Resupply in Neel Gap?

[blazercoach]

The 2014 Data Book shows that there are groceries right on the trail at Neel Gap. That seems awfully convenient: Start at Amicola, pack for only a few days, get your legs under you with a light pack weight, then add major food supplies at NeelGap......move on for 100 miles.
However, I'm not seeing mention of this idea on any thread, rather, I'm seeing mail drops suggested at Neel Gap. Can anyone share their experience or knowledge about supplies available on the trail at Neel Gap? Thanks in advance.

And because, we could all use more dancing bananas in life, here's one: :banana

[swjohnsey]

They have plenty of hiker food. Neel Gap is also Mountain Crossing.

[blazercoach]

Holy smokes. That was a hot tip! Just saw their website. Thank you!

[10-K]

When I hike that section I send a mail drop. A few times I've went through there the food had been picked over and the selection wasn't that good.

[Starchild]

If done during the NoBo bubble you may not need much food due to trail magic. I suspect of one can pull 20 mile days they would not need to carry any food. I was sort of getting PO'ed that I was carring so much unnecessary food weight because everyone and their brother desired to cook for me and feed me.

[blazercoach]

Starchild, if you would like to send that karma back out, I should be hiking in mid to late July through early August. I like spicy food.......and Makers Mark :)

[putts]

I was sort of getting PO'ed that I was carring so much unnecessary food weight because everyone and their brother desired to cook for me and feed me.

I laughed out loud. Not with you.

[Starchild]

Starchild, if you would like to send that karma back out, I should be hiking in mid to late July through early August. I like spicy food.......and Makers Mark :)

Good taste there, I'm sure you will be smiled upon.

[bigcranky]

In the unlikely event that the outfitter is out of hiker food, you can Yogi a ride to the Walmart down in Dahlonega.

[swisscross]

I have not thru'ed but I would mail drop at Neel, Top of GA H, Franklin and NOC.
Or push to NOC an skip Franklin.
After that, wing it.

[Double Wide]

The resupply at Neel Gap/Mountain Crossings has come a long way in two years. The new owners have really added lot of selection and variety since the first time I went in there when Winton Porter still owned the place. Plenty of rice sides, freeze dried meals, peanut butter, snacks, etc etc etc. Of course you can still send a box there if you need, but I wouldn't. Besides, I had tons of food left over getting from Springer (appetite actually DECREASED for the first few days. If you're moving beyond that, it may be better to send a box to Top of Georgia hostel instead, or just skip it, resupply at Neel Gap and then again at Hiawasee.

[blazercoach]

Thanks for the info, folks! I'm thinking that if I resupply at Mountain Crossing, I'll cover the next 100 miles to Wesser, NC. A resupply there should get me to Fontana an conclude my first foray on the AT! Please let me know if that's a bad plan.

[SteelCut]

Thanks for the info, folks! I'm thinking that if I resupply at Mountain Crossing, I'll cover the next 100 miles to Wesser, NC. A resupply there should get me to Fontana an conclude my first foray on the AT! Please let me know if that's a bad plan.

I would suggest Hiawassee and Franklin as well as resupply points. It's easy to get into both towns from the trail heads. If you don't want to go into Hiawassee you can at least resupply at Top of Georgia Hostel near Dick's Creek Gap. You can either send yourself a mail drop or take your chances on what they have in stock.

Even if you are doing 20 miles a day, 5 days of food is alot of weight.

[RED-DOG]

Neels Gap ( Mountain crossing ) has plenty of hiker food selection but is expensive the only mail drops i would have is just a few.

1 Neels Gap. ( too expensive to buy here )
2 Aquaone Hostel.
3 Fontana Dam.
4 standing bear farm hostel.
5 Monson ME ( thew hardest resupply on the trail for me ).

every place else i would buy, in my oppinion it's easier to buy.

