Foraging on the CT

[newToThrough]

This is sort of a supplemental question to my "What did you eat" thread that is getting so many great replies.

I realized that foraging might be a good way to get some vegetables on the trail, since that's 80% of what I eat on a normal day it might help my system, and help digestion (not to mention nutrition.)

I have some good general field guides to edible plants, but I was just wondering if anyone here does a lot of foraging and has specific recommendations, or even a specific guidebook that is more geared toward the Colorado rockies?

[vireyda]

Foraging is not really that great. It's trendy now but it can damage fragile ecosystems where these plants have a special connection with the soil and might better serve as food for the wildlife that is out there. Also, since there are a lot of humans, and these are not plants that are being cultivated, it can result in already stressed native plant populations being pushed further to the brink.

Snagging a couple of berries as you walk by a bush is not so high impact, planning to truly supplement your diet from "wild edibles" would surely leave a trace.

[newToThrough]

Foraging is not really that great. It's trendy now but it can damage fragile ecosystems where these plants have a special connection with the soil and might better serve as food for the wildlife that is out there. Also, since there are a lot of humans, and these are not plants that are being cultivated, it can result in already stressed native plant populations being pushed further to the brink. Snagging a couple of berries as you walk by a bush is not so high impact, planning to truly supplement your diet from "wild edibles" would surely leave a trace. Obviously I don't want to do anything that has long-term effects. But what are you basing the above on? Are you an experienced forager? Botanist? Something?

[HeartFire]

Not that I recall seeing anything to 'forage' on, but it also takes a lot of time to stop and pick, dig etc. Don't count on anything to be had this way. If you do happen to see something, it's more of a treat and not a nutritional supplement.

[Wuff]

I found lots wild strawberries in a few early sections near Breck, also blackberries as I recall. They were delicious.

[Walkintom]

Foraging is a horrible way to hike.

Picking a berry or two here and there is a nice treat and has a fun jaunty feeling to it to me.

It also slows you down quite a bit.

And berries are way easier to find than anything else to eat in the wilderness.

There's a reason why people started farming. Poking holes in the ground with sticks, hauling water, digging ditches for drainage and irrigation, weeding, fighting pests and predators is a LOT of work. It requires vigilance, planing and consistency in amounts that most folks don't really want to exert. There's a reason so many farm boys do things like joining the army or taking bottom of the rung jobs in factories and then work their way up. Anything to have another choice than that lifestyle.

And farming beats the brakes off foraging as a survival strategy. That's why every successful (argue that definition all you like) society in the world has bootstrapped itself on the benefits of agriculture over foraging.

Getting food consistently in the wilderness is not that easy. Too many people seem to think that the great outdoors is just a synonym for supermarket. It's not. It's a synonym for starvation.

Tell ya what - go live in the woods for 2 weeks 'living off the land' before you build any of your meal plans around foraging. It'll help you get a grasp of how successful you can be foraging while hiking.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I am hesitant to leave downer comments, however I have to agree with the posts above; foraging and hiking just don't compliment each other well. If you come across plants or berries directly on the side of a trail that you have identified and know are edible then go for it, but if you are attempting to actively forage enough plants to have any meaningful impact on your diet then you will simply burn far more calories in the act of searching for them then the plants will supply and you won't have time left to hike any meaningful distance. In addition there are a number of LNT considerations since you are talking about hiking in relatively fragile, relatively high altitude areas where the areas around the trail are easy to damage and slow to heal.

I have a couple of friends who are very big into bushcraft and wilderness survival who occasionally do "foraging weekends" where they go into wilderness areas without bringing food and stay for 2-3 days. Once camp is setup their days basically consist of looking for food the entire time, it's hard work and they always come back a couple of pounds lighter then when they set out. I brought one of these guys on a week long A.T. trip in Georgia and even he admitted that there was no way he could have made any decent mileage days on the trail and foraged on the same time.

[Uriah]

Foraging and hiking (around) mesh quite nicely, but foraging and thru-hiking, not nearly as much. When I last did the Colorado Trail, I augmented my horrendous porridge whenever I could, carrying an "Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rockies" booklet so I didn't ingest something toxic or something that would render me high as a kite. It was nothing more than a fun experiment. As I recall, I took in some miner's lettuce, a few mushrooms, some berries, weeds and flowers. All told, maybe a thousand calories with the berries, and fewer than a hundred, if I weren't to include the berries in the tally.

The moral of the story: carry your food with you and save yourself (and the surrounding landscape) the trouble, as others have already wisely mentioned. A small Tupperware-like container works wonders and is lighter than the book I brought.

