Support crew

[Texasgirl]

Been asked to be support for an AT 2008 hiker. I'm just a weekend hiker and new to the concept of thru-hiking. Getting educated by reading Whiteblaze, as well as several books. The Whiteblaze AT Resupply article by Karen from 2002 is good for maildrops, several forum threads have good tidbits from hikers themselves, including the advantage of doing bounce boxes. Can anyone speak from the standpoint of being the support person back at home, particularly on maildrops? What was hard, easy, worked great or didn't. What lessons can be shared?

[Jim Adams]

Have your hiker try to decide ahead of time where the drops will go to and have them already packed, sealed, addressed and postage paid for. All you have to do is drop it of at the post office when they tell you to. Any other things that you may want to send as a surprise or needed equipment can then also be sent to the same addresses.
If your hiker is sending home cold weather gear and getting warm weather gear sent, and then reversing that later in the year, it will benefit both of you to set up an empty box marked A, a second box with mid weight gear marked B and a third with hot temp summer gear marked C. When the hiker asks for box B to be sent (Damascus if NOBO?) he / she can send the cold weather gear home and you place it ALL in box A. This way he / she can request that box A, B or C be sent to them without you having to learn things like the difference between their lt. wt. polypro and mid wt. This will keep you from being confused and them from getting the wrong gear.
Hope this will help some and I hope you have some fun with your involvment of the hike!
geek

ps. just a suggestion but box C to Harpers Ferry, get B back at Cheshire and A back at Glen Cliff.

[Jack Tarlin]

I've both hiked AND done support.

A few real quick thoughts:

*Have a list handy at all times containing such information as your hiker's schedule; itinerary; all scheduled places where he/she expects to be receiving mail.

*Have a second printed copy of the above somewhere safe, i.e. don't just
have your hiker's trip info in one place....a computer crash or foul up will
really mess you up if you don't have this info handy somewhere else.

*Make sure your hiker provides you with a 2007 edition of the Thru Hiker's
Handbook or Thru Hiker's Companion. These books will contain all sorts of
useful info: Names of businesses, addresses, phone numbers, etc. of
places your hiker will be staying, where you might be able to reach him,
leave a message, numbers of gear companies, etc.

*If your hiker will be getting packages from you, keep track of which ones
contain really important stuff, like new eyeglasses, or presecription meds, or
a new bank card or whatever. On the really important mail, you might
want to spend a few extra dollars on postage and get it insured or tracked,
which will come in really handy if it goes missing.

*Avoiding sending too many cooked treats to your hiker. It's a very nice
gesture, but much of this stuff gets given away.....a hiker isn't going to
march out of town with seven pounds of brownies. Better gifts for a hiker:
Phone cards, or even money. Getting a card from home with a kind note
and twenty bucks can really lift one's spirits! Let people know this when
ask you what the hiker "needs" out there.

*Check and doublecheck addresses on mail. Make sure you've spelt the town
correctly, with correct zip code. Make sure labels are legible and stuck on
well.

*Be smart with your mail. Obviously, be real careful with perishables, liquids,
glass, etc. Be aware of all postal rules and regulations so you ship stuff
properly and legally.

*If you're going to be away or unreachable for any length of time during your
friend's trip, make sure he knows about this, and try and have a "back-up"
basecamp person who can handle any problems or emergencies in your
absence.

*POG's article here at Whiteblaze has a wealth of information on how to send
stuff to a hiker. Other information in the articles section will tell you such
things as how long a hiker will propably take to cover particular sections,
etc.

*Your hiker will most likely be sending all sorts of stuff back to YOU as well
as receiving stuff. Make sure he knows the correct address. If you live on
a busy street, or if mail/packagaes aren't delivered directly to your door but
are left by the mailbox, you might want to use an alternative "safer"
address.

All for now, gotta meet someone at midnight. This'll do for a start!

[Texasgirl]

Thanks Jack. Great ideas. I hadn't thought about back-up copies of the plans, schedules, etc.

[jlb2012]

Have your hiker try to decide ahead of time where the drops will go to and have them already packed, sealed, addressed and postage paid for. All you have to do is drop it of at the post office when they tell you to. Any other things that you may want to send as a surprise or needed equipment can then also be sent to the same addresses.
If your hiker is sending home cold weather gear and getting warm weather gear sent, and then reversing that later in the year, it will benefit both of you to set up an empty box marked A, a second box with mid weight gear marked B and a third with hot temp summer gear marked C. When the hiker asks for box B to be sent (Damascus if NOBO?) he / she can send the cold weather gear home and you place it ALL in box A.

wrt to having them all sealed and ready to go - this is somewhat questionable given how hikers get tired of the same old foods - it may be a better idea to only have the first few ready to go so as to allow the hiker to call and make food choice adjustments for the later maildrops.

probably Pearisburg if NOBO (ie after Mt Rogers/Grayson Highlands) would be a better choice for sending winter gear back to basecamp than Damascus.

[Brushy Sage]

I suggest you allow yourself (and the hiker) a significant degree of flexibility; long-distance hikes do not always work out exactly as planned, and needs might develop that were totally unexpected.

