Calculate food-carry days and weight between resupply points you have verified, or compare a verified segment with your own maximum food-carry duration.
Plan One Verified Segment at a Time
This planner calculates the food carry between two resupply points whose locations and segment distance the user has independently verified. It does not contain a trail-town database and does not claim that a location is open, reachable, able to hold a package, or suitable for a particular itinerary. Current trail organizations, land managers, closures, permits, guidebooks, and businesses remain the sources for those facts.
For carry mode, the equation is moving days = verified segment distance / planned distance per day. The moving-day estimate is rounded upward to the next whole day because a fraction of another travel day still requires food. Explicit contingency days are then added. Food-carry weight equals planned carry days multiplied by the user’s food weight per day.
| Segment distance | Planned daily distance | Moving days | Base full carry days | Contingency | Food carry at the entered daily weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 miles | 18 miles/day | 4.00 | 4 | 1 day | 8.75 pounds at 1.75 pounds/day |
| 83 miles | 17 miles/day | 4.88 | 5 | 1 day | 12 pounds at 2 pounds/day |
| 100 miles | 20 miles/day | 5.00 | 5 | 0 days | Depends on the user’s entered daily food weight |
These are arithmetic illustrations, not real trail sections or recommendations about where to resupply.
Checking Carry Capacity
Spacing-check mode compares a verified segment with the user’s maximum food-carry duration. Maximum planned spacing equals daily distance multiplied by maximum carry days. The calculator subtracts the verified segment from that value. A positive distance margin fits within the entered plan; zero is exactly at it; a negative margin shows how far the verified segment exceeds it. The signed day margin makes the same comparison in days without inventing intermediate stops.
Worked Carry Example
An 83-mile segment at 17 miles per day takes approximately 4.88 moving days. Rounding upward produces five base carry days. Adding one contingency day gives six planned carry days. At 2 pounds of food per day, the calculated food carry is 12 pounds. If any route fact or pace changes, the segment should be recalculated.
Keep Route Facts Current
Long-trail conditions and services change. Verify official closures, fire restrictions, permits, seasonal access, water conditions, road crossings, package acceptance, and business hours close to departure. Treat contingency days as an explicit planning choice, not proof that a delayed hiker can safely wait in place. Combine the food result with an itemized menu and actual scale weight.
Sources
Appalachian Trail Conservancy: Food and Cooking
Appalachian Trail Conservancy: Equipment and Food Resupply
Pacific Crest Trail Association: PCT Resupply Towns and Locations
Pacific Crest Trail Association: Pacific Crest Trail Closures
National Park Service: Hike Smart
National Institute of Standards and Technology: Handbook 44, Appendix C, General Tables of Units of Measurement, 2026.
