I'm taking my food in a 5-gallon pail. That's just what's happening here.

I have my dog's food (13 cups) plus all of mine (minus a few small oranges and apples, and tortillas, that I'll buy just before) and the pail is going to be completely full. I have mostly dehydrated and freeze dried meals that I made myself.

Is this a lot? Trip is 7 days/6 nights.

The pail weighed 15 pounds. My husband said 2 pounds a day sounded good. That includes the dog food, so mine is less.

I did have more in there; decided I did not need all the deserts. I had one for each day. I don't even do that in regular life. Now I have two for special days.

I take too much so my input is biased. What you describe, especially adding your companion's portion, seems okay. Lots has been written on this and many will think less is better. I have noticed I eat less when solo than when with others. Food becomes more a source of energy that takes a lot of work to prepare and clean up. I have cut back portions, make simple one dish meals, and have cut back on deserts and snacks.

Like all the rest of us, you will know when you come out with a bunch of food, just how much too much you took :). I still came out with about half that on my second solo. I have it down to where I just come out with maybe a day of extra food, which is about right.

I don't know how much the dog food weighs or what kind of food you are taking, but for comparison mine weighed about 15 lbs. (about 1.2 lbs. per day) in the Ursack for 12 days last fall (actually 11 breakfasts and dinners, and 12 lunches and snacks). My breakfasts are cold cereal and dinners are dehydrated. Lunches are ProBars, snacks are primarily nuts (very calorie dense @ 175 calories per oz.). It comes to about 2200 - 2400 calories a day.

Go with what you are comfortable with the first trip, then adjust on future trips. Many of us have found we don't eat as much as we expect, which I attribute partly to the fact there's no social context. It becomes a "food is fuel" thing rather than a focal point of a social group.

Food is tricky. Are you going to be fishing? I will purposely not bring 2 dinners to save weight and have fish those nights.

I took my dog in 2013 on a solo and she didn't eat half of what I brought for her. I had to mix in a bit of my own food with hers to get her going. She just didn't have an appetite.

5 gallon pail seems large but weight is good or very good. I've read 1.5 pounds is backpacking target but we're usually over 2.

I did eat less than planned on my solo.

Your fine... I always cooked my suppers and ate out of the pot... that's the cooking pot. Leaving a little food I'd mix in Bernie's food for the day all measured out and she'd eat it good. Then wash dishes and done. Seven days is not real long to worry about your dog not eating, but a routine works good I found. Sounds like you have things dialed in good for you.

Thanks everyone.

Nojobro,

I eat more when I solo.
If I am not solo it is just me and my wife, we have no kids and do not make a social event when eating in the BW.
If I am paddling with her she helps pull the weight/paddling.

When I'm solo it is just me, and my short fat canoe doing all the work alone. Therefore I burn more calories when going solo.

Good Luck