Care Packages Along the Trail

[Skye15]

A few friends in different states have asked about sending me care packages when I'm on the trail. I made a list of items I thought would be good to go in one, what do you guys think and what have others put in drop boxes?

Toothbrush (travel sized)
Toothpaste (travel sized)
Unscented Babywipes
Papertowels
Bandanas
Dr. Bronners Magic Soap
Batteries (AA & AAA)
Underwear
Socks
Moleskin for blisters
First aid essentials (advil!)
Travel size deodorant
Ziplock freezer (the freezer part is muy importante) baggies - all sizes
Tenacious Tape
Hair ties
Gift Cards
Headphones
Disposable Razors
Jerky – of any kind!
Peanut Butter (travel size)
Hummus (travel size)
Candy
Snacks – peanuts, trail mix, granola bars, string cheese
Any type of food that will last in a backpack for a week
Coffee – instant packets, coffee bags
Tea
Cider (in tea bag form)
Pictures, stories, clippings of comics, notes to me (like DON’T QUITE IDIOT! – maybe not the idiot part)

[Slo-go'en]

The problem is, if people send you stuff you don't need at the time you have to either give it away or throw it away. So, you need to have a way to tell these friends what you need, when you need it and where you'll be for them to send it.

All I ever asked to be sent was homemade Oatmeal Raisin cookies :)

[swjohnsey]

Batteries, shoes.

[bigcranky]

Yeah, you have to carry everything, or give it away.

if you're in town to get to the PO, then you can get to a store that has most or all of that stuff. If the care packages are random, it's unlikely that they will conicide with when you need a specific item.

[Skye15]

The problem is, if people send you stuff you don't need at the time you have to either give it away or throw it away. So, you need to have a way to tell these friends what you need, when you need it and where you'll be for them to send it.

All I ever asked to be sent was homemade Oatmeal Raisin cookies :)

I plan on splitting up the food and having those already packaged in boxes to be sent, i'll be doing 6 or so drop boxes for food resupply at towns that don't have much variety or are expensive. For the other stuff (like socks, TP, etc) I figured I would stockpile it for my base person and tell them what i need/what to throw in box before they ship it to me if necessary.

The cookies give me a great idea...i need to ask family for desserts! : )

[Wolf - 23000]

Skye15,I would suggest requesting that friends and family only sends letters. When friends and family send you items, they mean well but it is stuff you will either have to carry on your back or move along farther down the trail. If you add up how much they are spending for the items, then to mail it, then to have you forward up the trail it will end up costing more money then if you just bought it yourself in town.The cost between those that use mail drops vs those that buy food along the way is about the same. Maybe a little cheaper buying food in towns if you add in the cost of the item in bulk, postage, and the big cost of how much food is left behind. Town boxes are always just filled with food that someone left behind. That is good money that someone spent buying food, only to be left behind for someone else to pick up.I also think buying food in the stores helps in keeping my pack lightweight, while still getting the calories that I need to maintain my body weight. I like to travel on the ligher side of things with staring myself. All trail towns are very use to hikers. They have everything already in stock. Wolf

[fastfoxengineering]

Don't have friends and family put in consumables...That stuff cost you very little and can be had in pretty much every town.

Have people send fresh socks, homemade foods, foods from your home area that you cant get where you are and you miss, pictures, notes, letters, visa gift cards.

If you don't need it, you'll have to throw it away or give it away. Cause trust me... you gonna look at stuff and be like "there's no way I'm carrying that extra 1oz of toothpaste"...

Consumables become "stuff" that you use on a daily basis. Your not going to open a care package and be like oh my god!! a toothbrush.... how I've missed you. Especially when you just replaced your toothbrush at the grocery store you went to before hitting the post office and picking up your care package.

trust me.. pack fun, exciting, treats. Pick me ups and morale boosters.

a travel sized bottle of toothpaste is not a pick me up.


sorry if that sounded too negative. long day at work

[Malto]

Don't have friends and family put in consumables...That stuff cost you very little and can be had in pretty much every town.

Have people send fresh socks, homemade foods, foods from your home area that you cant get where you are and you miss, pictures, notes, letters, visa gift cards.

If you don't need it, you'll have to throw it away or give it away. Cause trust me... you gonna look at stuff and be like "there's no way I'm carrying that extra 1oz of toothpaste"...

