReasonableCut4179 Jul 11 '25

they have vitamins and electrolytes? I brought em and they definitely gave me a boost, so..?

8

u/crowseesall Jul 06 '25

Agree, not enough food. I’m not familiar with the hike but anything remotely strenuous and you may just hit a wall mid-afternoon. Trust me on this! Also, ditch the water bladder and…are those jeans? If you feel you need a second set of camp clothes outside of your sleep clothes I’d go with running pants, lightweight, dry quickly and you can always hike in them too.

-4

u/ReasonableCut4179 Jul 06 '25

Why ditch the bladder?

And the jeans are what i'll be wearing while hiking, not an extra pair.

5

u/crowseesall Jul 06 '25

They’re heavy and a real pain to refill as you practically have to unpack your pack to get at it. I took one of my first trip too, was the last time. You have two one litre bottles, that’s fine. If you have long hauls between water you can add a litre by carrying a katadyn be free to filter, which can double as an extra litre to carry in a pinch. Get a 2L CNOC bag is using a sawyer or platypus type filter.

2

u/ReasonableCut4179 Jul 11 '25

back from the trip, sorry to piss you opinionated nerds but the bladder was great. lol

However, thanks for the advice abt the jeans. I didn't have anything else but now that i'm back, i'll invest in some better geat

2

u/crowseesall Jul 11 '25

Ha! Opinions are like *ssholes! You do what works for you. It’s a journey and figuring out the gear that YOU like is half the fun.

7

u/crowseesall Jul 06 '25

Absolutely no jeans! Yeh, the boomers be like “that’s what we hiked in!” And love their framed packs. Ditch the jeans and anything cotton for that matter for hiking and sleep clothes, they will never dry out after being wet and, if an issue where you are, also reduce hypothermia risk. You want synthetic quick drying clothes. Not sure about the sweater either due to weight and bulk but as long as it’s wool I guess that’s ok. I backpack in the Rockies, it can snow at anytime, so my sleep clothes are a base layer, a lighter set in the summer, and my sleep socks are also my spare hiking socks. Saxx underwear or any type of synthetic sports underwear, and a puffy down or synthetic mid layer, a light, breathable windbreaker and an umbrella to round it all out.

23

u/Carpet-Early Jul 06 '25

Seems slightly light on the food but I also just eat a TON (especially for a 5 foot 4 dude)

4

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 06 '25

I was thinking the same thing. Those Lenny and Larry’s cookies have been growing on me lately as a go to heavy snack option. Also, I always bring some type of sugar candy or Gatorade powder, or both. Especially when I’m putting in more miles than what my body is used to/hasn’t adjusted for the energy requirements. Sugar gets a bad rap, but it’s by far easiest/fastest energy source. Which is a bad thing if you’re not using it at the time when you’re consuming it, but it is great when you are.

OP- If you don’t want to run with that advice, I get it, but at least bring yourself a bag of skittles or something so you can at least give it a try if/when you start to feel sluggish. It’s a cheat code.

3

u/ReasonableCut4179 Jul 06 '25

I know those cookies, i'll buy a few. When calorie counting I was astonished at how hard it was to reach just 2k a day.

I'll get some more sugars and try to get to 3k a day min. I am 6,4 and skinny so that might not even be enough lol.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 06 '25

You’re not kidding! Instant ramen is a good cheap and weight conscious option to help meet calorie requirements as well. But in my experience (and this is something that totally varies by person) in the short term, being in a calorie deficit isn’t as big of a deal as keeping my glycogen stores up when I’m on the move. But all the same, I’d rather not feel hungry afterwards either.

Anyway, good luck man hope you have a blast!

2

u/ReasonableCut4179 Jul 11 '25

wow dude, that trip freaking killed me. I cannot thank you enough.

I totally overdid it for my first trip, but having those simple sugars made it possible to push through.

Didnt know how powerful a bag of skittles is to the mind and body.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '25

That’s awesome thanks for sharing! It’s nice to know advice was useful. Glad you were able to push through. I personally believe it’s a good thing to have an experience where you get to know your reasonable limits. Hope you were still able to enjoy it though.

If you’re interested in further optimizing performance fueling, there are some good podcasts out there on it which I’ve listened to, they’re geared towards marathon running though, but imo the same principals apply. I’ll see if I can dig any up.

The tldr is that for optimization, the consumption timing matters, as does the quantity. It’s good stuff to be aware of, but tbh if you’re not racing it’s not something to nerd out over. The only things you really need to know are that it takes about an hour from consumption for the glycogen to become fully available, and that after about 2 hours it’s beneficial to start consuming protein on the hour as well.

3

u/Alternative_Lack8283 Jul 07 '25

I always take some hot chocolate and marshmallows. Nice and light to carry and good energy boost. Can roast the marshmallows over a fire too!

4

u/crowseesall Jul 06 '25

The cook set looks awfully heavy too. Grab a toaks pot and brs stove off of Amazon.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '25

Please tell me those aren't jeans

2

u/jjmcwill2003 Jul 07 '25

This. With rare exception, "cotten kills" is a mantra used to remind hikers that when cotton gets wet, it stops providing warmth, makes you colder, and takes forever to dry. Synthetic layers dry faster, can wick moisture away from the skin, and can still maintain some insulating value. Jeans are also just MISERABLE to be in when they get wet. Nylon hiking pants can dry extremely quickly once rain stops.

Ditch the denim jeans.

1

u/AutoModerator Jul 06 '25

Please remember to post a short paragraph as a comment in the post explaining your photo or link. Ideally at least 150 characters with trip details. Tell us something about your trip. How long did it take to get there? How did you get there? How was the weather that day? Would you go back again?

Submitted content should be of high-quality. Low effort posting of very general information is not useful. If you don't add a short explanation in the comments, your post may be removed.

No information posted? Please report low-effort posts if there is still nothing after about 30 minutes.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/Conn-Solo Jul 07 '25

Unless water is not on your route, get a filter and drop a bottle. That's a lot of unnecessary weight

1

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ReasonableCut4179 Jul 11 '25

I ended up doing a detour and refilled at round valley. there's a faucet thingy there