[mattjv89]

I was through there at the end of March and the selection was fine though prices were on the high side as typical with stops isolate from other options. I actually found the Fontana General store quite abundant and relatively affordable, like a dollar general approximately. NOC was really picked through and would have been small on a full day, that has been by far my worst stop.

[blazercoach]

5 days of food is alot of weight.

I'm curious about this. I don't have any basis to doubt you, but I thought 10 days was a normal amount of food to take on the trail. Have I over-estimated it that drastically?

[SteelCut]

You encounter resupply points every 2 to 5 days on the AT. The average weight of food is 1.5-2 lbs per day. If you have 10 days of food you are carrying 15 to 20 pounds of food and you are carrying food past easy places to buy food. I prefer carry 2 to 3 days of food and only 5 days when absolutely necessary. Unless you are extremely slow there is no reason to carry 10 days or unless you are really trying to not go into towns, etc.

You might want to check out some suggested plans from AWOL's site: http://theatguide.com/PlanNobo2010-15.html There are a few places that at a 15 mpd day pace that 5 days of food is required but most sections in his suggested plan have easy resupply points that allow you to generally carry 2-3 days of food.

[blazercoach]

That's a handy guide! Thank you! I'm curious about those stops in Franklin and Hiawassee, however. The guidebook I have says that groceries are about 10 miles off the trail. Am I being too idealist to prefer only resupplying when it's available right on the trail.....or going 10 miles off maybe only every 3 weeks or so? I'd hate to rely on hitching a ride, have that not work out, and burn at least a full day resupplying. Is that too naive/idealist?

[SteelCut]

Ron Haven owns hotels (Budget Inn) in both Hiawassee and Franklin and those hotels provides shuttles from the trailheads to his hotels if you are staying in his hotels. If you are not staying in any of his hotels, hitch hiking is easy from both Dick's Creek Gap and Winding Stairs Gap into Hiawassee and Franklin respectively. You will not burn an entire day hitching/resupplying in either location. These are standard resupply points for most longer distance hikers.

Here is the link to more info about the services that Ron Haven and his hotels provide:

http://ronhavenhikerservices.com/


Also, check out the Top of Georgia Hostel which is 0.5 miles from Dick's Creek Gap. It offers resupply options and also shuttles to those staying in it's hostel:

http://www.topofgeorgiahostel.com/

[blazercoach]

Thanks again! So much good info!

[Venchka]

Realistically, how expensive can Mountain Crossing be to offset the postage (~$16.00) for a large Priority Mail box? Hey.

Wayne

[10-K]

I just want to reiterate that the last time I was there (November of 2014) it would have been hard to do a decent resupply just to get to Hiawassee. There were plenty of snacks and chips but not much in the way of dinner fixings. They were also out of canister fuel but it was due in the next day. As mentioned above, what they did have was pricey.

So, maybe they stock more during thru hiker season. I'd send a box, they're an outfitter that sells some food - it's not a food store.

[bigcranky]

The last time I was there was in March a couple of years ago and they were very well stocked with all the food a hiker might want. So maybe it is seasonal - worth a phone call ahead maybe.




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[bigcranky]

That's a handy guide! Thank you! I'm curious about those stops in Franklin and Hiawassee, however. The guidebook I have says that groceries are about 10 miles off the trail. Am I being too idealist to prefer only resupplying when it's available right on the trail.....or going 10 miles off maybe only every 3 weeks or so? I'd hate to rely on hitching a ride, have that not work out, and burn at least a full day resupplying. Is that too naive/idealist?

If you want to resupply only when it's available right on the trail, you will be VERY limited on when you can do that. If you want to resupply every three weeks , that's 21 days or approximately 42 pounds of food in your pack walking out of town. That's three times my base pack weight, for a total of close to 60 pounds with water. You might be happy with that, but I have some experience humping 60+ pound loads, and I won't do that again. :)

You can resupply on the trail at Neels Gap, in Hot Springs, Damascus, and maybe at Standing Bear and Uncle Johnnys. Atkins works, but I can't think of anywhere north of that until Shenandoah. Maybe somebody else has a better memory than me.


