supply of fresh food, wild plants and animals, paleo or primal diet supply on trail

[kestral]

I have been sick and cured myself with change of diet. Every time I stray away from that to much it turns out not to be good for me. I would soon not be able to do the hike anymore. So no, compromise is no option for me!

This is me exactly! Some folks think I am a food snob because I don’t eat a lot of classic hiker food (cheep, high processed carbs, long shelf life- lots of preservatives). The truth is I can eat a little bit and be ok, but much more and I am sick as a dog. I wish I could get away with inexpensive and easy foods, but not worth the pain, diarrhea, joint aches, exhaustion and brain fog.

I cant afford paleo to go everyday. I dehydrate foods, use freeze dried foods, use nuts, veg and fruit. Healthy fats including animal based fats, coconut, avocado and olive oils. If you need a specific diet usually best to send yourself resupply boxes and supplement with just a little ready made stuff. Very time consuming, but if that’s what it takes then you need to allow yourself the time.

[tululu]

When I backpacked the AT thru Shenandoah back in '84 and then in '87 I augmented my diet with wild edibles---mustard greens and violets and chickweed---and would boil them up in oatmeal and add a couple tablespoons of cream cheese. Plus, different cheeses are readily available at small stores. Otherwise, being a vegetarian helps in the meat department.

Is it true that there are many European nettles on the trail? http://appalachiantrailhistory.org/items/show/119 -These are excellent wild food and can be harvested from early spring to autumn, approximately 700gram of them gives all the Protein you need for a day with all essential amino acids. I love them with scrambled eggs or mixed in minced meat.

[Slo-go'en]

I have been sick and cured myself with change of diet. Every time I stray away from that to much it turns out not to be good for me. I would soon not be able to do the hike anymore. So no, compromise is no option for me!

Well then I would think a AT thru hike is not something you should attempt. The foods you're looking for are simply not available on a consistent bases, nor are they commonly available.

[gpburdelljr]

Is it true that there are many European nettles on the trail? http://appalachiantrailhistory.org/items/show/119 -These are excellent wild food and can be harvested from early spring to autumn, approximately 700gram of them gives all the Protein you need for a day with all essential amino acids. I love them with scrambled eggs or mixed in minced meat.

On the following link is a map of the US showing where this plant has been reported. It doesn’t look like it would be on much of the trail.

https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/s...html?sub=22629

[Tipi Walter]

Is it true that there are many European nettles on the trail? http://appalachiantrailhistory.org/items/show/119 -These are excellent wild food and can be harvested from early spring to autumn, approximately 700gram of them gives all the Protein you need for a day with all essential amino acids. I love them with scrambled eggs or mixed in minced meat.

I've eaten nettles since I was in my 20s and still continue to drink nettle tea---and eat the greens. It's an excellent wild edible and easy to cook up in the hiking pot.


It's nettle time!!

And nettle can't be all that bad since the great Himalayan Yogi Milarepa lived on them---

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/gree...he-green-yogi/

[Slo-go'en]

Is it true that there are many European nettles on the trail? http://appalachiantrailhistory.org/items/show/119 -These are excellent wild food and can be harvested from early spring to autumn, approximately 700gram of them gives all the Protein you need for a day with all essential amino acids. I love them with scrambled eggs or mixed in minced meat.

Maybe in some areas. It looks like this is most commonly brewed as a tea and has some medicinal benefits. I see nothing about eating it as an actual food.

[Slo-go'en]

Maybe in some areas. It looks like this is most commonly brewed as a tea and has some medicinal benefits. I see nothing about eating it as an actual food.

I stand corrected, apparently you can.

[greatexpectations]

speaking only for MA, the only issue i would see in meeting the OP's stated goals would be how the heck one would reasonably carry / keep / prepare the food items listed. i know that the Big Y grocery chain has these items, and they have trail-convenient locations in great barrington, lee (close to upper goose pond), and north adams. there is also a guido's in great barrington, and probably an analogous upscale market in north adams. all will involve a bit of a road walk / hitch into town but nothing out of the ordinary.

i think (not 100%) you can get grass fed meats, milk, and eggs from blue hill farm, visible from trail in monterey. there is also a trail stand in tyringham which sells fresh eggs. as for wild sources on (or very near) the trail near me i know of blueberries, blackberries, apples, ramps, nettles. i see mushrooms regularly but i can't speak to what is edible. this will all be seasonal though and likely not worth one's time for anything more than a surprise snack.