[newToThrough]

Foraging is a horrible way to hike. Tell ya what - go live in the woods for 2 weeks 'living off the land' before you build any of your meal plans around foraging. It'll help you get a grasp of how successful you can be foraging while hiking. I have. It was only seven nights, not two weeks, but I did it without packing anything to eat and I'm wondering how able I'll be to do that on the CT in summer. That's the reason I'm posting.

[newToThrough]

Foraging and hiking (around) mesh quite nicely, but foraging and thru-hiking, not nearly as much. When I last did the Colorado Trail, I augmented my horrendous porridge whenever I could, carrying an "Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rockies" booklet so I didn't ingest something toxic or something that would render me high as a kite. It was nothing more than a fun experiment. As I recall, I took in some miner's lettuce, a few mushrooms, some berries, weeds and flowers. All told, maybe a thousand calories with the berries, and fewer than a hundred, if I weren't to include the berries in the tally. That's some useful info (before you got preachy and off-topic.) Thanks!

[bearcreek]

Nobody really knows the answer to this. I've heard this idea in previous years and wondered about it, but I always came down on the side of the nay-sayers. I've done the trail six times with food, and every time I lost 15-20 pounds. I am fascinated with the idea of grazing across the state, but I suspect that I would have lost a lot more weight. But I don't really know, since nobody has done it.

On your side of the discussion, there are definately a lot of edible mushrooms along the trail. Plus dandelions, and probably some other stuff I am unaware of.

Please entertain me, and settle this by leaving Denver with no food. Good luck. I really hope you can do it. Write a book if it works out.

[imscotty]

If you read the original post, nothing was said about not bringing any other food and living off the land. The OP is looking for information on some supplemental greens to round out his meals. This seems like a reasonable thing to do to me.

I have no knowledge of what you might find around the CT. I can tell you that here in MA I enjoy Garlic Mustard greens in the spring. Pick the youngest leaves, the older leaves are somewhat bitter. Boil and enjoy with a little salt and oil. They are easy to find and identify once you know them. They are an invasive species, so please eat them all.

[newToThrough]

If you read the original post, nothing was said about not bringing any other food and living off the land. The OP is looking for information on some supplemental greens to round out his meals. This seems like a reasonable thing to do to me. Thank you for actually reading my original post. I was starting to feel cornered there. :) Also, thanks for the tips from MA, but I have a feeling that the CT is going to be very different because of location and elevation, which is why I'm hoping for some pointers here. I assume that dandilions, plaintain, clover, and a few other staples will be easily had. I wonder about cattails, burdock. And i'm hoping for some tips as to stuff I might not know of. Seems like all the books I find are either pure emergency survival or leisurely foraging for complicated preparations back home. Anyway, thanks for your post.

[bearcreek]

Wow. I apoligize. I never would have responded if I had known that you just wanted to have a salad somewhere along the way. I thought you were thinking of foraging as a viable means of sustaining yourself. My mistake.....

[Mags]

Dandelion greens are actually tasty. Sauteed with olive oil and garlic.

As you get close to the trailhead, you'll see them along the CT. Have to get the leaves when they are young otherwise they are very bitter.

[fiddlehead]

I did some foraging on one of my thru-hikes.
Luckily I was hiking with someone who knew the many mushrooms we saw.
We picked a few edible ones and cooked them up with some garlic and oil we were carrying.
Can't say it filled me up in any way at all.
Just added some different tastes to our "on-trail" diet.
Water cress and nettles are edible too. But not much calories in either. (lots of vitamins though)
Have fun and always try to leave (preferably the Mother plant) some of what you find for re-generation.

[HeartFire]

Oh I do remember those wild strawberries. Tiny little bursts of flavor. They were a delicious tiny treat.

[Demeter]

I am "wild" about foraging (haha)! I lead some edible plant walks, and love to attend walks and seminars!

Here is a blog post about my "rules" of foraging http://demeters-dish.blogspot.com/2013/11/demeters-rules-of-foraging.html

A few words of advice:

1. Foraging is extremely satisfying and nutritious, but also labor intensive. There is a reason why our ancestors were hunter/gatherers. If someone had to live off wild plants, they would quickly die from starvation! I supplement my trail food with foraged greens, but it's opportunity, rather than expectation. Nibble on plants while you are hiking, but don't expect to substantially supplement the veggies. I still carry a lot of fruits and veggies because I may not see much once at camp.

2. Learn before you go. Spotting a plant, then looking through your book and making 100% positive i.d. is very time consuming. You should also carry more than one field guide. Sam Thayer says you should use a minimum of three different books to make an i.d. Personally, once I have made a tentative identification, I like to watch plants through a whole growing season (one year) to be able to identify. I read my field guides at night, so when I go out walking I am already familiar with identifying characteristics.

