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My biggest worry is packing food. I'm a real foody, and plan to entertain myself all day thinking about meal plans for the night, so I want to pack ingredients instead of meals. Without portages really being a thing on this river, I know I can get away with overpacking... but I reallllly don't want to be hungry out there. Does anyone have a good way to estimate food amounts when you're not dividing it out by meals? Weight of food per day or anything like that?

Don't think meals as much as calories needed per day. The average man needs about 2000 a day, women about 1800. That is just to maintain normal body function. You factor into strenuous work/play you could go much higher and NOT gain any weight.

IF you’re like most people and carry a few extra lbs, you can easily lose them and still not be hungry IF you eat a good mix of lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats.

On a river trip you’re not going to burn as many calories as you would paddling into wind/waves, and the portages sound fairly short.  I’m guessing somewhere around 2500 calories a day should be more than enough to get you started.

I bring zip lock bags of various grains/legumes and spices. I can mix and match to make different one pot meals. People think meat/poultry/fish for protein, but you can get quality protein from plant based sources. That gives you a lot of flexibility and while I do bring a source of lean protein ( Venison sticks) and fish, I don’t need them unless I want them just for the variety.

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