Vegetarian Resupply

[simplehiker]

First off I have been reading Jack's Resupply guide and it is most excellent. The more links to this the more hikers it can help.

But my question is for the Veg*n (vegetarian & vegan) hikers. How well did you town re-supply?
Did you find that you needed more or should have done more mail drops?
Did you have any nutrition problems or concerns? I have heard stories of veg hikers having massive protein cravings mid hike.


Thanks for any feed back.


No meat crashing please.

[Nean]

Thats not going to be as simple. The bigger towns won't be a problem but the smaller ones could be. Just depends on what you are happy with. The only time mail drops make sense to me is if one has a special diet. Check out your town stops, do some planning, and /or take full advantage of a bounce box to send supplies up ahead from bigger towns w/ big stores to those that don't.

[springchicken]

I am in agreement that Jack's suggestions are wonderful. And I am also wondering if anyone out there has suggestions for healthy eating. Where are the best salad bars, vegetarian restaurants, health food stores, etc. along the way? Seems to me that loading up on fresh veggies and fruit is imperative while in town...

[springchicken]

Oh, and where can one re-supply with herbal teas???

[simplehiker]

I am in agreement that Jack's suggestions are wonderful. And I am also wondering if anyone out there has suggestions for healthy eating. Where are the best salad bars, vegetarian restaurants, health food stores, etc. along the way? Seems to me that loading up on fresh veggies and fruit is imperative while in town...

If you go through wingfoots handbook there are a lot of veggie friendly or even what reads veggie gourmet hostels on the AT. My copy is a few years old so I can only guess the the number has increased.

[sourwood]

I am a vegetarian and have done a lot of backpacking and bicycle touring. I have never had resupply problems.I'm not saying I've eaten really well, but I have managed fine. I am not a vegan and do eat a fair amount of cheese. Vegan would definitely be tougher. Where I have run into problems is eating out. I love to eat breakfast out when given the chance. And I really like biscuits and some type of fried potatoes. Which is fine unless the place where you are eating uses lard. Then it is not so pretty. I have found this to be more of a problem out west in Montana and Wyoming.

[simplehiker]

I am a vegetarian and have done a lot of backpacking and bicycle touring. I have never had resupply problems.I'm not saying I've eaten really well, but I have managed fine. I am not a vegan and do eat a fair amount of cheese. Vegan would definitely be tougher. Where I have run into problems is eating out. I love to eat breakfast out when given the chance. And I really like biscuits and some type of fried potatoes. Which is fine unless the place where you are eating uses lard. Then it is not so pretty. I have found this to be more of a problem out west in Montana and Wyoming.

I are you my long lost cousin or something?
Mmmm eggs
Mmmm cheese
Mmmm biscuits
Mmmm potatoes

Man, Im such a bad vegetarian...

[Moxie00]

I eat meat. I love meat. However my wife is a very strict vegetarian and I love my wife more than meat so at home we have a complete vegetarian diet. (my wife just went to Chicago to visit our grandaughter so it's steak tonight) Now for the trail. I found it most convienent while hiking to keep a strict vegetarian diet. No meat while hiking at all. For breakfast, instant oatmeal or grits. Lunch, bagel and tons of peanut butter. Snickers bars for snacks. Dinner was lipton type noodles, rice, or mac and cheese. I had my wife send me several bags of TVP she purchased at health food stores and I mixed it with oatmeal and the noodles and rice. I also carried cheese which seemed to travel well. Often at town stops a group would purchase a dozen eggs, hard boil them at a hostel and eat them for the first few days back on the trail. Another favorite trick was to purchase a large veggie sub for dinner my first night after a town stop. I am not a vegan, nor is my wife so I don't think a vegan would fare as well as I did but the vegetarian diet on the trail is the best way to go. Oh yes, on my thru I purchased all my food in trail towns. The only exception was the TVP (textured vegtable protien) that my wife sent me. A huge bag weighed less than a pound and my health was excellent all the way to Maine.

[Rainbow]

I chose to do maildrops that included: high protein granola with powdered milk in individual ziploc bags, TVP that I added to my evening noodles, 4 oz. of olive oil (I added a bit to my noodles to increase calories and fat) and chocolate protein powder that I drank hot or cold depending on the weather. These were all things that would be very hard to find in towns. I think I had plenty of protein on my hike and rarely ate meat. You'll be hard pressed to find TVP or small containers of olive oil in trail towns. Have a great hike!

[Alligator]

...These were all things that would be very hard to find in towns. I think I had plenty of protein on my hike and rarely ate meat. You'll be hard pressed to find TVP or small containers of olive oil in trail towns. Have a great hike!

Many supermarkets carry protein powders these days, super Walmart, Krogers, etc. If you can't find it in the aisles, try the pharmacy.

[sourwood]

I are you my long lost cousin or something?
Mmmm eggs
Mmmm cheese
Mmmm biscuits
Mmmm potatoes

Man, Im such a bad vegetarian...

Maybe?!
Mmmm onion rings!
Mmmm cinnamon rolls
Mmmmm chocolate!

I'm not the best of vegetarians either.
It's a good thing I like to hike and bike.