multi-day trips

[ultraslacker]

some friends and I are planning a 6 day hiking/running trip in May. Total distance is 180km, so we're averaging 30km per day. The toughest day is 36km with a 4200 foot climb. We'll have someone to pack our overnight stuff in each day, so on the run we only have to carry what we need for the day.

I've never done a multi-day trip, so I lots of questions... hopefully some of you can help me out! :)

Questions so far:

- power - one of the guys has a solar charger. how much can you charge with that? should I get one? I'll want to charge garmin, camera, and potentially phone. can one charger handle all that? how do they work?

- food - I have no idea how much food I'm going to need. and what the best foods are to pack. thoughts?

- water purification: some of the water will be safe, but we want to purify when possible to be on the safe side. best options? how many tablets will I need?

- clothes: I plan to have at least clean socks and underwear each day, but will probably re-wear much of my running gear. experiences?

- camera: I currently have a pocket camera, a dslr, and a phone camera. For the trip, I want dslr quality but pocket-size. recommendations? I know they make slr quality cameras in pocket size... does anyone have one of these?


Any other recommendations for a trip like this?

[eme]

I have some reviews of chargers and water filters at home (magazine).

I can scan them and e-mail them to you later, if you like.

[ultraslacker]

I have some reviews of chargers and water filters at home (magazine).

I can scan them and e-mail them to you later, if you like.

cool, thanks!

we're planning to make a group trip to MEC to pick up everything we need, but I'd like to have an idea beforehand of what I'm looking for. :)

[Doonst]

Ooh, sounds great! I always prefer traveling light and fast. Who moves your stuff?

We are planning a 7 day trip this summer, all hiking. Self supported, all backcountry ( no roads crossed) in Killarney Ontario. We to have lots to learn and lots to buy! Are you taking your dog? (we are).

[ultraslacker]

Ooh, sounds great! I always prefer traveling light and fast. Who moves your stuff?

We are planning a 7 day trip this summer, all hiking. Self supported, all backcountry ( no roads crossed) in Killarney Ontario. We to have lots to learn and lots to buy! Are you taking your dog? (we are).

I am planning to take the pup. I couldn't leave him at home for an epic adventure like this! :)

We'll pay someone to move our stuff for us... there are services for that, apparently. And we'll have huts to stay in along the way: www.sunshinecoast-trail.com

There's only one night where we'll be sleeping in a shelter instead of a hut.

[turd ferguson]

My advice: 1. before you buy a bunch of stuff, put your list up here or on Facebook and get as much loaner stuff as you can. 2. Check out gear rentals for stuff you won't use again.

If we were closer, I'd have half a garage full of stuff I could loan you. A little tiny tent, a great big trekking backpack, a thermarest. I don't have a bunch of cooking gear because friends have always had the right stuff. Cooking gear tends to be the heaviest so put the most thought into that (as opposed to socks and underwear).

[ultraslacker]

My advice: 1. before you buy a bunch of stuff, put your list up here or on Facebook and get as much loaner stuff as you can. 2. Check out gear rentals for stuff you won't use again.

If we were closer, I'd have half a garage full of stuff I could loan you. A little tiny tent, a great big trekking backpack, a thermarest. I don't have a bunch of cooking gear because friends have always had the right stuff. Cooking gear tends to be the heaviest so put the most thought into that (as opposed to socks and underwear).

I'm hoping to not have to cook. Can't I just eat ravioli cold out of the can??

Because there are six of us, and because our stuff will be packed in and out for us, we're planning to condense that as much as possible... put all our food/cooking stuff together and in bulk rather than packed individually.

I plan to borrow things like sleeping bag, etc. Won't need a tent because we have huts and shelters along the way (we will probably pack one tent for the group just in case the huts are overcrowded with other travelers, but we don't expect that in May).

So far my shopping list includes:
water purification tablets
solar charger (hopefully will borrow instead)
food

[ultraslacker]

In other news, I've never *trained* for a multi-day trip like this either, so any help on that would be appreciated!

I'm gradually increasing my mileage and plan to do a bunch of back-to-back long runs... but aside from that I don't have a plan. :/

Unfortunately, the hard half of the route is the second half, so it's going to be tough.. .and the hardest day is day 5 (thankfully the last day is short and easy!). I guess that means if I'm doing back-to-backs I should do the longer/tougher run last instead of first. :/

[Jwolf]

What are you doing? Sunshine Coast trail is my guess (we're you talking about that at one point?).
I don't have any advice because I have never done anything like that but I'm jealous! Oh- and you do want hot food.

[ultraslacker]

What are you doing? Sunshine Coast trail is my guess (we're you talking about that at one point?).
I don't have any advice because I have never done anything like that but I'm jealous! Oh- and you do want hot food. ;)

yep, SCT (I linked it above). We were inspired by VIMFF. :P

[turd ferguson]

My advice: 1. before you buy a bunch of stuff, put your list up here or on Facebook and get as much loaner stuff as you can. 2. Check out gear rentals for stuff you won't use again.

If we were closer, I'd have half a garage full of stuff I could loan you. A little tiny tent, a great big trekking backpack, a thermarest. I don't have a bunch of cooking gear because friends have always had the right stuff. Cooking gear tends to be the heaviest so put the most thought into that (as opposed to socks and underwear).

I'm hoping to not have to cook. Can't I just eat ravioli cold out of the can??

Because there are six of us, and because our stuff will be packed in and out for us, we're planning to condense that as much as possible... put all our food/cooking stuff together and in bulk rather than packed individually.

I plan to borrow things like sleeping bag, etc. Won't need a tent because we have huts and shelters along the way (we will probably pack one tent for the group just in case the huts are overcrowded with other travelers, but we don't expect that in May).

So far my shopping list includes:
water purification tablets
solar charger (hopefully will borrow instead)
food

I should have read your post more closely before answering. I had "self supported camping" in my brain.

[ultraslacker]

yeah the hard part will be the hike/run from hut to hut. The huts are fully enclosed and they all have fire pits and outhouses. Our sherpas will bring our stuff to the next hut each day. :)

[HCcD]

Check out today's Showstopper on the Shopping Channel ..

http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/pages/productdetails?nav=R:628525

[daddy_runner]

You probably won't need all this info, since you're getting a lot of gear sherpa'd in:

http://zenstoves.net/
http://andrewskurka.com/section/how-to/
http://www.backpackinglight.com/

I guess it really all depends upon what you need to be carrying yourself vs. what you can get dropped at the end of each day.

[AjaxRunner]

I'll only comment on the camera part.

I have a Sony alpha nex 6. It is a ILC with great photo quality. Think DSLR quality in a mostly compact body. They don't come cheap though at around $1,000. Should note that the body isn't waterproofed or dustproofed in any way though.

[ultraslacker]

Thanks for the input!

Alas, I am no longer participating in this trip. The group is still going, but I have dropped out... partly because I have waaaaaaaaay too many things sucking up my time and energy right now, and partly because the group was not organized or trained and it was causing me stress. :/

But the trail will always be there, so I plan to do it at some unknown point in the future! :)