past hiker mail drops

[treadlightly]

greetings all ! on march 20th, i plan to embark on an at thru hike. the thing im most worried about (besides bears, snakes, ankle sprains, broken bones, etc) is mail drops. could someone please detail the drops they did on past hikes (including where, how many days meals, where they got food if not mail dropping, etc).

do you plan later mail drops before starting hike, or do you just learn as you go ?

thanks for any help.

treadlightly :)

[MOWGLI]

greetings all ! on march 20th, i plan to embark on an at thru hike. the thing im most worried about (besides bears, snakes, ankle sprains, broken bones, etc) is mail drops. could someone please detail the drops they did on past hikes (including where, how many days meals, where they got food if not mail dropping, etc).

do you plan later mail drops before starting hike, or do you just learn as you go ?

thanks for any help.

treadlightly :)

Welcome, and good luck on your hike. I can't speak to mail drops as I rarely used them, but Baltimore Jack has a very good article in the articles section on mail drops. I suggest you look it up.

[Footslogger]

Based on previous experience I chose to send myself 3 drops in advance. Everything else I bought along the way. Here are the locations for the 3 mial drops I sent myself:

- Harpers Ferry, WV
- Bear Mountain, NY
- Glencliff, NH

Reason for selecting those places was that I knew re-supplying would be a hassle. I also had a bounce box that I kept about 2 weeks out in front of me with things I figured might be hard to find along the trail. This system worked well for me and I would do the same thing again.

'Slogger

[Burn]

with yer start date, fontana village may be justified...some folks say if ya stay at the hostel vs the village they carry you to the grocery and dinner...be assured they do this on a schedule and return on a schedule, if you miss that, the PO may be yer best bet or hitching into gatlinburg and trolleying around to food sources...also another good maildrop idea is trailjournals have several folks who post their maildrops. seems yogi 02 did one, but there are lotsa folks who use them still. sloggers w fontana is what i'd do. also if yer trying to save money via maildrops, be sure to pick towns you walk right thru...hotsprings, damascus amongst others Port clinton comes to mind, but i hitched into the nearby (3 miles) town and hit the food lion.

i posted places i was gonna send maildrops @ trailjournals 04, then proceeded to give that food away and not sending maildrops except to places i figured i might as well since i knew i was gonna be there.

[Wonder]

HEy I'm leaving 3/20 as well......I hope that we run into one another! Send me a line.......
Happy Trails!

[Blue Jay]

Unless there are very specific things you need such as medical supplies for a preexisting condition, dehydrated food you cannot obtain at a standard grocery store, or reading material, its best to drop mail drops altogether. Why limit yourself, to supplying yourself, with things you cannot possibly know you will want. In fact, its almost a sure bet the things you will supply yourself with, you will not want.

[smokymtnsteve]

Unless there are very specific things you need such as medical supplies for a preexisting condition, dehydrated food you cannot obtain at a standard grocery store, or reading material, its best to drop mail drops altogether. Why limit yourself, to supplying yourself, with things you cannot possibly know you will want. In fact, its almost a sure bet the things you will supply yourself with, you will not want.i


oh bull sh8t BJ....I supply myself tottally by mail drop..because the things that I KNOW that I will be wanting are not available along the trail,

maybe U don't know what U like but I know what I like ;)

[mweinstone]

maildrops are great for some people.lousy for others.i hiked with a guy who opened his box and inside was the same thing in each town he got one in .a case of raman soups,three bags of diferent mail order gorps,and maps.his name was gavin and he worked for the BLM and was walking the AT to survey its use patterns. we walked past neels gap and i said goodby to rest a blister and never saw him again.i have never used a mail drop but im allways amazed at how the planning comes together to deliver the food to a remote place.once i watched thru hikers outside the post office in port clinton waiting for it to open .as i was free to walk first down the trail that morning ,and they were trapped waiting on route 61 in the dust of traffic.the trail was full of spider webs that day but the walkin went down smooth with no logistical considerations.isnt that what the trail is? a place to not think.matthewski speaks.