[pct-l] Vegan Thru Hike?

[Melanie Clarke]

Dear Becky,

I'm Vegan and it works out fine for my 300-500 section hikes (I still have
to work for a living) but I would definitely listen to what the Through
Hikers say about this!  Most likely, you will have to send yourself more
food than the others.  Eat mostly Vegan and when you arrive at a small
remote town that only sells cheeseburgers and you're starving to death, eat
a cheeseburger and then go back to being a Vegan.  Just because you might
have to eat one cheeseburger once in a while doesn't mean you can't ever go
back to being Vegan!  In Idyllwild near the Post Office, I ordered their
Vegetarian Pizza with no cheese and they put Cashews on the pizza (ask them
to do this).  It really tasted good!  To this day, when I make a Vegan
Pizza, I still put Cashews on it.  After 1000 miles, I think just getting
calories is an issue but it doesn't have to be meat unless nothing else is
available.  I've seen hikers consume an entire large package of flour
tortillas while waiting for the bus back to the Big Bear hostel.  Many
towns have Mexican Restaurants and I order something without the cheese and
sour cream but extra guacamole, olives and pintos.  I eat lots of their
complementary tortilla chips.

I like to buy dried Edamame Soy Beans and mix it with corn nuts.  You can
get 30gms of protein in just 1/2 a cup of dry Edamame Soy Beans!  Even
hikers who eat meat bring a plastic jar of peanut butter along and eat it
plain with a spoon.  I like to put Cheerios in a blender to reduce the bulk
but also Oatmeal for Cereal.  You can buy dehydrated soy milk.  Trail mix
is all vegan.  Mountain House and those other brands don't have a lot of
Vegan Entrees so you may have to make and dehydrate your own.
 Dehydrated potato flakes and those Korr rice dishes in regular grocery
stores reconstitute quickly.  Read the directions though, as some of those
rice things you have to cook for 20 minutes.  Of course, bring the foods
you like to eat.  If you've been vegan for some time, you know what you
like!

Assemble all your food boxes up until Ashland Oregon.  Then plan on
spending several days to assemble your food boxes for the rest of the trip
in Ashland.  There is a really nice discount food store on the opposite end
of town from the Hostel (Yogi's book can help you out here!) but they have
huge bulk bins of dehydrated Pintos and Black beans to put in your dinners.
 There is also a nice health food store down town that has everything you
need but is a little more expensive.

Even though I am Vegan, I still have to push myself away from the table so
I don't gain too much weight.  I am seldom able to lose weight no matter
what I do.  My problem is, I like to eat large food portion sizes.

Good luck!  Jackie is one of the "trail Gurus" so take what she says
seriously and use that information to plan your strategies.  Maybe it is
impossible but maybe you can find ways around it.  Maybe you can become a
"Vegan Trail Guru" and tell the rest of us how you did it!  Jackie writes
the Yogi's PCT Handbook so maybe you can forward Vegan food advice that she
can print in her book.  I feel that a plant based diet is the only way to
sustain all the people we have on this earth and it is a lot healthier so
good luck in your quest!

Toga

On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 11:16 AM, Becky Cohen <rrcohen1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I am hiking the PCT this spring and am hoping to stay vegan during my hike.
> I've found the discussion about dehydrating your own foods to be helpful,
> but I'm wondering if there are other vegan thru hikers out there who have
> some helpful tips? Also- any tips about resupply points that are vegan
> friendly or not would be really helpful in my planning of where I send my
> resupply boxes.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Becky
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