[Venchka]

One example of the good and bad of supplying your diet:
Boone, NC. 26 miles from the AT in Elk Park, NC.
Earth Fare Supermarket in Boone will have 95%-100% of your grocery needs. Including an extensive bulk food section and nut butter grinding machines and grass fed filets.
A short distance away from Earth Fare is the Wautauga County Farmers Market. All of the grass fed, cage free, organic, non GMO exotic foods you ever hope to find.
Now. The bad news: The Farmers Market is only open on Saturday from 8 AM to 12 AM. As are most Farmers Markets.
You need a Trail Angel with a self-contained motor home to meet you at road crossings and serve meals.
Your exercise level during a Thru Hike might overcome the effects of a less than perfect diet.
Don’t obsess. Have fun!
Wayne

[Traveler]

In my view, a thru hike of the AT can be done with the stated dietary needs using pre-planned food drops. Granted, this would require far more logistical planning than not having any dietary restrictions but could be done. Determine how much food weight can reasonably carried from resupply to food exhaustion to assess how many miles/days between resupply points. Determining food perishability and the maximum number of days the food can travel in a pack should get you to a good estimate of X number of days between resupply. Get detailed maps of AT sections to mark out maximum day resupply points, then look for post offices or other business that can take a package (requires many phone calls) inside the max day envelope. Food storage options like vacuum packing various staples or pre-cooked food may provide some additional trail time. Timing of mail drops would need to be worked out by determining if the Post Office can be used for parcel receipt or another address that would hold it for you, even if you are a day or three late. Finding someone to prepare and ship the food would also be necessary.

So there is a way to do a thru hike with the food you need but it will have some financial costs associated with getting food to a pick up site and and time for planning/getting to drop points or retailers you buy food from near the trail. Necessity is the mother of invention. Anytime there is a great will to accomplish something that personal limitations make difficult, invention of work-arounds quickly follow. To me, the logistic planning of supplies to be dropped along the way would be worth the costs to avoid gambling on local markets and interrupting the hike frequently and for potentially long periods of time in search of food.

[Alligator]

To paraphrase Traveler, he's talking about a mail drop strategy. It was used more commonly in the past by thruhikers. Not sure if the German mail system has the option but in the US we have general delivery. You can send the package to yourself directly to the post office and pick it up there. Most US post offices have it but I think little tiny ones may not due to space. You don't have to be there exactly on time but they won't hold it forever. Businesses that accept them, particularly hiker-friendly ones know you are hiking and will typically hold packages for at least a week. We used to have a whole subforum on mail drops but I think we may have merged it with another subforum. Lots of threads though.

[tululu]

I've eaten nettles since I was in my 20s and still continue to drink nettle tea---and eat the greens. It's an excellent wild edible and easy to cook up in the hiking pot.


It's nettle time!!

And nettle can't be all that bad since the great Himalayan Yogi Milarepa lived on them---

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/gree...he-green-yogi/

nice story, but if he really lived only on nettles he had to eat a lot of them. fresh nettles have 420 kcal per kg...
but around 700 gram of them provide enough essential amino acids for a day. Wild nettles are edible, older plants must be cooked, younger can be eaten raw.

[Traveler]

To paraphrase Traveler, he's talking about a mail drop strategy. It was used more commonly in the past by thruhikers. Not sure if the German mail system has the option but in the US we have general delivery. You can send the package to yourself directly to the post office and pick it up there. Most US post offices have it but I think little tiny ones may not due to space. You don't have to be there exactly on time but they won't hold it forever. Businesses that accept them, particularly hiker-friendly ones know you are hiking and will typically hold packages for at least a week. We used to have a whole subforum on mail drops but I think we may have merged it with another subforum. Lots of threads though.

Bah! I missed the Germany residency, thanks for picking that up. The mail drop may have glitches if its coming out of Germany.

[Venchka]

You asked about grass fed milk butter.
Kerrygold Irish Butter made with milk from grass fed cows. Available in every regional or national chain supermarket. Albertson, Kroger, Publix, Lowes, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Fresh Market, Earth Fare, Safeway, Walmart, Walmart Neighborhood Market, etc.
Cage Free eggs are becoming more readily available from the same stores.
If you think that you’re going to be doing actual cooking, You’re going to need an appropriate kitchen arrangement.
This is all adding up to a lot of extra on trail weight, time, money, etc.
Good luck!
Wayne

[Feral Bill]

I stand corrected, apparently you can.

Still no Calories to speak of.

[Tipi Walter]

Still no Calories to speak of.

More calories could come from tubers and roots---like burdock root and Indian cucumber root and violet roots and solomon's seal root etc etc. And with some creek water processing Autumn acorns provide fat and calories---and don't forget the fantastic black walnuts.

[Mother Natures Son]

i would think that after hiking all day, the last thing that's on your mind is going out and hunt/forage for food. It can be done but you'll spend a lot time looking for food. As some have already said, Maildrops might be your answer.

[Tipi Walter]

i would think that after hiking all day, the last thing that's on your mind is going out and hunt/forage for food. It can be done but you'll spend a lot time looking for food. As some have already said, Maildrops might be your answer.

Foraging comes during the actual hiking as you stoop down to pick something edible.

[gpburdelljr]

i would think that after hiking all day, the last thing that's on your mind is going out and hunt/forage for food. It can be done but you'll spend a lot time looking for food. As some have already said, Maildrops might be your answer.

Maildrops wouldn’t work for fresh meats and vegetables.

[Slo-go'en]

i would think that after hiking all day, the last thing that's on your mind is going out and hunt/forage for food. It can be done but you'll spend a lot time looking for food. As some have already said, Maildrops might be your answer.

There is a reason farming was invented. Sure, if you happen to see something eatable along the side of the trail scoop it up, but your not going to find enough to live on. If your on the trail starting in March, there is nothing growing along the side of the trail until some time in April.