I have lost a lot of weight. In Ashland I saw myself in the mirror and my ribs and hip bones were showing. As a result I eat and eat and eat. Hopefully I can at least maintain the current weight and not lose more.

I typically have cereal and powdered milk for breakfast. Then 2 – 2 1/2 hours later I have a Clif bar and dried fruit as my first morning snack as I hike along. After another 2 – 2 1/2 hours I have one or two granola bars and some nuts as my second morning snack. Since I start at dawn after another 2 hours at noon I have lunch which is sausage, chips and if I’m lucky a fresh apple. I stop for lunch. Mid afternoon is my last snack and is candy such as a Snickers, Payday, etc. Around that time I’ve completed my miles and I need to set up my campsite. Dinner is typically a warm meal. I start with some hot chocolate then the main course. In the picture I’m making Tortellini with Spaghetti sauce in my Jetboil canister stove. If cookies are available that’ll be my dessert.

You would think I would be gaining weight, but each mile requires me to expend about 100 calories and since I’m hiking 18+ miles each day I need an additional 1800 beyond my base of 1200 calories, in other words, I need about 3000 calories a day. That’s also a lot to carry!