Water needs, food and energy, Naismith trail times, pack-weight comfort, altitude plans and honest safety-first guides — type your trip question and get a straight, careful answer in seconds. The full detailed report costs less than a cup of coffee: $2.95.
The difference between a great long trail and a miserable one is often a resupply plan done well. Carrying everything from day one means a crushing pack; relying on shops that do not exist means hunger. This planner treats the trail as a series of legs between resupply points — trail-town stores, post drops or caches you place yourself — and calculates what each leg actually needs in food weight. The verdict is honest about the arithmetic: at roughly 750 g per person per day, a six-day leg for two is about 9 kg of food, and once a leg pushes past about five to seven days per person, a drop or cache stops being optional and starts being smart. It also covers the safety side of caching — legal, labelled, animal-proof and never a hazard to others.
Plan how much food each leg of a long trip needs between resupply points — total weight per leg, per-person carry, and whether a cache or drop is worth it.
You plan the route around places you can restock — trail towns with stores, post offices accepting parcels, or food caches you place in advance. The pattern is to carry four to seven days of food per leg, then resupply and continue.
When a leg exceeds roughly five to seven days of food per person, the carry weight starts costing more energy than the food provides. A cache — placed legally, labelled, off the trail and animal-proof — splits the load and keeps the leg enjoyable.
About 750 g per person per day is a realistic full ration at trail density, roughly 2,500-3,500 kcal. Count one buffer day per leg, and always keep an untouched emergency day in your own pack rather than in the cache.
Every tool answers instantly from our own knowledge and calculators — no AI wait, no account. Honest estimates built on widely used outdoor rules of thumb (Naismith, hydration and pack-weight guidance), always safety-first and educational — never a substitute for local knowledge, training or judgement. In an emergency while out, call 911 (US/Canada) or your local emergency number. Want the deeper, personalised version? Each has a $2.95 full report.