I returned this weekend from a six-day backpacking trip in the Sawtooth Mountains, and I was curious how it stacked up against the energy miles I calculated for my upcoming Mount Kilimanjaro climb in January 2026.
| Day | Itinerary | Mileage | Elev. Gain (ft.) | Energy Miles |
| 1 | Grandjean to Sawtooth Lake | 9.8 | 3570 | 16.9 |
| 2 | Sawtooth Lake to Middle Baron Lake | 13.89 | 2896 | 19.7 |
| 3 | Baron Lake to Middle Cramer Lake | 9.8 | 1878 | 13.6 |
| 4 | Cramer Lake to Ardeth Lake | 10.3 | 2087 | 14.5 |
| 5 | Ardeth Lake to Smith Falls | 10.14 | 1142 | 12.4 |
| 6 | Smith Falls to Grandjean | 15.01 | 460 | 15.9 |
| TOTALS | 68.94 | 12033 | 93 |
It’s worth noting that our top elevation on the Sawtooth Loop was 9,495 feet — almost 10,000 feet lower than the top of Kilimanjaro. Also, we were carrying all our own gear (~30-35 lbs), whereas we will be carrying less weight on Kili.
For easy reference, on Kili, our total mileage will be 35.75 miles and 69.7 energy miles — less than on this trip.
The big wildcard for Kilimanjaro is the elevation. At sea level, the effective percentage of oxygen in the air is around 20%. At the top of Kilimanjaro it’s about 10%, making our bodies work that much harder to get enough oxygen to hike (see this altitude to oxygen chart for reference).
There is no simple modification to Petzoldt’s energy mile theory that accounts for the additional effort required with less oxygen, but it’s safe to say it will take longer, require slower movement, with more frequent and longer rest breaks.
The takeaway from this? We worked hard on the Sawtooth Loop backpacking trip. If the elevation were not a factor on Kili (though it most definitely will be), this would’ve measured as a more difficult hike, done in six days vs the seven we will take on Kili.