[pct-l] thruhiking on a raw diet

>One of these days someone's going to thru-hike a mega trail on an entirely
>raw organic diet, and I have a feeling it's going to be done on the AT
>rather than the PCT. The AT has the towns, the supermarkets, the variety,
>and the frequency of resupply necessary for carrying heavy, water-rich,
>living foods without spoilage or breaking one's back. In terms of health,
>dehydrated raw produce apparently does not work out over the long haul, but
>unaltered foods do, and so it's primarily a question of how well that food
>would fuel such an untested, highly active arena as a thru-hike.
>
>- - blisterfree
>

interesting that you bring this up.  i've been 100% raw foods for the last 5 
years.  worked as a raw chef for a year at a health center in arizona.  
hiked the muir trail all raw in '98.  felt great.  planning on hiking entire 
pct all raw in 2001.  wish me luck.

my food weighed approximately 2 pounds per day on muir trail.  i anticipate 
being able to get down to a pound and a half per day or less on pct, as i've 
learned a few things since then.  a body fed on all raw is incredibly 
efficient, and needs less calories than most nutritional brainwashing has 
led us to believe.  dates (figs too) are nature's power bars.  ever try a 
soaked almond inside a date.  wow!  amazing to me that people eat all that 
highly marketed and processed, hard to digest power bar type junk when 
nature supplies such wonderful power food abundantly.

i plan on doing sprouting to supply my fresh food needs.  also, sea veggies 
soaked for 10-15 minutes become the worlds most tasty and nutritious veggie 
in my opinion.  and there is always spirulina and bee pollen (world's most 
nutritious foods in terms of micronutrients).  in terms of the 
macronutrients (fat, protein and carbs), dried fruit and seeeds and nuts 
(soaked) supply these abundantly.  the trick to high performance in a long 
term endurance event is to keep your body alkaline.  this is done best with 
nature's micronutrient rich foods like those mentioned above.

and obviously it is important to combine this stuff in ways that are tasty 
and diverse enough to satisfy the palate.  and then there is the issue that 
once your body is detoxified, your taste buds come back to normal and, 
instead of craving junk, you are completely satisfied on nature's simple and 
delicious foods.

actually,  a family of russians hiked the whole pct all raw in '98.  they 
now live in ashland, OR and run a raw restaurant. apparently 50%
of their diet was wildcrafted.  i find this hard to believe.  but i have 
lined up some time with them in april next spring to attempt to absorb some 
of their wildcrafting wisdom.  incidentally, a large part of their diet on 
pct was rolled oats.  although this is raw, i would say it is not the most 
healthful dietary choice for a variety of reasons which i won't bore you 
with here.

namaste,

skywalker
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