Testing yourself

[Where's Bruce?]

So a buddy and I are in the planning stages of a seventeen day trek in the Eastern Sierras and hoping to successfully replace Mountain House meals with woodsmanship. We're gonna have food in the truck but take only one meal for every 2 days afield. The idea is to see how we'd do without food and living off the land using only archery and fishing gear. I suspect trout will be a staple but not one available everyday. This is also a scouting trip and some of the trek is well away from fish. We will have water sources along the route. The other thing we are trying to do is cut down out pack weight and get by with just basics....stuff you'd carry in a day pack if you thought you might be out the night. We're getting drastic.

I'm excited about the trip and a little apprehensive. Has anyone ever done something like this? Care to share any hard-learned lessons? I can afford to lose quite a few pounds so if we fail, I still win. But I don't wanna live on squirrel balls for a week...so any advice would be appreciated. The last thing either of us wants to do is hike back to the truck for food.

 

[AZ Vince]

Get used to your stomach thinking your throat is cut.

 

[striker3]

I have done some training like that before, but never for that duration. Are you allowed to use snares for small game? That could help to supplement somewhat and are fairly easy to make. But the ratio of traps needed to animals caught can be a little high. You could also catch up to your limits in fish a couple of days if you find a good spot and smoke the leftovers for the lean days

 

[striker3]

Get used to your stomach thinking your throat is cut.

You know the funny thing? After 3 days of not eating your brain stops sending hunger signals.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

You know the funny thing? After 3 days of not eating your brain stops sending hunger signals.

I figured "foraging" would depend on weather. This El Niño presents a big if. Got any marmot recipes? I gotta book on edible vegetation. Smoked fish should be doable. Supposedly many parts of a pine cone are edible. LOL

 

[kodiakfly]

I'd definitely get familiar with the plants. I've done multi-week trips, but not lacking food like you're planning. But I have done a few committed survival schools. A couple of things come to mind immediately. When you get legitimately hungry, tired and frustrated, the last thing you want to do is go hunt/catch/snare something. You just want to sit. But hey, there's a bunch of berries over there....can I eat them? Foraging is easy, fast food that can change your attitude and energy level enough to get active mentally and physically enough to actually go pursue protein. Even just eating leaves or grasses can change your whole outlook and push you through.

 

[IanF.]

Why not twist your plan a little? Take some of the survival meals (sawdust blocks) and see how long you can go without cracking one? This is a pretty extreme test as I can't count the number of times I've gone fishing or hunting and come home skunk. Really make sure you know what's going in your mouth, if your in a deprived state and then eat a nasty its effect will be multiplied.

Looking forward the photo filled post on the backside

Ian

 

[5MilesBack]

You know the funny thing? After 3 days of not eating your brain stops sending hunger signals.

For me, if I skip a scheduled meal I stop getting hunger signals about two hours after the scheduled meal. So if I don't eat on time, I just wait until the next scheduled meal.

Good luck, Bruce. Sounds like fun. I just hope I don't see you guys on the news: "Two crazy men found running around the Sierras naked".

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Yeah...we're not that close. But we have done some awesome trips before and plan to stay within our comfort zone. If we come home with all the MH meals unopened that would be amazing. Unlikely but worth a try. This is my bud Gary. He's got a much better pack now...SG.

 

[JWP58]

Interesting test. I met a guy this year while hiking into go archery elk hunting that was insane. He was hiking the continental divide trail....Canada to Mexico. I chatted with him for a couple of miles down the trail and he already completed the appalachian trail and pacific crest. Dude was going for the triple crown. He was doing it solo, and I think he had only resupplied a few times at the time that I talked to him, and he was two months into the trail. He was wearing lightweight hiking shoes, and had super lightweight cuben fiber gear. It was an interesting hike to say the least.

That will put what backpack hunters do into perspective.

 

[BroodBuster]

It does sound like fun and a worthy adventure.

I too would be apprehensive though, especially considering all the times I planned on eating trout, grouse or rabbits and ended up eating MH instead.

Although I could easily survive blueberry season

 

[Where's Bruce?]

It's entirely possible that the areas we've selected will be buried in snow in May and June if this El Nino is similar to the '82-'83 event. It would snow for days then rain, snow for days then rain. The snowpack was much heavier, dense and avalanches were far more destructive. I was doing snow clearing in Tahoe that year...homes collapsed under 14' of rain soaked snow. A few months later sustained hot weather caused a rapid meltoff and Slide Mt. slide in a massive rock avalanch that buried Hwy 395. I can still remember the awful smell afterwards. So some of my apprehension comes from past experiences in ther mountains during El Nino events. And this is the mother of all El Ninos...stretching from So. American to the Bering Sea. It will be one wild winter.

 

[Nick Muche]

Yeah, that El Nino can sure be a pain in the butt!

 

[Violent Hippie]

Ive spent alot of time in the Eastern Sierra and there are many nice fishing areas as you probably know. There are also many areas with only rock and dirt for miles it seems. I have gone a few days doing this and had some luck using rat traps (plastic " Black cat" brand is my favorite) and fishing but I was still hungry. I used single serving peanut butter for bait and got a few squirrels and a chipmunk. I was just talking with bow hunting buddy about doing this again the other day. Have fun !

 

[Violent Hippie]

BTW we just got about 2 feet of snow and it is looking like a good winter so far in the Sierra.

 

[wyodan]

This sounds fun!

 

[Lawnboi]

Iv always wanted to try something like this, just not for that long on the first run.

 

[striker3]

Also know that your body will start depleting stores pretty rapidly if you go more than a couple of days on low rations. The longest training like that I ever went through was sere while in the military. 6 days without food in the winter in an area that had little in the way of edible plants. Plentiful water resupply points though. Average weight loss across the class was 17 pounds.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

We both agree that the goal is to test ourselves while minimalizing actual risk. Frankly I think if I were to eat one big MH meal every other day and remain hydrated I could stick it out for 17 days however, if I could do it without opening one pouch that would be miraculous. It's all laughter and conjecture now...we won't even know if the trip is doable until we see what Mother Nature throws at the mountains. Last time we were stopped in our tracks (literally) by snow in June...postholing and frozen lakes are not on the menu this time.

 

[charvey9]

Sounds like fun.