Raw food power behind this hike

Advocate tackling Great Divide to spotlight eating style

Mikenna Clokey, Longmont Daily Times-Call

Published April 26, 2005 at midnight

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BOULDER - Between the sleeping bag, tent and extra socks in Doug Walsh's backpack, there will be a tiny, 4-ounce food grinder and half-pound seed sprouter. Not your average backpacker's load.

But this is not your average backpacking trip, either.

Eating only raw foods, with a mission to raise awareness for his alternative diet and money for some of its biggest advocates, Walsh set out last week on Earth Day to hike the entire Continental Divide Trail over the next five months, starting in New Mexico and ending in Canada.

Walsh has been a raw-foodist, someone who does not eat cooked or heated foods, for the past 10 years. He is determined to prove that even the most stringent of regimens can be supplemented with a raw-food lifestyle.

"There's no comparison. I feel better at 41 than I did at 24," he said about his health.

In addition to raising funds and drawing attention to the benefits of raw foods, the outdoorsman also will be fueling his love of the wilderness and passion for exploring it.

"I'm in love with the Earth," he said. "So I like to eat food that's full of the Earth's energy."

Walsh will use his miniature grinder and sprouter to preserve and produce raw foods that have what he describes as the "life principle." He used a sunflower seed as an example to explain the concept. In raw form, the seed can sprout into a plant. After it is cooked, he argued, the seed won't sprout.

"There's some kind of information present in raw foods that is no longer there when we heat it," he said. "It's something that's essential to our life."

Walsh, a graduate of the Living Lite Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg, Calif., a gourmet chef's school for raw foods preparation, is walking to raise money for the school's new building. He has raised more than $5,000 and wants to give his alma mater as much money and attention as he can.

During the 3,000-mile trek along the trail, Walsh will stop at 30 previously planned resupply points. His food will be shipped to him at post offices at those locations.

"I'll just hitchhike into town and pick up my box of new food," he said.

Staples for the trip include nuts, dried fruits and sprouts.

Walsh made himself crackers - by mashing nuts and other ingredients into a paste, spreading them thin and drying them out in a dehydrator - as well as raw bread and even pizzas.

Walsh will be carrying a digital camera, cell phone and portable e-mail device to send updates to sponsors and fans.

Walsh expects to encounter snow and cold, dehydration and heat, unmarked trails, numerous stream crossings and other unexpected wilderness adventures during his time on the divide.

While he's taking his raw-food diet to the extreme, Walsh said anyone can enjoy the same without being an adventurer.

Steve Phillips, a raw-foodist and owner of the Longmont Co-op Market, has been eating raw foods exclusively for about a year and a half.

He said they are as appetizing as cooked foods, and better for you.

The secret is developing proper preparation skills, Phillips said, noting he and his family made a wonderful pizza recently with dried tomatoes on top.

"Yes, it takes a little time, but once you figure out how to make a few things, you just go from there," he said.

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