Consumables become "stuff" that you use on a daily basis. Your not going to open a care package and be like oh my god!! a toothbrush.... how I've missed you. Especially when you just replaced your toothbrush at the grocery store you went to before hitting the post office and picking up your care package.

trust me.. pack fun, exciting, treats. Pick me ups and morale boosters.

a travel sized bottle of toothpaste is not a pick me up.


sorry if that sounded too negative. long day at work

ding ding ding....... We have a winner. It will be all about food!

[fastfoxengineering]

Furthermore, I see your 25 years of age. If you indulge in alcohol or tobacco... have them send nips of your favorite booze and a bag of some good rolling tobacco. That stuff gets expensive on the trail.

Nothing like smoking a nice hand rolled cigg and washing it down with a nip of bourbon to kick off a nero

[kayak karl]

i got a 16 lb. care package once, in January, at Fontana Dam post office :( The postal people got a lot of treats ;)

[fastfoxengineering]

i got a 16 lb. care package once, in January, at Fontana Dam post office :( The postal people got a lot of treats ;)

Haha.. I remember my FIRST care package ever. My brother and I picked it up 6 days into our trip. It was a day after a resupply in town. It was mostly leftovers from what we didn't pack to start the trip, food wise. My kind mother added a few goodies. Needless to say, we packed the goodies and dumped our leftovers directly in the hiker box. Stuff we were sick of eating..

Funny though, because we met a woman 3 weeks later and the post office we went to got brought up.. she kept saying how pumped she was about some the treats she got from the hiker box there. Low and behold, it was what me and brother left behind. Glad we made her journey better.

[MuddyWaters]

Some things you can use from time to time, but not knowing what is coming when, pretty much assures you wont need it when you get it.

You simply wont need much of whats on your list of possibilities at all.

[kayak karl]

the best thing i got in a care package was pictures from home. not digital, real pics printed on paper :) with drawings on the back by grandkids.

[CarlZ993]

The best care package I got on the trail? In a food resupply box, I got a laminated picture of my wife w/ our two grand-kids (5 & 3 yr old girls). My wife had gone to NC to visit them from TX. The 5-yr old (she would have told you that she was 'almost 6') had written on the back of the picture (in purple ink) that she loved me & she missed me. That brought tears to my eyes. I carried the picture the entire hike. Still have it.

[Trailweaver]

Sometimes I send a care package to a hiker whose journal I'm reading on trailjournals. Based on what I've read, I try to figure out what they might like/need (and I'm aware of weight, as I am a section hiker), so I'm not sending something heavy. I'm fine with them giving what they can't use to another hiker.

In all the hiking I've done, I've still never had a trail angel food experience, although I've often wished for one on hot days. I just like to think of my care package as a "small trail angel" thing.

[Toon]

If your relying on them for support they can send gift cards. They could call ahead to your next town stop and pay for hostels and dinner over the phone. baked goods are always a good treat.

[Starchild]

I received many care packages along the way, some almost useless, some comically large (like 4 big bixes at Standing Bear - However I later found out the sending intention for that was to share with others which filled up hiker boxes), some just blew me away, perfect wonderful stuff and better then I would have done myself.

It was always interesting and exciting to get them. Some people just sent the items on my list, which was ok, but the best ones is when they got what they thought I would like and got it right. I particularly liked the ones with a card enclosed and some money included with a note saying something like use this to have fun in town, or get a good meal, or a night in a real bed.

I suggest always sent them to a place that is open, preferably 24 hrs - 7 days, but at least open 7 days a week. This makes sending to a post office off the list (but with that said you could have it forwarded). The other thing I learned was to send it to a location where I can bounce extras forward if I needed to.

Also it does add to the complication of resupply, and you want to know what you got before you resupply, but logistically it does not always happen like that. Better to plan to pass your care package before the supermarket if you can chose your drop point.

Since I was emailing about 50 people from the trail my progress, I had many offers of care packages, and adding about receiving them I believe caused more people to send them, so I did have a flood of them along the way, sometimes multiple ones from the same person.

Some people wanted to send cash, or pay directly for a overnight stay, which also worked, they sent me via Paypal, sometimes unexpectedly, or requested the place I was staying so they could charge it to their CC. In many ways this was a lot more convenient then the care packages, but the packages were more exciting to receive.

[swisscross]

Think my list would be....

Homemade FB meals (only a few at a time)
pictures of friends and family
two pairs of socks (cycle the old ones out)
shoes depending on need (distance)
new pair of skivvies
homemade cookies would be the bomb
cigars and a bottle of scotch