I'm about to take on my first huge thru-hike... the Oregon Coast Trail + approx 50 miles of the Redwood National Forest and back through the Rogue River Wilderness. The goal is roughly 20miles per day. I won't be alone... my boyfriend and I are taking this challenge on together so I have someone who's looking out for me and knows what to look for in the way of high and low symptoms.
However, I'm striving to go as ultralight as possible and would love some suggestions for how to make this happen for someone who's number one job is eating. Anyone know of good lightweight foods that can help me keep a balanced blood sugar and not have to stop every hour to refuel? What are some hypoglycemia-countering agents others have used on long treks, etc?
I'd love to hear about other folks' experiences with backpacking, hardcore hiking, etc.
Sounds like an awesome trip! This is my continual quest; packing as little as possible while still feeling comfortable. I usually pack cliff bars, glucose tablets, dried fruit, and I find that cliff shots ( just brown rice syrup conveniently packaged and flavored) are a good way to keep a level blood sugar when active without having a spike, either way. I also do a reduction temp basal on my pump. When I worked in the mountains of West Virginia, I was hiking all day, after awhile my body adjusted to the higher activity level, I always packed dried fruit and trail mix, especially dried mango. I think I got burned out on raisins as a kid.
I've found oatmeal works pretty well. It's super light, easy to prepare, and for me at least has good "staying power". I usually don't spike and I'm also not starving after an hour and a half of hiking. I would consider reducing your basal by a certain percentage at first too, just to see how you do with the fairly constant activity. If you tend to stay steadily higher, you can turn it back up, or if you are consistently low, you can back it off even more until you find the right balance.
This sounds like an awesome trip! I'm jealous! Best of luck!