You're planning your first overnight hike. How much food should you bring? Is 20 liters of water enough for a group of four? How long will it take to cross a mountain pass if the map says 8 kilometers? These questions seem simple until you're on the trail, where a miscalculation turns into a cold night or a hungry day. The course "Hiking and Expeditions" teaches you to calculate these numbers in advance—but let's break down where they come from and what you need to know before you start.
Why arithmetic, not ambition, decides everything on a hike
A beginner usually thinks: "The main thing is to buy gear and get there." An experienced hiker knows: a hike is a chain of calculations. How many kilograms each participant carries, how many calories they burn on a pass, how many liters of water are needed per day, how many hours are left for sleep rather than cooking. Until these numbers add up, the route remains a dream.
Take a simple example: a group of four hikes for three days in mid-mountain terrain. Let's calculate:
- Water. On a hot day during a climb, a person loses up to 1 liter per hour through sweat. For a 6-hour trek—up to 6 liters. Four people—24 liters just for drinking. Plus cooking—another 4 liters. Total 28 liters per day. The stream on the map may have no water in August—that's a classic trap.
- Food. An adult hiker burns 3,000–4,000 kcal per day on an active route. Grains, canned meat, lard, dried fruit—on average 350–450 kcal per 100 grams. So you need 700–1,000 grams of food per day per person. For three people over three days—from 6.3 to 9 kg of food. And that's without packaging weight.
- Time. 8 kilometers on the map is not the same as 8 kilometers on the trail. Adjusting for elevation gain, scree, and fords, speed drops from 4 to 2 km/h. Eight kilometers can take 3–4 hours instead of two. If you plan to reach camp before dark but get delayed at the pass—you'll be sleeping under the open sky.
These three numbers—water, calories, time—are the foundation of any hike. A mistake in each of them is costly: dehydration, hunger fainting, a cold night. And the worst part—on a hike there's no "cancel and retake."
Water calculation: why "a stream on the map" is no guarantee
Water is the most frequent source of failure. The blue line of a stream on the map looks reliable, but by late summer it may dry up. In the mountains, water is found in springs, but you need to know where they are. Rule: always have a backup source or carry your own.
How much to take? Basic calculation: 0.5 liters per person for every 10 kilometers of travel plus 0.5 liters per hour of climbing. For a group of four on a 15-kilometer trek with 800 meters of elevation gain, that's about 12 liters. If you're going without resupply—carry all 12. If there's a verified source—you can reduce to 6–8, but with a margin in case the source turns out dry.
A typical beginner mistake is to skimp on water to reduce backpack weight. As a result, by lunch the group is exhausted, and the source is still far away. Better to carry an extra liter than risk your health.
Gear: don't buy everything at once
The temptation is great: after reading forums, a beginner buys an expensive backpack, tent, sleeping bag, and stove, spending $700–900. And then it turns out the tent is too heavy for a hiking route, the sleeping bag isn't rated for sub-zero temperatures, and the stove doesn't work in frost.
The practitioner's approach: first determine the type of hike, then buy. For a summer hike in mid-latitudes, an inexpensive tent and a sleeping bag with a comfort rating of +5 °C will suffice. For a mountain route with overnight stays at 2,500 meters, you need different gear. And don't forget about weight: a beginner's backpack often weighs 15–18 kg, while experienced hikers manage 10–12 kg through proper gear selection. Every extra kilogram on a climb is additional stress on your knees and heart.
| Type of hike | Backpack weight (per person) | Key gear requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Summer flatland | 10–12 kg | Lightweight tent, sleeping bag +5 °C, sleeping pad |
| Mountain (up to 2,500 m) | 12–15 kg | Sleeping bag 0…–5 °C, trekking boots, membrane jacket |
| Winter | 15–20 kg | Sleeping bag –15 °C, high-R pad, stove with winter gas |
Nutrition: calories versus weight
Food on a hike is a compromise between caloric density and weight. Grains and pasta provide many calories per gram but take long to cook and require water. Nuts and lard are calorie-dense but heavy. The optimum is to combine: per day 300–400 grams of grains or pasta, 100 grams of lard or canned meat, 50 grams of dried fruit, and 30 grams of nuts. This gives about 3,000 kcal and weighs roughly 700–800 grams. For three days—2.5 kg per person. Plus snacks.
Don't take too much "just in case"—an extra kilogram of food on the route becomes an extra kilogram on your shoulders. But you shouldn't go hungry either: on an empty stomach, cold is harder to bear and energy runs out faster.
How to learn this: three paths
You can master hiking wisdom in different ways, and each path has its price.
On your own, via videos and forums. Free, but information is scattered. You won't get feedback on your calculations and won't know where you went wrong until you face the consequences on the trail. This takes years of trial and error, and some mistakes can cost your health.
Practice with an experienced mentor. The fastest path, but requires time and money for trips. It's good if you have an instructor friend who agrees to take a beginner on a hike.
A structured course. Provides a system and verification of decisions. For example, in the course "Hiking and Expeditions," each module ends with a ready-made hike element—you don't just read theory, you immediately calculate water, food, and time for your route. This removes the main barrier: lack of feedback.
Who this path suits and who it doesn't
Hiking is not a universal hobby. If you're not ready for physical exertion, sleeping in a tent, and lack of comfort, it's better to start with day trips. But if you're interested in testing yourself and are ready to learn to calculate—this path will give you confidence and autonomy.
The course "Hiking and Expeditions" is designed for those who want to hike independently and safely: it covers route planning, gear, food and water, navigation, weather, and actions in emergencies. If you want not just to read but to practice skills on your own examples—check out Hiking and Expeditions.