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Vegetarian on the Trail

6/22/2012

2 Comments

 
I get a lot of questions about what we eat on the trail, especially since we are vegetarian, so I thought I would break down a typical day and what I buy when I resupply.

Resupply is when we go in to a town to buy more food.  Usually there is a grocery store, but sometimes it's limited to campground stores or gas stations (the worst!).  Before we head to the store, we look at our book and determine how many days we will be in the woods before we will have another chance to resupply again.  So when I shop, I'll know I need 3 dinners and 3.5 days of snacks, for example.

Dinners are easy and I have two main things I look for: cous cous or powdered hummus.  I usually buy 2 wraps or 1 pita for each night plus a block of hard cheese to go with the cous cous/hummus.  I also carry raw garlic to spice it all up.  If I can't find cous cous or hummus, I buy cheese and avocado with bagels to make sandwiches.

Snacks are ever-evolving for me.  Early on I was content to eat granola bars and pop tarts all day, but eventually the lack of nutrition got to me.  Now I carry a big bag (probably 2lbs) of trail mix that I make myself.  I dump almonds, dried fruit and m&m candies into a ziplock bag and eat 1-2 cups during my lunch break.  I also snack while I walk.  I keep one or two candy bars, several Raw Revolution bars, and fruit strips in my hip belt pocket for quick grabs.

Breakfast is usually lame and just something I eat mindlessly while I wake up.  Typically some trail mix and maybe a fruit strip plus as much water as I can handle.  I also carry Gatorade powder and make it once or twice a day.  It helps a lot, especially now that it's so hot outside.

Vitamins are important to me too.  I carry a good multi-vitamin, MSM and digestive enzymes.  I also carry Arnica in case of any inflammation or injury.  The extra weight sucks, but it's worth it.  The other day I fell and my knee landed on a rock.  I could barely bend it at first, so I consistently took my MSM and Arnica.  I really think it's the reason I recovered so quickly.

My food bag tends to weigh about 6-8 pounds for 3 nights on the trail.  I eat about 2500-3000 calories a day and burn about 4000, but I feel satisfied most of the time.  I choose healthy and nutritious over lightweight and it's worth it to me.

Food choices during town days are drastically different than trail days and I'll save that for another post.  I also have a lot to share about Rooney's nutrition too, but that also will be a seperate post.

Until then, thanks for reading!

Minutes

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Boredom Blues

6/22/2012

2 Comments

 
Oh friends, it has been too long and I'm sorry for neglecting you.  I'd say it's about time for an update!

First, the basics.  We are still healthy and happy, plus we just crossed the 850 mile mark!  Tomorrow we start the Shenandoah National Park which feels like the beginning of the end of Virginia.  We have been in this state for several hundred miles and it's delivered some ups and some major downs.

I was initially hesitant to write about the not-so-great days, but I want to truly share this hike with you and those days do happen.  Many people refer to the "Virginia Blues" and you hear that it can end the hike for some.  The concept basically refers to the stage of your hike when the excitement of being outside every day wears off and it hits you that you have so many months left before Katahdin. 

Now, I feel like it's unfair to blame this on Virginia.  There are so many beautiful things to see here and I have yet to have a day with lame scenery.  The true challenge comes from the mental battle you go through.  Physically you are now a hiking machine so it's no longer intimidating to climb mountains each day, but instead you now have boredom and your own thoughts to wrestle with. The freedom of "time to think" was a blessing in the beginning, but then it becomes a bit of a task to fill those hours each day.  You start relying on music and podcasts more and your thoughts often wander to "why am I doing this?!'

For me, this happened around Catawba and I initially tried to just hike through it.  Yikes did that backfire and those days were just miserable.  So instead we took a few days off the trail in Daleville and I gave myself permission to just rest.  I did nothing even remotely close to hiking and it felt good. 

Then, suddenly, I missed it.  I missed the woods and I felt ready to go back.  It was just that simple.

I've talked to some of the others I'm hiking with and we pretty much all had bad days right around the same time.  The Virginia Blues are real, people.  But I'm thinking we should call them the Boredom Blues instead.  It's not really VA's fault! 

It's not all bad though.  In a way, I'm glad that I experienced the Blues.  I feel so strong and prepared for the rest of the trail because I faced those desires to quit and I chose to keep going.  I know I will have days that are rough again, but I also know that they won't knock me off the trail.  It's a good feeling.  There's also the sense of understanding I feel when I talk to other hikers.  They went through this too and we are standing on the other side together.  It's a bonding of sorts and it makes me excited to keep hiking with them.  I can't imagine how bonded we will be by the end.

Well friends, thank you for the space to share these feelings with you.  And for continuing to send love and support our way.  I feel it, even from a distance.  Much love to you all!!

~Minutes

PS - I'm not able to get any of my photos to load on this computer, but I do have pictures from a friend to share with you all.  His trail name is TK, he is a good friend, and he has taken over 7,000 photos so far!  He posts some of them to his facebook page and it is public so feel free to browse through them.  The pictures below are his and I'm grateful that he has taken the time to capture so many moments.  Enjoy!

Link to TK's Photos on Facebook


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A common view at night that never grows old.
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Sadness captured. Nothing like waiting for a town shuttle in the rain for several hours. Don't worry, we put a rain coat on Rooney and attempted to make a human umbrella over him.
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Rooney loves his buddy TK.
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Some of the fantastic friends we have made. (Girls are constantly outnumbered on the trail).
2 Comments
    Update!  Life has become busy in a great way, so we don't have a lot of time for blogging these days.  We've left the site up as a reference, and we do check our blog emails whenever we can, but we are no longer actively posting or commenting.  Thanks for understanding and have a wonderful day! 

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    I'm a Chicago girl who loves the outdoors and everything DIY.  He's an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and addicted to nature.  Follow us as we share our experiences with home projects, recipes and hiking with our energetic Weimaraner, Rooney.

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