Atlas of Plant Based FAQ
Updated
The site · Why it exists · The PCT · Plant based · The atlases and places · Atlas Ascent · Contact
The site
What is Atlas of Plant Based?
A plant-based travel and food site built on my own trips. It starts with the Pacific Crest Trail, which I walked from Mexico to Canada in 2021 on plant-based food, and grows from there into the places I’ve lived and traveled since going vegan in 2017.
Who writes it?
Me, Atlas. That’s my trail name. The longer story is on the about page.
Is everything on here first-hand?
The stories, photos, miles and receipts are mine. When a page uses something I didn’t see myself, like other hikers’ water reports, it says where that came from and when it was counted.
Why it exists
Why build another blog?
I have a lot of first-hand plant-based trail and travel material that I wanted to put in order. I build websites through Atlas Digital Design, and I built this one too. I’m also testing whether a site built around that material can get found.
How will you know if it worked?
People finding it on their own, through search and AI answers, and coming back. If it doesn’t happen, that’s worth knowing too.
The PCT
When did you hike the Pacific Crest Trail?
In 2021. I started at Campo on the Mexican border on April 30 and reached the Canadian border on September 5. It was my second start date. COVID cancelled the first one, March 31, 2020.
Were you plant based the whole way?
Yes. The day after I finished I wrote that I did it “100% vegan and alcohol free.” Two weeks in, my stats post read “Protein deficiency: 0.”
How did you resupply plant based?
Mostly grocery stores in trail towns, plus boxes I mailed to myself with protein powder, greens and Huel. Each leg page says what that stretch’s towns had, from my receipts and notes. Leg 3 is a good place to start.
Did you hike every mile?
No. The Dixie Fire closed part of Northern California in July 2021 and we skipped a small section around it. Others in the bubble skipped far more, some up to 400 miles.
Where do the miles and dates come from?
My 2021 Strava log. Most trail days are tracked, and each leg page shows the tracked miles for that stretch.
Plant based
How long have you been plant based?
Since June 2017, when I was living on Oahu. My fourth veganniversary landed in the High Sierra, in the middle of the PCT.
Do I have to be vegan to use this site?
No. If you want to eat more plants on the trail or on the road, the food sections are written for you.
The atlases and places
What is the water atlas?
A count of 56,265 hiker water reports from 313 sources between Campo and Kennedy Meadows, 2013 to 2026, showing which seasons ran dry and which sources fail. The Southern California water atlas is live.
What’s coming next?
More atlases for the trail, starting with fire, cell signal, pain and the bubble, and places beyond it: Hawaiʻi, the Florida Keys, Albania, Oaxaca, the Galápagos and California. Faded items in the menu are the ones coming up.
Atlas Ascent
What is Atlas Ascent?
A workout app I built for myself so I can train at whatever gym I’m near while I travel. It’s coming to this site soon, with an iPhone version planned after that.
Contact
How do I reach you?
Email atlas@atlasofplantbased.com.