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[10-K]

The last time I was there was in March a couple of years ago and they were very well stocked with all the food a hiker might want. So maybe it is seasonal - worth a phone call ahead maybe.

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:) Based on our experiences I'd say we could agree that it's hit and miss. The food section in Mountain Crossings is actually pretty small. Pop tarts and oatmeal are the breakfast staples I remember. Both of those have been completely devalued as trail food for me....

If I was planning a hike I would not count 100% on Mountain Crossings for a food resupply. Generally speaking, I like to be 100% sure of my food situation. I have been there several times. Sometimes they have a lot, others they do not.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Don't forget they also stock some food that you can eat there, premade sandwiches, ice cream, and the best tombstone pizza I ever tasted (I think I ate two)

[Starchild]

You can resupply on the trail at Neels Gap, in Hot Springs, Damascus, and maybe at Standing Bear and Uncle Johnnys. Atkins works, but I can't think of anywhere north of that until Shenandoah. Maybe somebody else has a better memory than me.

Fontana Dam Visitors Center (They do 'technically' have something)
Delivery service to Partnership shelter.
Troutville/Daleville
Now if you add 0.5 miles off trail for resupply you have a lot more options.

[bigcranky]

I wouldn't call the visitors center at the dam a "resupply point." Snacks, sure. From Partnership you can call for pizza, but again it's not a grocery store. I guess at Daleville there's the gas station near the trail, but the Kroger is more than half a mile west.

I guess my point is that choosing to resupply "on the trail" is extremely limiting, and choosing to otherwise resupply only every three weeks is, er, unnecessary. :)

[blazercoach]

To be clear, I was saying both "on the trail" in addition to needing to go off and into towns every 3-ish weeks. Doesn't look like it will quite work out that way. But we'll see how much we can pack. I will have a hiking partner, so we will get to save/add space that way. This has been a tremendously helpful set of replies. I am thankful for all of you!

[10-K]

I'd consider any resupply that's less than a mile from the trail to be "on the trail". Heck, even 2 miles. There's also a grocery store at Hwy 2 in Williamstown, MA that's about a mile off the trail. It's a "super grocery" with a huge deli... :)

[MuddyWaters]

I met an older man on the trail once in GA.
He was carrying 2 weeks of food. He said he figured the only way he would get to Maine, was to never get off the trail.

He got off after a couple days to lighten his 42 lb load.

I figure I could make it 200-250 miles between resupplies without much issue. The key is hiking more miles per day, and you do that with a light pack.
It is possible to not go very far off the trail.
Matt Kirk did it on his record setting thru, but his resupplies were ~150 miles apart . I dont think any of them were more than 2-3 miles from trail and he walked to them all.

[Venchka]

Educated guess: + or - 2 miles from the trail - Hwy 19 E to either Roan Mountain, TN or Elk Park, NC.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[blazercoach]

Heads up on Mountain Crossing. My son and I just got there after a 3.5 day hike from Amicalola. We were devastated to arrive and be told that the hostel part of Mountain Crossing was closed for renovation. Imagine the Hobbits arriving in Rivendell only to find out that there were no beds. While there are cabins about a quarter mile away (with no laundry or groceries) and camping a few hundred yards up the trail, there were no beds available here in late July. If you are planning to stay there in the next couple of weeks, call ahead to see when they plan to re-open the beds.

[Lone Wolf]

30 miles and you're lookin' for a bed? good thing you didn't go SOBO from baxter. it would be about 117 miles before a bed :cool:

[blazercoach]

With an 11 year old making his first hike ....40 miles (we did Amicalola) including 25 with a stress fracture in my left foot (just confirmed today).......yeah, we were looking for a mattress for a couple of days to evaluate our situation. Hope that's ok.