Re: [at-l] Random Ramblings for the day

["Howard Lyons, Sr." <lyons@aryeh.com>]

Paul A Magnanti wrote:
> 
>   It is cold and miserable up here in Rhody. The snow and sleet has
> turned into rain, making outside a miserable, slushy mess. What better
> day to put a large dent in the book I am reading?  Reading _Undaunted
> Courage_ , I came upon an interesting passage about the diet and caloric
> intake of the people involved in the Lewis and Clark expidition,  a
> passage that can apply to thru-hikers.
> 
>   "... the men ate prodigiously , six thousand calories  or even more per
> day. A modern
> athelete seldom consumes more than five thousand, but the calories  the
> men were getting in 1805 contained very little, if any, fat.
> Consequently, no matter how much they ate, the men were always hungry."
> (Ambrose, 200)
> 
> 
>     Keep in mind, this was during a winter camp in modern day North
> Dakota, so just staying warm used many calories. Now, as thru-hikers, we
> do not burn quite that many calories, but I am willing to bet we burn in
> excess of  5000.  Supposedly, a backpacker burns 630 calories an hour, so
> if you do a 10 hr hiking day, with rest breaks included in that 10 hr
> stretch, there is at least  4800+ calories burned. As body fat goes down,
> and lean muscle mass increases, the human metabolism increases.  Eating a
> diet of mainly starch, it is no wonder  the infamous thru-hiker appeties
> really kicks in by the time the last few hundred miles are reached.
>  So the thru-hiker diet of Liptons, mac n' cheese, and  Ramen,  does not
> seem that far removed from the diet that was consumed on the Lewis and
> Clark expidtion; hard tack and lots of corn! (Traded for steel axes with
> the local tribes).
>   The point of all this? (What?!?!? Mags actually has a point for a
> change?!?!?)  Here we are in the latter part of the 20th century, doing a
> highly intense physical activity, and almost 200 years after the L&C
> expidition,   we still face the same problem that they faced: How to get
> enough fat in the diet when  fat is the type of  food that is most likely
> to spoil?   Unlike L&C, we can hit a grocery store for a pint of Ben and
> Jerry's ice cream! mmmmmm! OTOH, we can not exactly go Buffalo hunting..
> ;)
> 
>  Just something I found interesting...maybe those of you who are history
> buffs like myself might find it interesting as well. Funny how the same
> threads seem to run throughout history. :-)
> 
>  in an academic mood,
> 
>   Magaroni
> 
> 
> * From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *


You too can experience the chill of North Dakota--Come on over and I'll

introduce you to the "Maah Daah Trail" which follows 120 miles in the ND

badlands where L&C wintered.



Turtle
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *

==============================================================================