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View Full Version : re: preparing mail drop after hike started? easily done?



DavidNH
03-02-2006, 00:15
I was wondering.. once I get my hike going..and I perhaps decide to have addtional mail drops (I am planning currently very few) is it relatively easy to do some extra shopping..then pack in a box and send it ahead to some designated place? Do folks do this? or not so much?

So far I am only planning to have food sent to NOC, Fontana Dam, Harpers Ferry. I am thinking..that on the northern end of the trail food drops could be a good idea as well. But I don't want to buy and pack up food for Maine..before I Know I will actually GET to Maie! :)

it would seem to me that this should not be a problem at all..but thought this might be worth a talk over with you folks!

David

irritable_badger
03-02-2006, 03:09
I was wondering.. once I get my hike going..and I perhaps decide to have addtional mail drops (I am planning currently very few) is it relatively easy to do some extra shopping..then pack in a box and send it ahead to some designated place? Do folks do this? or not so much?

So far I am only planning to have food sent to NOC, Fontana Dam, Harpers Ferry. I am thinking..that on the northern end of the trail food drops could be a good idea as well. But I don't want to buy and pack up food for Maine..before I Know I will actually GET to Maie! :)

it would seem to me that this should not be a problem at all..but thought this might be worth a talk over with you folks!

David For some of the very reasons you are concerned about I prepared my support team with preprinted address lables for every Post Office along the trail, free boxes from USPS, and an extremely comprehensive list of "standard" items that will go in the box(s) plus whatever else I request.

If filling the "standard" item list provides me with more than I need I plan on just giving the extra away. Not super effecient but it does guarantee that I'll get everything I need.

All I have to do is call my support team, tell them which PO to send the box to and let them know what, if any, "extra" items I want and they box it up and send it away.

I have the PO address labels in MS Word format ready to print on Avery 6878 mailing labels. All you would need to do is change your name and the return address. Let me know if you (or anybody for that matter) want them, it will save you a bunch of reference and typing work.

Spirit Walker
03-02-2006, 11:05
On the PCT we did most of our maildrops from the trail. It isn't that difficult. You just figure out how many days of food you need, both for the current section and the one that you are doing the drop for, and split it up. On the AT there are lots of boxes left over at post offices. Just mail the box two to three weeks in advance of your drop. One way to faciliate this is to have pre-typed labels in your drift box that you can use as needed, either to forward the drift box or for maildrops.

chris
03-02-2006, 11:57
Doing a mail drop from the trail can be very easy, but it depends on the town. Usually, the only difficulty arrises when the post office and the grocery strore are far apart, but this usually only occurs in very large towns. For example, suppose you want to send a mail drop to Port Clinton as there is little to buy there. So, you get to Duncannon, about 70 miles away. The Doyle had in 04 a shuttle to the grocery store, or you can walk it. The PO is a few blocks down the street along the AT. No problem if you send it priority.

Peaks
03-02-2006, 19:05
You might consider mail drops for places like Port Clinton, Bear Mountain, and Glencliff.

Your options are two:

You could make up your own mail drop a couple of weeks ahead of time, and then send it to yourself. For example, in Manchester Center, buy groceries for Glencliff, and mail it to yourself from the PO in Manchester Center.

The other option is to ask your support person to put together a mail drop and mail it a the appropriate time.

irritable_badger
03-03-2006, 13:35
Here are the mailing labels for all the PO's listed in The Thru-Hikers Handbook 2006 Edition.

The files are in MS Word format and designed to print on Avery 6878 mailing labels (available at Staples/OfficeMax/Wal-Mart).
You will need to 'unzip' the file below to access the actual mailing label files for editing.
There are four lables per page with #1 starting in GA and progressing through #17 in Maine.
You will need to change your name and return address info but all the reference work is done.
You can make document wide changes by using [CTRL] + [F] and clicking [Replace]. It will save you a bunch of typing.
Always print a test page before you start printing a ton of labels.
Please let me know if you need help making these work for you.

Peaks
03-03-2006, 18:39
While PO's are great, there are many hostels and other places at accept mail drops. For example, for those that do a mail drop at Hampton NC, Kincora is much more convient than the PO in town. And NOC is not a PO either.

Sounds like a waste of effort to print out nearly 70 mailing labels, and then only use half a dozen or so.

irritable_badger
03-03-2006, 19:06
While PO's are great, there are many hostels and other places at accept mail drops. For example, for those that do a mail drop at Hampton NC, Kincora is much more convient than the PO in town. And NOC is not a PO either.

Sounds like a waste of effort to print out nearly 70 mailing labels, and then only use half a dozen or so.

The idea behind the original post and the mailing labels was making support from "home" easier on the support team. The "waste of effort" is overhead to help ensure a less stressful hike; for the Hiker and their support team, sort of like an extra tent stake...

Mouse
03-03-2006, 20:12
I was wondering.. once I get my hike going..and I perhaps decide to have addtional mail drops (I am planning currently very few) is it relatively easy to do some extra shopping..then pack in a box and send it ahead to some designated place? Do folks do this? or not so much?

I certainly did it on my thruhike, sending food to Port Clinton and later from Hanover NH to several points in Maine.

Peaks
03-04-2006, 08:57
For those places where I know I was going to want a mail drop (like Fontana Dam), I set up a series of boxes on a table in the basement. I filled each box with what I thought I would want in each mail drop. The boxes were all labeled, but left open. My instructions were to mail the boxes on a certain date unless things changed. When I called home, I updated the schedule, as well as left instructions to add things to the boxes, or take things out. Worked great for me.