Whitefish Divide Trail (T26) near T3 intersection, July 12, 2017 – W. K. Walker
How many calories do you burn hiking with a backpack? Turns out, there’s an equation for that . . .
Hiking with a backpack is a heck of a lot more work than hiking without one. It feels harder, but also you’re burning more calories—which is important to know as you’re planning your snacks and meals for the trip.
This calculator from Outside Online will tell you how many calories you burn if you tell it your weight, the weight of your pack, how fast you hike, how steep the hills are, and how soft or bumpy the ground is.
Play with the numbers, keeping calories constant, and you can find out more than just how much food to pack. For example, how much faster could you go if you lightened your pack by ten pounds?. Or if you know how fast you hike on flat ground, how many miles can you plan to cover on hilly terrain?