3. The trail isn't usually the best place to find wild foods. Deep woods and rocky crests don't offer much in the way of diverse plant life (except for maybe pines and mushrooms in the forest). The best places to find greens are at the transition areas of fields, woods, and roads. Things like poke, nettles, thistles, dandelions, dock which are easy to collect in abundance often grow in disturbed soil.

4. Respect the mother and she will continue to give. Many non-foragers have the opinion that foraging is bad for the environment. This is absolutely false. Responsible foraging is the ultimate renewable resource. A responsible forager collects nuts, seeds, and berries, which don't harm the plant at all. Don't rip up plants by the root for a few leaves (except for garlic mustard, which is a terrible invasive), unless you are harvesting the roots (carrot, dock, thistle, toothwort,etc), and never harvest more than 10-15% of a plant in any area.

5. This should be #1, but never never never eat a plant unless you are 100% sure of its identity. Water hemlock grows like crazy in the Rockies (and all over the US). One leaf could kill you. Most plants won't kill you, but you may wish you were dead after puking your guts up for days...

Have fun!

[vireyda]

Obviously I don't want to do anything that has long-term effects. But what are you basing the above on? Are you an experienced forager? Botanist? Something?


I'm actually a geologist by training, so my largest caution would be how delicate some of the soils on and around the CT are. I've done work in the Saguache area, and those soils are very thin, sometimes not more than a few inches. One of the reasons you stay on the trail as you hike is to disturb as little of your surroundings as you can.

My sister is a plant ecologist and would recommend if you're going to forage at all, going after invasive plant species. If you're going to forage for native species, awareness of the plants ecology ad conservation status is important. She would also suggest avoiding foraging in high traffic areas where other people may be foraging, as it is easy for a plant to be stripped and killed.

I don't mean to be discouraging, and I think foraging is an incredible skill. I'm just concerned because packs of thru-hikers foraging all along the CT would surely be detrimental.

[newToThrough]

Wow. I apoligize. I never would have responded if I had known that you just wanted to have a salad somewhere along the way. I thought you were thinking of foraging as a viable means of sustaining yourself. My mistake..... It's cool. Yeah I just want to supplement all the crappy carbs it looks like I'll have to eat with somthing fresh with vitamins, so I'm looking for recommendations on specifically what's plentiful on the CT and how to harvest it. I'm pretty good at foraging in the southeast but it's a very different climate, so hoped for some specific suggestions. Anyway, it's all good.

[The Solemates]

I am "wild" about foraging (haha)! I lead some edible plant walks, and love to attend walks and seminars!

Here is a blog post about my "rules" of foraging http://demeters-dish.blogspot.com/2013/11/demeters-rules-of-foraging.html

A few words of advice:

1. Foraging is extremely satisfying and nutritious, but also labor intensive. There is a reason why our ancestors were hunter/gatherers. If someone had to live off wild plants, they would quickly die from starvation! I supplement my trail food with foraged greens, but it's opportunity, rather than expectation. Nibble on plants while you are hiking, but don't expect to substantially supplement the veggies. I still carry a lot of fruits and veggies because I may not see much once at camp.

2. Learn before you go. Spotting a plant, then looking through your book and making 100% positive i.d. is very time consuming. You should also carry more than one field guide. Sam Thayer says you should use a minimum of three different books to make an i.d. Personally, once I have made a tentative identification, I like to watch plants through a whole growing season (one year) to be able to identify. I read my field guides at night, so when I go out walking I am already familiar with identifying characteristics.

3. The trail isn't usually the best place to find wild foods. Deep woods and rocky crests don't offer much in the way of diverse plant life (except for maybe pines and mushrooms in the forest). The best places to find greens are at the transition areas of fields, woods, and roads. Things like poke, nettles, thistles, dandelions, dock which are easy to collect in abundance often grow in disturbed soil.

4. Respect the mother and she will continue to give. Many non-foragers have the opinion that foraging is bad for the environment. This is absolutely false. Responsible foraging is the ultimate renewable resource. A responsible forager collects nuts, seeds, and berries, which don't harm the plant at all. Don't rip up plants by the root for a few leaves (except for garlic mustard, which is a terrible invasive), unless you are harvesting the roots (carrot, dock, thistle, toothwort,etc), and never harvest more than 10-15% of a plant in any area.

5. This should be #1, but never never never eat a plant unless you are 100% sure of its identity. Water hemlock grows like crazy in the Rockies (and all over the US). One leaf could kill you. Most plants won't kill you, but you may wish you were dead after puking your guts up for days...

Have fun!

thanks for the info. we "forage" in our yard. I especially like #4. we have found this to certainly be true both for foraging and gardening. "pick early and often"