sounds like you picked that out of my brain Well, more or less. Not being a throughhiker, I get confused by the people who seem more concerned with numbers of miles hiked than quality of miles hiked - and I don't mean discomfort, I mean that sometimes I get off schedule when I stop for an extra hour at a small stream just to sit.

For me, the right amount of food is similar to what Phat said, it's less about calories and more about eating enough so I'm not hungry and I enjoyed the meal. Again though, I've never been out for more than a fortnight, so I'll have to assume that Ryan Jordan knows his stuff.