[pct-l] Vegan Thru Hike?

[Chuckie V]

"Eventually your body will tell you what it needs."
This is a great point Yogi brings up and nowhere else than during a long-ass hike does your body communicate with you more clearly (you just have to be willing to listen). It's not a case of appetite (i.e., want), but of actual bodily hunger (i.e., need). Early man evolved eating both plants and animals (insects mostly). We wouldn't possess the digestive system we do, had we not eaten insects and animals or other high-protein sources. And you will come to understand why we ingested animal protein the closer you get to nature and doing what mankind has always done (minus the backpack, anyway).
Your reasons for avoiding meat or becoming a vegan are yours and they are certainly valid (I used to be vegan), but you likely wouldn't have passed on your genes making that choice yesteryear. While we're no longer forced to deal with harsh conditions like our ancestry did, your physiologic and metabolic needs must still be met...and this is especially the case when walking 2,600 miles, as you will likely come to find. I suggest doing as Yogi alludes to: let your body choose and to be "in-tuned" to it. 
-Funnybone!