Re-supplying on the trail

[Czechneck]

So I did a lot of video watching and blog reading about thrue hike on the appalachian trail and it seems that you only really need to send food and other supplies ahead on two places on the trail and that is Fontana dam and the NOC which I'm planning to do on my 2016 thrue hike . If you know any other places that any of the past thrue hikers had problem finding food and would be a good food drop via mail.

[Don H]

Although somewhat dated, I found this article so useful that I downloaded it to my phone and referred to it often during my thru.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/15-resupply

[MarsAndBuddy]

this is helpful for me thx!

[10-K]

Just FYI you don't really-really have to send a box to either Fontana or NOC.

1. Franklin to Fontana Dam is only 55 miles. NOC is between the Franklin and Fontana. I'd recommend not sending anything to NOC and using it to get a large, hot meal and a Red Bull and some snacks or something from the store and just keep hiking.

2. Fontana Village is within walking distance of Fontana Dam - I believe they also run a free shuttle. The store there has a pretty good selection of food though it is pricey. If you don't want to risk the store not being picked over by hikers who beat you there you could reserve a room at The Hike Inn and get their shuttle to Robbinsville.

[Czechneck]

Ok thx for that info that really helped. Now I can get ready for my thrue hike next year got lot of gear research and going with z packs for a lot of stuff so hope it will be fun and light trip of a lifetime. Have been waiting for 8 years to make this trip happen. Wish me luck and see you on the trail next year all you hiker trash

[norts]

I recommend the Hike Inn, part of their package( in 2014) was a trip into town in the evening for dinner and resupply. They pick up from the dam. They also did our laundry. Good service.

Taz

[Grinch]

I don't understand why you would want to leave the trail. That's why I am hiking is to get away from our super ignorant, self entitled society! Part of the experience should be to have things prepped for trip. I am all for supplementing if for no other reason than to support the great people that have setup shop on and around trail, but I am not taking the highly irresponsible stance of unpreparedness. Hiking the trail, I thought, was suppose to be a life changing experience not a hike with a bunch of rides to town. Boooo!

[Sly]

I don't understand why you would want to leave the trail. That's why I am hiking is to get away from our super ignorant, self entitled society! Part of the experience should be to have things prepped for trip. I am all for supplementing if for no other reason than to support the great people that have setup shop on and around trail, but I am not taking the highly irresponsible stance of unpreparedness. Hiking the trail, I thought, was suppose to be a life changing experience not a hike with a bunch of rides to town. Boooo!

You can certainly hike anyway you want but many, including myself, feel the town experience is part of the overall trail experience.

Ironically, many of the "super ignorant, self entitled" are also found the trail.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I don't understand why you would want to leave the trail. That's why I am hiking is to get away from our super ignorant, self entitled society! Part of the experience should be to have things prepped for trip. I am all for supplementing if for no other reason than to support the great people that have setup shop on and around trail, but I am not taking the highly irresponsible stance of unpreparedness. Hiking the trail, I thought, was suppose to be a life changing experience not a hike with a bunch of rides to town. Boooo!

Sometimes spending a week on the trail in never ending cold rain can actually make one appreciate some of the trappings of our "super ignorant, self entitled society" - like a hot meal, shower, a warm dry bed, drinks and dinner with fellow hikers, etc. Just sayin'.

[Don H]

Grinch,
Some might want to visit places and meet people that they would otherwise not get the chance to.

I'm grateful I got to meet people like Bob Peoples, Maria McCabbe, Ron Haven and a hundred other people. Without leaving the trail I'd have never had the chance to visit Monson, Lincoln, Grafton, Franklin, and many other places.

I took a zero in Erwin, rented a car and drove to Mountain Home National Cemetery in Johnson City to visit the grave of my Great-Great Grandfather, something I'll probably never get to do again. Just an example of why someone might want to leave the trail. Many people visit DC and NYC, if they're not from the East they might not ever get the chance to visit those places.

The life changing part of hiking, that really depends on you. Some people never quite get it.

HYOH

[tiptoe]

Over the years, I've enjoyed my trips to town, not because I need to get away from the trail but because I like to drop into a new (for me) environment, chat with the locals, and get a sense, however fleeting, of what life is like there. You can learn all sorts of things if you are curious and courteous.

[Walkintom]

'The Trail' is a state of mind. To many of us, visiting the numerous communities that exist along and near the AT are part of the AT experience. From trail angels to people who live right by the trail and have never heard of it the people you interact with are part of the total of your hike. Closing your mind to such a large part of the experience would be a bad thing, IMO.

Getting your laundry done after a week or so is pretty nice, too.

