By Patricia Welty
It was spring 2016 and Pat and I were driving 625 miles to Springer Mountain in Georgia. We loaded the car and pulled away from my building on a rainy morning in Washington, DC as the rush hour traffic was bulging on Connecticut Avenue. It would take us at least 11 hours to reach Amicalola State Park Lodge near the Appalachian Trail southern terminus. Luckily the weather cleared and so did the traffic as we left DC behind.
Early the next morning I cased the room for hikers. I spotted two, both loaded down with gear, having breakfast with family members. After I filled my water bottle, as we left the dining room we both stopped short and gazed upward toward the ceiling. There we saw an elongated relief map of the AT stretching from Georgia through 14 states to Maine and covering the space on the wall from above the store to two stories above. Inside the lodge store I spied a familiar figure, Grandma Gatewood, infamous for being the first woman to thru-hike the AT in 1955 at age 67 wearing a pair of Keds.
I stuffed my backpack making last minute decisions on what to exclude and handed the remainders to Pat. We were off. But first we made the voluntary stop at the ranger station to register. A scale beckoned from the porch and I took the bait and hung my pack — 37 pounds. Inside a young ranger told me she thru-hiked the AT as a SOBO (south bounder) the year before, She was eager to share her advice. “You only need to carry one liter of water. Bring your heavy jacket because you’ll need it in the Smokies.” She was right. At the trailhead Pat and I hugged goodbye and I turned north toward Maine.
Being away for six months requires planning. Being vegan on the AT makes planning a necessity. Thru-hiking had been on my mind ever since I signed up for the Konnarock Trail Crew and met several thru-hikers. I didn’t get serious about taking this on until 2015, the year before I left. I started by attending REI lectures on hiking the AT, talking to the instructors, and researching gear. In the fall of 2015 I hiked the 41-mile Maryland Section to try out pitching a tent, cooking on a small stove, and navigating blazes. In February before I left I got serious about planning where and when to get resupplies. I sent out an email to friends in DC and asked if they could help by sending four or five boxes to locations along the trail. The board of A Vegan Life nonprofit helped research vegan companies with light-weight, shelf-stable, and easy to prepare products. Some companies like Gorilly Goods, Vega, and Elianni donated food. I purchased cases of Road’s End Mac & Cheese because it only requires adding water. I planned to resupply every 40 or so miles and carry four days’ worth of food. A typical day would be hot oatmeal for breakfast, snacks (trail mix, bars) during the day, and Mac & Cheese for dinner. About 15 people offered to mail food packages. I plugged their names into the spread sheet and delivered filled USPS boxes before I left. The boxes were addressed to me with the notation “please hold for NOBO (north-bound) thru-hiker ETA …”
My niece Lizi researched vegan recipes and mailed the dehydrated version to me in individually wrapped brown paper bags with instructions and ingredients. Her Thai curry soup and grits with kale and sesame seeds hit the spot. Lizi and Mike, her boyfriend, met me in along the trail in Shenandoah National Park with more delicious foods, snacks, and homemade cherry and vanilla ice cream made with almond milk that I ate at one of the rest stops where we met.
One recurring question I got besides “how old are you” was “where do you get your protein?” I couldn’t help but notice that many of the thru-hikers were young but had very poor diets. When they got to small towns they filled up on pizza, fast food, and junk. Even though I could not hike as fast as they could, I relied on my healthy diet to keep me going without injury. I wanted to be a model for what is possible on a healthy vegan diet at age 69. Besides I had to live up to my trail name Iron Butterfly.
I made it to Katahdin October 15, registered at the Baxter State Park Ranger Station, paid my fee, and along with my hiking friend, Swiss Miss, headed to the campsite designated for thru-hikers. That night we had a good dinner, I had saved a little of the Thai curry soup for this occasion, set the alarm for 5:30 am and crawled into the sleeping bag knowing we had made it. After breakfast in the dark the morning of October 16 we packed up our gear and headed for the ranger station. We left our large packs on the porch and stuffed a day pack with snacks and water and headed out for the Hunt Trail and the northern terminus of the trail.
It takes a day to hike up and down Katahdin. It starts out easy but half way up it is very difficult and requires holding onto rebar and hoisting almost straight up. Closer to the summit and above the tree line we walked along the path that had been roped off with signs that the area was home to an endangered butterfly. Along the way we met some young guys who hiked with us. There was no need to hurry now because we knew we had made it. At the summit we took the requisite photos before heading down to try and beat the rain. That night we celebrated with vegan food at a restaurant in Millinocket.
For more information on hiking and camping, see:
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2013issue2/2013_issue2_vegan_backpacking.php
https://www.vrg.org/blog/2019/07/09/are-you-looking-for-vegan-hiking-boots-heres-some-online-stores-selling-them/
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001may/2001_may_backpack.php
https://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/02/18/vegan-camping-foods-for-the-winter/