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todd52
03-10-2013, 01:59
Are there any edible wild foods on the trail (ie; berries, roots, tubers, nuts, leaves, flowers, etc)?. Are they in abundance and can they sustain you enough to the point where you can live partly off of the food that is in your pack and what can be found in the wild?. What are the various times when edible plants come into season?. All these questions...

todd52
03-10-2013, 02:04
I also meant to include wild game that doesn't involve getting some kind of license/permit.

fiddlehead
03-10-2013, 02:07
Yes hey are there.
No you cannot survive for a thru-hike on them. (no time and little energy produced)

That said, I have supplemented my food with: fiddleheads, chantrelles, morels, ramps, wild strawberries, blackberries, wild apples (small and full of worms though)
Probably less than 1% of my food was eaten this way. Not nearly enough to sustain much of anything.
More like a try-out for different things found in the wild and trying to change the taste of the same-old, same old, food I had with me everyday.

If you know enough about mushrooms, I'd carry some olive oil and garlic just for this purpose.
If you are not sure, don't try. Many of them kill.

Better to leave the berries and acorns for the wild animals to help them through their upcoming winter and get your food in towns.

broken arrow
03-10-2013, 04:24
you can totally survive off of the land. the same way peoples have been doing for thousands of years. you just have to be ready to delete everything you thought you ever knew about living and get into the **** of it. ie; eating worms, tadpoles, skinning animals (after you have caught them), smoking the meat, finding out what inner bark of trees has the most nutrients etc ... but are you ready for such an undertaking? no. your not. just like every other 'thru-hiker'. so just throw that out the window and make a hostel reservation. happy hiking!

Mountain Mike
03-10-2013, 04:56
Sustain, no. Supplement yes. I loved adding ramps to meals down south when they came in season. Other parts of the trail enjoyed berries. You just don't have time on a thru to become a gatherer. You can grab some edible greens along the way too. Just never enough to sustain a thru hike.

Bronk
03-10-2013, 05:01
Many people hike the trail every year without going into town for resupply. Wild fruits and berries are abundant, and hunting and trapping rabbits and squirrels is not that difficult.

Sarcasm the elf
03-10-2013, 05:32
There are no wild foods available trail side that could provide a meaningful number of calories for a long distance hiker, as others have said, trying to gather your food is a full time job, not realistic when hiking. The A.T. is also a very heavily travelled trail, If there were meaningful food sources trailside, then you would find yourself competing with thousands of other hikers trying to live off the narrow corridor of land surrounding the trail.


I also meant to include wild game that doesn't involve getting some kind of license/permit.
All hunting requires a permit and a separate permit is required for each state.


Sustain, no. Supplement yes. I loved adding ramps to meals down south when they came in season. Other parts of the trail enjoyed berries. You just don't have time on a thru to become a gatherer. You can grab some edible greens along the way too. Just never enough to sustain a thru hike.

This^ While you shouldn't count on wild food for your calories, it is a welcome treat to find thickets of blackberries, blueberries, wineberries, huckleberries, etc. near the trail. Take advantage of them when you get the chance


Many people hike the trail every year without going into town for resupply. Wild fruits and berries are abundant, and hunting and trapping rabbits and squirrels is not that difficult. Bronk, I thought it was my job to be sarcastic :eek:

bear bag hanger
03-10-2013, 07:19
Among other problems listed, remember you are competing not only with a 1,000 other hikers for berries, etc. you are competing with bears. Never had a problem myself, but I'm told they can get a little testy when someone gathers stuff from what they view as their patch of land.

BirdBrain
03-10-2013, 07:36
To add to what has been already said: Indian cucumbers, bunchberries. cattails, pickerelweed, Blueberries, Dandelions, Crayfish, Bullfrogs, Freshwater Mussels, etc. These things make for snacks. I would not dream of relying on them for a long hike. Forget animals. You are hiking, not hunter stalking. Fishing is good in certain areas, if you want to take the time and get a license and study the rules. All of what I have said pertains to Maine. I do not know much about other states local wild snacks.

Again, IMHO, all of what I have listed are snacks, not sustaining foods. One more: Teaberry Leaves make a good gum substitute.

kayak karl
03-10-2013, 08:06
its hard to find any one spot in the woods that has everything you need to live off of, but you can find these spots. years ago when people found a spot like this they settled there. usually in a valley near water. towns eventually grew in the center of these areas and raised food and animals in the surrounding land. as time passed they put hostels and dollar stores in. your just 400 years last to live off the land :D

Sandy of PA
03-10-2013, 08:24
If you like nettles, you will love VA!

