[pct-l] Dehydrated Meals

[Melanie Clarke]

Dear Adrian,

First of all, to reduce all the packaging, most of us transfer all
dehydrated foods into a sandwich sized ziplock baggie.  There is just no
way to do a long distance hike without this step.  Yes, it takes time.
Many of us do not take a stove.  We place the dehydrated dinners inside 2
ziplocks; the sandwich size we carry in our pack and then a Quart size.
Add water at about 2pm and place at the top of your pack.  By dinner, it
will be rehydrated and ready to eat.  This will only work with completely
cooked dehydrated foods.  Pasta needs to be boiled.  It will never
reconstitute.  So forget pasta.

A good vegetarian (and vegan) hiking food company is *OUTDOOR
HERBIVORE http://outdoorherbivore.com/ <http://outdoorherbivore.com/> * They
will mail to the towns along the trail.  So, you need to have some idea of
where you are going to stop to resupply.  Get Yogi's PCT book
http://www.yogisbooks.com/  I also think you can get her book on
Amazon.com.  She puts one out every year to update information but most of
the information stays the same so get any year you can.  I walk about 20
miles a day (35K) and like to stop about once a week.  I work so I'm just a
section hiker but I plan to hike the entire PCT in about 3 years when I
"semi-retire".

I read the other responses and they are good.  It will be very easy to hike
vegetarian.  You will soon understand why Americans are soooo fat!!!  It's
a little tricky to hike as a vegan.  You can combine several different food
sources; stores along the way, mail order etc.  Mountain House and
Backpacker's Pantry have Vegetarian dinners (at hiking stores, REI etc)
 I'm an older female so I avoid sugary foods, even when I'm hiking.  But
many young men with no body fat seem to like the Snickers candy bars for
high calorie foods.  Nuts are also nutritious and high calorie.  Most of
what you'll burn is carbohydrates.  Only 5-10% of your calories need to be
from protein (more than enough). (Human breast milk is only 5% protein and
babies double their size on this diet) Fats lighten your pack load but
understand that your body has to convert the fats to carbohydrates before
you can utilize them.  Fats metabolize at a slow rate, just so you know.

I think it is a good idea to just supply your hike up to Mammoth or Tahoe.
By then, you will have a better idea of your hiking pace and what you like
to eat and how much.  In Mammoth or Tahoe, take a day or 2 to resupply for
another 800 miles.  Our post office supplies boxes and everything you need
to do this.  The post office will hold your package for you.  List a date
for possible pick up.  You can supply most of your food and supplies in the
towns along the way.  But ordering packaged food is good too.

Good Luck,

Diet Plan

On Fri, May 6, 2016 at 2:16 AM, awb51 <awb51 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Since I am flying in from Europe via Canada, I prefer to source my meals
> for
> my Mail-Drops locally in the US.
> Which are good brands or sources for vegetarian meals?
> On a long-distance hike one burns tons of calories, as a result I need high
> calorie versions, i.e. double portions whenever possible. Often the pouches
> have less than 500kcal which leads to too much packaging and cost.
> Thanks
> Adrian alias Matterhorn
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