Bushwalk Australia

Hi

Just a general question on a topic of interest to me.

What is the longest planned distance (or time) anyone on the forums has walked without benefit of food re-supply?

I don't mean the 40 days and 40 nights lost in the wilderness type of deal, but rather a long range walk that was carefully planned and executed.

Cheers

Rufus

You mean without a central camp that you return too.
A person could have a large food stock pile that they set off from - carry food away from it .. and then return to carry more food away from it and so on to keep the food moving along their intended route.

Other than that it is a question of;
how much weight you can carry and how little you can eat
and
how much food and water you can get out of the local environment.

Aborigines lived in some of Australia’s harsh environments ... they brought up generations, so that would be a rather long walk. And with very little equipment (but a good deal of knowledge).

I've done a 12-day trip in NW Nelson (NZ). My pack was about 23kg at the start. By the end, it was so much lighter that I felt like I was floating. It was probably still around 13kg though, this being NZ (mainland) and needing lots of gear for the trip.

Starting pack weight equals base weight plus daily food times the number of days. Some people claim to be able to get by on 600g of dried food per day, but not me. On a multi-day trip, I build up a ravenous hunger after a few days on 800g/day, whereas on 900g/day I only feel peckish occasionally.

Walking in areas where water is readily available, especially at camp, will make a huge difference to the amount of weight you carry so what you don't carry in water you can make up for in food. Picking the time of year for the walk could also mean your other weighty items can be reduced to some extent. Once you work out what your daily intake of food weighs then you can sort out how much you can carry. Terrain matters a lot as well when you start loading up. Winter walks in the snow we would start around 25kg with food for 6 days. That included some heavy camera gear so we could do much better. I would not advise anyone do this (we were stupidly fit then). If you can get your basic pack, without food and water, below 10kg then 10 days would be doable. Maybe a bit more. You would also have to think about the type of fuel for cooking and how much would be used each day. I am not a fan of gas cans. I personally don't use meths but it could be the best option. A bit slow for my liking.

To answer the actual question.... 12 days for me.

10 days. I'm a pipsqueak.

14 nights. Meant to be 12 but the weather was a little uncooperative. I've carried 14/15 days food on a number of occasions and it isn't pleasant for the first few days.

Look at the Mad Belgian thread to get an idea of what is possible - if you're strong and determined (some might also say stupid and crazy) enough to pull it off.

Here was i planning a 6 night walk with a potential food drop.

12 days for me. Without having to carry a lot of water.

Carrying 14 days worth of food going up Morraine A.
Still my least favourite climb, I compare all climbs with that. I know there a lot worse but I have never done any other climb with 14 days of food.

Morraine A is a slog no doubt about that!

On the Prince of Wales we had 12-14days food and the slog offtrack up Algonkian Mtn was awful.
Even though the food supply went down as we went Every day once we hit the range we carried 4-6l of water each most days. It was a long slow slog but still rates as my favorite walk.

Maybe 12 days is my longest amount of food packed.. I've had several trips around the 10 days mark.

Tommydoodle wrote:Hi

Just a general question on a topic of interest to me.

What is the longest planned distance (or time) anyone on the forums has walked without benefit of food re-supply?

I don't mean the 40 days and 40 nights lost in the wilderness type of deal, but rather a long range walk that was carefully planned and executed.

Cheers

Rufus

I reckon that would be the Louphi's first traverse (so far).

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27288

Personally I find this more impressive (in the planning and execution):
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=23389&p=302219&hilit=cam+honan#p302219

I'm a lightweight compared to you maniac's... 10 days on the Pacific Crest Trail is my longest, heaviest haul without resupply, mainly because I hated the long hitch's involved to get to towns or gas stations. I recently walked the Larapinta in under 8 days taking my time and carrying the whole kaboodle, avoiding the food drop option- but the mostly flat desert terrain made things easier.
Years ago I hiked the Bibbulmun with a crazy (unnecessarily) overloaded pack and screwed my sciatica for a while. Never again. Each to our own.

In another life my ex and I spent 11 days above the snowline. Harrietville to Hotham the long way via Bogong. Including the old 111B stove and bottle of Scotch I think my pack weighed about 80 pounds. First day we only covered about 5 miles along Dungies track

14 days in the Eldon's is my longest without resupply. At a push I could maybe squeeze another couple of days food in, but that would be the limit unless I was prepared to leave the camera and tripod behind. I've also done several 12 day trips without any food issues. All trips solo. There's a lot be said for downsizing the weight of your basic gear, so that you can do these longer trips without breaking your back and knees. There's no way I could do these extended trips if I was still carrying the Olympus as my tent.

I like long trips, and two weeks is normal for me. There's a few aspects that need consideration. days should be reasonably short for the first week, not to much climbing in one go. Water has to be readily available at camps and hopefully between. My PB for carrying water is about 15 litres a kilometre or so to the first of two dry camps and no water at all on the route. Side-trips are nice, eat the food and not carry a heavy pack. The longest I've been out without resupply is 15 days. the first day had 800 metres of climbing, and I was unsure if I could do it. Easy, a cruise. A few days later a 500 metre climb was a near-death experience.

Lighter and more compact gear has made such trips much more comfortable. My first stove had a blue steel box, a Svea 123 perhaps, very heavy. Mountain Mule pack, very bulky NZ sleeping bag (Arthur Ellis?), Blacks Good Companion ...

scroggin wrote:Here was i planning a 6 night walk with a potential food drop.

Nothing wrong with that. It's always more fun to have a lighter pack.

17 days with food for 21 days. Otira to Mt Cook (NZ). Staying mainly in huts but carrying a tent too. Probably about 28kg on day 1. Was pushing my carrying ability on that 1st 1000m climb to the Kelly Tops.

10-14 day trips are much more common - do 2 or 3 a year and weight is comfortable.

Availability of water in nz makes it easier weight-wise. 1.5l (1.5kg) is normally the max needed except for overnight camps on the top with no water source.

13 days S W Tas - then resupply for next 13 days
12 days Cannibal! Run - then resupply for next 12 days.

Paul.

Wow I feel like a light weight my longest is 8 and I'm not sure I would ever do much more!

I'm planning to do 3 + 1 (+1 is back up supply) days water plus food in October. I'm dreading the first day which will be almost all ascent with that weight.

14 day Arthur Range traverse. Pack was around 27-28kg to begin.

Thankyou to everyone for the replies so far.

14 days, it ended up as a 12 day walk. I think I could carry as much as 16-18 if I left the camera crap at home(which won't happen).

Different bodies have different capabilities. A strong core, sturdy legs and broad shoulders with efficient packing will always win out over the alternative...

stepbystep wrote: I think I could carry as much as 16-18 if I left the camera crap at home(which won't happen).

Tripod. Camera. Two or three lenses. Filters. Spare batteries and cards. Lens cleaning stuff. That's what - five or six kg?

First time on the Overland, I carried three lenses, two camera bodies and 10 rolls of film. 2kg+ sleeping bag, woollen jumpers (instead of down jacket) . . . no wonder the pack felt so heavy. Sod all food, mind - maybe 3kg for 10 days all up, and that was mostly chocolate and cereal.

16 days Overland Track in 1973. We managed to climb most of the peaks along the way. Now most of my extended trips are around the 8 -10 day mark.

By myself 13 but not continual walking, a lot sitting in stands and scoping game. Water was always available in creeks.

13 days

I just saw this courtesy of a mate

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-2 ... fmredir=sm

55 days with no resupply and a 15 kilo weight loss

Moondog55 wrote:I just saw this

55 days with no resupply and a 15 kilo weight loss

You JUST saw this?? Seriously?