Grampie
03-10-2013, 08:54
Many people hike the trail every year without going into town for resupply. Wild fruits and berries are abundant, and hunting and trapping rabbits and squirrels is not that difficult.

I would not believe what Bronk is saying. To gather enough food, while doing a AT thru, just takes too much time and energy. After hiking 10-15 miles for 6 to 10 hours the last thing you want to do is hunt around for enough food to sustain yourself. I thought that I would do some fishing during my thru. Fished once in Virginia and not again until I fished in Maine.

Hairbear
03-10-2013, 12:00
Sustain, no. Supplement yes. I loved adding ramps to meals down south when they came in season. Other parts of the trail enjoyed berries. You just don't have time on a thru to become a gatherer. You can grab some edible greens along the way too. Just never enough to sustain a thru hike.

Great advice ,you would benifit more learning the medicinal purposes of these plants too .

rocketsocks
03-10-2013, 12:12
Sustain, no. Supplement yes. I loved adding ramps to meals down south when they came in season. Other parts of the trail enjoyed berries. You just don't have time on a thru to become a gatherer. You can grab some edible greens along the way too. Just never enough to sustain a thru hike.Just an observation, but I hear some say "please don't eat the wild berries, there for the Bears"... but I never hear anyone say..."please don't eat the Ramps" :D why is this I wonder, I love Onion.

MuddyWaters
03-10-2013, 12:33
Yes there are edible food sources, and that term is used loosely.
No, you cant live off of it

Everyone I know that went thru wilderness survival training in military, basically said it was a week of starvation. They all lost like 15 lbs.

Life as hunter-gatherers was not easy. Thats why people took to farming.

Dogwood
03-10-2013, 12:53
Some EXCELLENT observations here. I supplemented for much of my AT thru-hike with wild edibles but no hunting. Hunting takes too much time during a thru-hike and to do it legally in multiple states like on a AT thru-hike is a PITA! I STRONGLY SUSPECT you would be going hungry OFTEN if hunting/fishing/gathering was your only source of food for long periods on the AT. When I did supplement I usually went off trail up a brook(ramps, chanterelles, brook lettuce, Indian Cucumber, American Ginger, ginseng, etc) or into a cove/gully for berries, nuts, seeds, edible bark, flowers, leaves, etc

aficion
03-10-2013, 13:02
If you like nettles, you will love VA!

excellent source of vitamins and minerals.

Dogwood
03-10-2013, 13:06
LOL. Make sure you boil the nettles though. Be mindful how you pick them too! I didn't boil them enough ONE TIME. All it takes is one time doing that and you will not soon forget!

adamkrz
03-10-2013, 13:14
Just an observation, but I hear some say "please don't eat the wild berries, there for the Bears"... but I never hear anyone say..."please don't eat the Ramps" :D why is this I wonder, I love Onion.


One time near bear mountain in CT. I had a ridgerunner tell me I was stealing bear food when he saw me picking wild blue berries, I told him I'll leave my trash lid off for the bears in my hood..

rocketsocks
03-10-2013, 13:17
One time near bear mountain in CT. I had a ridgerunner tell me I was stealing bear food when he saw me picking wild blue berries, I told him I'll leave my trash lid off for the bears in my hood..Oh I'm sure he found that hysterical :D I did!

English Stu
03-10-2013, 13:21
I added ramps to meals a few times,and came across a few apples at vacant,old properties which I boiled and added to porridge and had as dessert, I had some honey for sweetener.Also berries in season.

Dogwood
03-10-2013, 13:24
One time near bear mountain in CT. I had a ridgerunner tell me I was stealing bear food when he saw me picking wild blue berries, I told him I'll leave my trash lid off for the bears in my hood..

On the AT, I recall a cute sassy female west coast thru-hiker complaining to another east coast thru-hiker about a discarded banana peel he threw into the woods. "Do you know how long that banana peel takes to decompose?" she asked herself. "Two years" she said. "What happens if I go into the woods and see it?" she continued. With all the things that could be defined as litter along the AT this was what she chose to complain about. Ridiculous!

rocketsocks
03-10-2013, 13:26
I added ramps to meals a few times,and came across a few apples at vacant,old properties which I boiled and added to porridge and had as dessert, I had some honey for sweetener.Also berries in season.Ramps in Porridge...English Stew :)

rocketsocks
03-10-2013, 13:29
On the AT, I recall a cute sassy female west coast thru-hiker complaining to another east coast thru-hiker about a discarded banana peel he threw into the woods. "Do you know how long that banana peel takes to decompose?" she asked herself. "Two years" she said. "What happens if I go into the woods and see it?" she continued. With all the things that could be defined as litter along the AT this was what she chose to complain about. Ridiculous!Orange peels and Pistachios shells too.