Food- Vegetarian backpacking

I have been a vegetarian for two years and hope to maintain my diet on the trail. I do eat eggs and fish, so I am an octo-ovo vegetarian.

At first, I packed lots of trail mix, dried fruit, crackers, and oatmeal. However, these first 30 trial miles I realized how heavy trail mix truly is and have decided to widen my horizen. I will be carrying Ramen noodles and either buying the shrimp flavoring or just seasoning the noodles with my own little mixture.

I definitely recommend any hiker to bring an array of spices. There are several ways to save little packets or store different ones in tackle box compartments. A little salt and red pepper can go a long long way.

There are all sorts of $1 to $2 pasta packets of broccoli cheddar, teriyaki noodles, and vegetarian flavors galore if you have the right eye. Protein can be found in peanut butter (aka a hiker's cocaine) and protein bars. I like to carry a bag of nutella as well.

Basically, for the Pacific Crest Trail, there are two ways to get food: you can mail it to yourself along the trail; or you can buy it at grocery stores in the towns along the way. There are two stops that I will mail food to and the rest I will be buying from stores. You can crunch numbers to see which is cheaper for yourself, but convenience beat "cheap" out for Jill and I. One guy did the math and said mailing was just a bit cheaper, but it can be a lot of leg work.

In the towns, depending on the amount of money I have at the time, you can eat whatever you want. Since hikers burn so many calories per day, you really cannot eat enough food so candy bars and fattening goodies are a plus.