swammie,

I have thru-hiked the AT twice and several shorter trails as well. Since Snickers bars are one of the major food groups for thru hikers (most calories for the ounce) I have faced the Snicker soup challenge several times. I am not aware of any system that works any better than yours. Most of us use some variation on that. When it starts to get really warm, I do as suggested above; switch to Pay Day, Cliff bars, etc. Incidentally, Cliff bars taste better to me when it's warm.

As for how you do it, the poster above is right. It's more of a mental challenge than a physical one, and it comes down to two things:

First, you really need to be able to get up in the morning and think, "I'd really like to go for a long walk today, and then consider it a blessing that you can do so and have everything you need to do it. Luckily for me, I really like walking in the woods.

The second thing is to be happy starting slow. My first 20 mile day on the first hike didn't come until I was in the Smokies, and then it came effortlessly. Second trip (when I was 70) it didn't come untill Shenandoah.

Hope this helps.

best, jcp