Newbie looking for supportive advice

[Spirit Walker]

Dried fruit actually has a lot of calories - look at the labels.

Beans are good if they are precooked and dehydrated. When you are on the trail you probably won't want to cook anything that takes over 10 minutes or so, both because of the fuel needed and because you'll be HUNGRY. Mashed potatoes are okay if they are eaten along with other foods. For a non-vegetarian - add spam, sausage or bacon or a hearty soup as a side. I used them as a starter course once I figured out they wouldn't really satisfy me by themselves. Same with stuffing - though again, if you add meat it works okay as a main course.

Canister stoves work well on the AT since all you have to do is light them - no need to prime it. I have switched to alcohol for backpacking, which works well if all you are doing is heating water or doing quick cooking pasta (bring food to a boil, cover, when the alcohol goes out wait ten minutes or so. Then eat. Doesn't work well when it's really cold since the food goes cold before it finishes cooking.)

Some people do well with non-linear hikes. Others lose the continuity if they are jumping around. As long as your goal is simply to complete the entire trail, you should be fine. Some people feel that if they don't start at Springer and finish at Katahdin it's not a 'real' thruhike. It's up to you how you perceive your hike. We had a friend who had some business he needed to deal with, so he broke his hike up into four sections, with a return home at the end of each. It worked for him. Others have found that going home makes it too tempting to stay there when the trail gets tough.

[Rocket Jones]

One thing I started doing was dehydrating sweet potatoes. Peel, boil, mash with salt and cinnamon, then spread out on your dehydrator tray and dry until it turns into flakes. Good stuff with a squirt of olive oil and a drizzle of maple syrup.

[oldbear]

One thing I started doing was dehydrating sweet potatoes. Peel, boil, mash with salt and cinnamon, then spread out on your dehydrator tray and dry until it turns into flakes. Good stuff with a squirt of olive oil and a drizzle of maple syrup.

I wonder if it would be labor intensive to slice them on a cooking mandolin and then dehydrate them
Granted it's a tool that has no love for your fingers But once you get the hang of using one w/o becoming a blood donor it's a great tool to know how to use

[oldbear]

oops
That should read less labor intensive

[illabelle]

I'm a lifelong vegetarian. My husband and I have done about 300 miles of the AT, mostly in 3-4 day weekend sections. We took 5 days for MD also! There are loads of vegetarian "meats" that can be added to a meal. Most grocery stores have Morningstar Farms, and if you can find where to buy Loma Linda or Worthington products, you'll have lots to pick from. On our last trip (3 days from Fontana to the NOC, just last weekend) we took a small amount of a fake bacon, which I mixed with some dehydrated hash browns (yes, I take a small skillet, not cast iron, but not the thin ones that come with most mess kits!), and a small amount of fake burger, which goes well with almost anything, and two fake hot dogs, which nicely dressed up a rice meal. All were frozen when we started, and the weather was cool enough to keep them fresh. There are dehydrated products also, but I haven't messed around with them much. I also took some frozen corn for the first meal (very short walk to the Fontana shelter!), and some frozen onion/pepper mixture that added a lot of flavor for me.
The other advice I have that I didn't see mentioned above, is practice hiking with someone who has experience. It greatly reduces the risks, and allows you to actually enjoy your time on the trail without worrying about stuff.