Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

Last year friends of ours set out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which they successfully completed in an impressive 165 days.  They wrote a blog and took  sensational photos along the journey.  In fact, they have even published a photo journalism book that came out early this year.   I have marveled at this rather Herculean effort and wondered what it would be like to have hiking as your full time job each morning when you awoke.  Rain or shine, sickness or feeling great, you are on a schedule  and have to keep focused to complete this task.

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) stretches from a small town near the Mexican border in the south, treks through California, Oregon and Washington and finishes at the British Columbia border in Canada, more than 2600 miles in length.  There is a great website hosted by a non-profit organization that is committed to the preservation of the PCT.   From their site you can learn about the history of the Trail, how to prepare to hike it, get maps, gear and support their non-profit organization.   It is both a foot and equestrian trail, which I didn’t realize was the case.   More about the Pacific Crest Trail Association here.

As it happens, last week there were 2 individuals who broke the record for the fastest time completing the PCT.  The earlier record was set last in 2011.  The most recent record-holder, Josh Garrett, is a Santa Monica track coach and a vegan.  He finished the hike in 59 days, 8 hours and 59 minutes, just edging out his predecessor in the same week and one day later,, Heather Anderson who finished the hike in 60 days, 17 hours and 12 minutes.  Both are amazing accomplishments, but the veggie cool news here is that Garrett is also vegan.

He set out on the journey to help raise a voice for vegan athletes and to prove that mega-athletes (as I consider this guy to be) do not have to be fueled by animals to be strong and competitive.   Here are a few words from a recent post about this feat from Oregon Public Broadcasting’s online site.

“Garrett is vegan and says he gorged on energy bars, vegan jerky, peanut butter and licorice.

“We don’t need to eat meat or any animal products in order to be healthy or in order to be strong,” said Garrett. “So I just wanted to go out there and prove that. And I hope I did.”

The 30-year-old Garrett used his hike to raise awareness and money for Mercy For Animals, which works to prevent cruelty to farm animals.”

So how cool is it that he was undertaking this hike to help animals and specifically, help MFA.?  I’m cheering for you Josh.  Thank you for making this journey and for showing others that it can be done while being kind to the Trail, its wildlife and to all living beings.  Woohoo!

Here is a link to the full story on OPG.org

Have a weekend.

Photos courtesy of PCTA.org

Tags: compassionate eating, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, PCTA.org, vegan athlete, vegan hiker, vegan mega athlete, vegan wannabe