August | 2019 | Off-road Vegan

One of the most exciting things about moving to an entirely new area is the wheeling! it isn’t every day you get to truly explore and discover new trails and terrains.

I recently joined my friend Tyler and his family (with a beautiful LS-powered FJ60 Land Cruiser) in Pickett State Park here in Tennessee.

After making the journey through Big South Fork and up Black House Mountain Road, we aired down in the big staging area. Our plan for the evening was to hopefully find one of the legendary Cumberland lookouts to call camp for the night.

But the State Forest roads had another plan for us.

Not too long after leaving the staging area and heading up Black House Mtn Road, we came to an amazingly severe series of washouts. The tank traps were also incredibly deep and slick. So either you attempted that, or you ended up off camber and possibly rolling on the ruts. Tyler was pulling a trailer, and even though he gave it a good effort, I ended up winching him back out of the muck.

Tyler was stuck pretty good. A winch from the back was able to get him out.

Even the bypass to our right proved too tight for the Land Cruisers.

So we called it a night and backed into an epic camping spot among the pines and the stars.

Our epic campsite. We hope to return, just without the GIANT black bear we saw.

Day two began with a hot coffee and a renewed commitment to beating this surprisingly challenging bit of track.

Maybe it was the caffeine, or the sleep, but we were finally able to make the bypass work for us, as we weaved among the pines.

The fat pigs managed to make it through the bypass.

The unmaintained trails had some pretty burly washouts to contend with. After some careful tire placement and solid spotting, we were through, even though the Land Cruisers had a new relationship with a bush.

After a nice drive through the forest to an overlook, we turned back, hoping to check out Mineral Pond as a possible camp spot for the night. But this short bit of trail proved to be some of the toughest stuff I had wheeled in since the Rubicon.

It wasn’t long until the slick Tennessee mud had us both bogged, and the winch was whining.

The problem with Tyler’s placement, was as his driver side continued to dig, he became increasingly tippy.

After a series of winches and mud bogs we were finally on the downhill to the pond itself. After, of course, yet another washed out V-Notch.

Mineral Pond was a welcome sight, with its deep blue hues. After wheeling for 2 days in Tennessee Summer heat and no A/C, everyone was ready for a therapeutic swim.

After filling up on lunch, cold drinks, and an amazing swim, we were back in the rigs, and facing a ledge right away.

After some careful lines, we were up and over the ledge quickly.

But the Mineral Pond trail was not yet done with us.

A steep, rutted hill lay ahead with very high sides that looked like they could swallow a semi trailer. While Tyler’s V8 and working 4WD got him right up (my CDL is having issues), I ended up winching up the slick hill.

Tyler climbing the muddy hill of doom.

That night we ended up camping back at the State Park, after a swim at the lake. Pickett State Park has amazing cabins and camping facilities.

I cannot imagine the struggle of 1970s vegans. While I was not alive, I assume most food was literally veggies and fruits. Which, looking back was amazing from a health perspective. But socially? Probably not so much. You couldn’t belly up to a fast food restaurant with your friends and order an Impossible Whopper, or Beyond Meatball sub at Subway.

We have collectively, worked so hard to prove the market importance of veganism, that large, multi-national corporations are finally paying attention.

And what is the fundamentalist vegan community saying about vegan options at places like Burger King, KFC, Del Taco, and Carl’s Jr? Are they recognizing this as a milestone in our societal march to more and more veganism?

Nope.

They are whining.

And it could disrupt all this progress.

On countless Instagram posts where companies like Beyond Meat are announcing yet another huge entrant into the vegan market, there are countless comments whining about how such a place runs in conflict with their own vegan drum-circle morality.

Just a few gems from some recent posts on IG:

“I am not giving my money to an industry that supports factory farming.”

“…they don’t give s sh*t about the animals, they just want a wider demographic. It’s all greed.”

“I advise the [vegan] community to be wary how we can fathom a murdering corporation will take the steps necessary to ensure a purity on a vegan standard.”

Purity on a vegan standard? What is this, scientology!? Are we all aspiring thetans? Come on PEOPLE!

Aren’t we supposed to be focused on the animals?

Let’s be real. This whole thing – all the sacrifices and ridicule we have made and sustained are not for us. We are doing this to save animals. And, if you think for a minute that KFC or Burger King will ever stop selling animal flesh, you are mistaken. So these companies will always profit off animals. However, every single Impossible Whopper, or Beyond Chicken bucket sold at KFC will at LEAST save one animal life. If that consumer likes it, and replaces more meat items with the vegan options, that turns into real change. And real animals saved.

Furthermore, if vegans shop at these places and prove the market exists and is healthy, they will continue to offer these options. That is meaningful change, albeit at the hands of an animal-exploiting company.

2. Where do Thetan-vegans draw the moral line with their superiority?

The common theme in these posts is that vegans should not give their money to a company that profits off meat. Which is, on the surface understandable. But what about grocery stores? Even the hipster-loving “cruelty-free meat” purveyor Whole Foods sells seafood, chicken, and meat products. Trader Joes, a close second cult favorite for vegans, also does. So does Safeway, Wal-Mart, and others ad nauseum.

Our older vegan stand bys like Taco Bell also do.

So the effort of maintaining what meat-profiting businesses you will and will not support will become pretty complex and time consuming.

At the end of the day, if you are truly in this for the animals, you’ll put down the animal-tested Kombucha, and apply some common sense. This is not about you. This is about animals. And if we wish to continue driving change and seeing the massive wins we have, we need to change our personal definitions of veganism.

After all, the whole world is changing. Won’t you join us?