Those of us with no winter padding have to eat a lot from the start. I have tracked my calories for many years and I need 2,600 calories per day to maintain my weight (115 pounds). I do not take emergency food and often walk out the last day with no food and on about half the trips try to cut down to 2,300 calories per day to save weight. And I do not consider my pace fast or my days arduous. I usually only am on my feet 6-8 hours a day. At the end of the season I usually end up about 110 pounds and my family members think I look like a prisoner of war.

I find that my calorie inake really goes up when I do long trips - more than a week. When I do three 10-day trips in a row only coming out to pick up more food, I really get an appatite.