[RED-DOG]

after completing the AT three times i reccomend the spots for mail drops:

1 mountain crossings at neels gap ( too expensive to buy their )
2 Fontana Dam ( the Village Lodge will accept mail drops even if you don't plan to stay the night )
3 Standing Bear Farm Hostel ( curtis keeps alot of good food but he sometimes is late restocking )
4 Kincora Hostel ( bob does take people to the grocery store but a drop here would make things alot easier all around )

5 Harpers Ferry W.VA ( their is no store here but their is a hostel about 2 miles up trail that is pretty close to a store but a drop here would make things a lot easier )

6 Port Clinton PA ( you have to hitch to a store which is 2 miles away but they do have a Cabelas )
7 Monson ME ( this is the HARDEST resupply on the trail by far )

[Grinch]

Thanks for response. I appreciate all those things but for me the wilderness is my sanctuary and I go hiking to be close to nature and center my being. So with that in mind I am going for the wilderness not to hitch to town for pizza. There are places to wash clothes on the trail and I have bronners and a shower that I carry. I also have all my food prepared. So if you want to go to town go. If I find I want or need to then I will. My point is that it seem that a lot of people are just willy nilly and not prepared because they can just go to town when the brown mist starts to pervade. Maybe I have a more purist idea about what backpacking is. Whatever all just schemantics. Be kind and do unto others as you would done to you. Have fun and explore. Be safe

[Praha4]

if you want the wilderness, the AT may not be the trail for you. Try the CDT or PCT. I have a friend who thinks like Grinch, "backpacking" is only done in true wilderness, away from all civilization. He kind of looks down his nose at me for hiking on the AT, says it's not really backpacking. He tells me "why even go backpacking if you are not out for days and weeks away from civilization?"

when the conversation wanders down that path, I'll admit I get very irritated at him.

But then again, I'm out hiking, and he's sitting in front of his computer reading Trail Journals and watching Youtube hiking videos all day, a true cyber-hiker.

I told him when I meet St Peter at the pearly gates, he will introduce me..."here's Praha4, the fool who carried a backpack for hundreds and hundreds of miles in the mountains, and thought he was backpacking".

fwiw, I do think it is still possible to have a close-to-wilderness hiking experience on the AT....just never stay or camp near shelters, never stop in towns, and avoid trail magic and never, ever yellow blaze.

it's been an interesting thread!

[Malto]

Thanks for response. I appreciate all those things but for me the wilderness is my sanctuary and I go hiking to be close to nature and center my being. So with that in mind I am going for the wilderness not to hitch to town for pizza. There are places to wash clothes on the trail and I have bronners and a shower that I carry. I also have all my food prepared. So if you want to go to town go. If I find I want or need to then I will. My point is that it seem that a lot of people are just willy nilly and not prepared because they can just go to town when the brown mist starts to pervade. Maybe I have a more purist idea about what backpacking is. Whatever all just schemantics. Be kind and do unto others as you would done to you. Have fun and explore. Be safe

I suspect you have never done a thru hike. If that is true then come back and report how many pizzas you went into town to eat. When bodies are in near starvation mode they will convince the brain to do alternative things.

[Cookerhiker]

...fwiw, I do think it is still possible to have a close-to-wilderness hiking experience on the AT....just never stay or camp near shelters, never stop in towns, and avoid trail magic and never, ever yellow blaze....

And above all, hike off-season.

[Grinch]

I suspect you have never done a thru hike. If that is true then come back and report how many pizzas you went into town to eat. When bodies are in near starvation mode they will convince the brain to do alternative things.

I haven't done a thru hike as I wasted my youth trying to head butted the system. I would indeed like to head out west for some trails but it's cost prohibitive right now for me. I also have not paid much attention to the at as I have not been in a position to go and pining over at sites with no hike in site is a load I cannot bear and stay sane. I have 2 months starting March 7 from springer. I am excited and apologize that I was a little bummed to Know see the trail is very well overburdened. Malto I will think of you when I do inevitably eat some pizza but it will probably only be about 100 foot of trail at rivers end(NOC). It's been a lifelong dream to thru hike the at since a counselor told me about it as a teenager. Utmost respect to you 2000 milers. One day I will join you fellers.

[Grinch]

I have however traveled a few years of my life with rainbow. So I do know at least some about this starvation you speak of enough so to have literally lives of grocery store dumpsters for months at a time. Mind you eating stuff that expired that day, so not really as gross as sounds.

[Czechneck]

Thx for all the info I hope it will come in use and I will have a awesome thrue hike next year. I will have around 10000 $ to spend on this hike so hopefully I won't have to dumpster dive for no food lol when I'm hungry. I'm definitely going to take advantages of the trails solitude but also can't wait to visit the trail towns and meet all the trail folks. My trail name will be Czechneck see ya'll out there next year hiker trash .