[Texasgirl]

I've both hiked AND done support.
...
*Make sure your hiker provides you with a 2007 edition of the Thru Hiker's
Handbook or Thru Hiker's Companion. These books will contain all sorts of
useful info: ...

I definitely need a guide book. This national trail system map on my wall is not detailed enough to help when posts/replies reference certain cities. If I buy the 2007, is it recommended to buy the 2008 also if the hike is 2008?

[Spirit Walker]

There are several different styles of home resupply support. In the first, the hiker does most of the work before he/she leaves - buying food for six months, figuring out what extras go where, etc. The boxes will be packed and labeled and mostly ready to go before they step on the trail. The home support only has to take them to the post office, following a pre-constructed schedule, and mail them from money given by the hiker.

Some hikers however want the home support to do everything - buy food, pack it, etc. This allows them more flexibility in some ways, but puts a big burden on the home person. Pittsburgh used to do this kind of resupply and Blue Trail did this for her partner. The hiker would say, "Buy 5 days food", and home support would get to figure out what to buy. This can be a problem if the home person isn't a backpacker and doesn't know what works, at least at first. At the next stop the hiker might say - "No more oatmeal" or "No more ramen" and the home support would take into account the changing tastes of the hiker the next time they buy food. Sometimes the home person wants this kind of involvement though - despite the extra work.

Another way to deal with home base support is for the hiker to buy all his/her food on the trail, but the home person sends maps and meds occasionally, plus things like spare boots, spare socks, cold weather gear or warm weather gear - as requested by the hiker on the trail. The home support might only send a half dozen boxes the whole way.

Doing without any home support at all means that you send all maps, etc. in a drift box that goes up the trail with you. Any replacements are purchased along the way. You don't send your warm gear home and get it back in NH, you just carry it with you. I did this on my second thruhike. It meant I carried more weight than many hikers, but I didn't have to burden my family at a time it would have been a problem for them.

[Jack Tarlin]

Texas Girl:

The Trail Guidebooks generally come out around the first of the year, meaning the 2008 books will most likely be available around a year from now, less a few weeks.

While it's certainly possible to plan and prep a thru-hike on short notice, most folks spend many months doing so, so I think you should invest in a 2007 book; you'll be consulting it a good deal later this year, especially in the fall, as you and your friend plan and discuss the logistics for their hike.

Whether or not you then buy a 2008 book is up to you. There probably won't be a whole lot of differences, but then again, the Trail changes every year.....businesses close, or offer different services. New places open. Prices change, so do policies and services offered. I think it's best to always have the most current info available at your disposal, so yeah, personally, I'd invest in a 2008 book when they come out, you don't want to miss something that may be important. Or better yet, have your friend take care of this for you. Considering all you'll be doing for them, buying you a couple of books is a small price for them to pay, especially since doing so will greatly benefit THEM.

[Jack Tarlin]

I thought of a few other things....

*Your hiker will indeed be sending stuff back to you, or back to his home.
In the case of gear and clothes he no longer needs, sleeping bags should
be taken out of their stuff sacks and hung up, preferably after they've been
cleaned. Leaving a bag in a stuff sac for an extended period, on in a
compression sack, is not good for the bag.

*All gear/clothes the hiker sends back will smell like death. Do NOT
keep this stuff inside your house unless you want your apartment to smell
lack ninety-five rendered cats. I suggest the garage, as long as it's dry.

*By all means wash the stuff that is sent back, assuming you know how to
do so, i.e. take care with delicate items. Some stuff should not be machine
washed; some stuff should not go in the dryer. Some stuff (especially
waterproofed stuff) will not be the same if you wash it incorrectly, so
check the labels!

*Keep all your stuff in the same place, closet, wherever. If you have your
hiker's stuff stored or kept in five different places, I guarantee you you'll
have trouble finding it in a hurry when he needs it.

*Stuff you might want to keep on hand: Clear wrapping tape, preferably
on a "gun" as you'll be sealing a lot of boxes. Mailing labels can't hurt,
also a Sharpie Marker. And keep a lot of Ziplocks on hand, especially the
gallon size; I'd put 2 or 3 in every box you send your hiker, they will ALWAYS
come in handy for something.

*Get a big calendar for your wall; it'll help you keep track of where your
hiker is. And get a HIGHLIGHTER pen and mark Memorial Day Weekend,
Independence Day, and Labor Day, so you'll have reminded yourself to mail
stuff off well in advance so your hiker's mail isn't messed up by Holiday
schedules and hours.

*When going thru your Thruhikers Companion or Handbook, highlight and
remember the places that hold hiker mail that AREN'T U.S. Post Offices, and
try to send stuff to these locations.....it means your hiker will have 7 day
a week access to his mail and won't have to worry about getting to town
when a Post Office is closed.

*Make sure your mail/parcels say something like "Hold for A.T. Hiker" with
an expected ETA. This makes it much easier for the Postal workers and
will help make sure that your hiker's mail ends up in the right storeroom or
shelving area.

*I always try and mark my parcels in a distinctive way, with some sort of
sticker or other easily visible mark on the sides of the box. Here's why:
In many cases, your hiker's box will end up on a shelf with 150 other similar
boxes, and the postal worker may miss it. You make it much easier for them
if they can say "The box has a big green X on both ends" or "Look for the
Playing Cards on each end" or something like that. On several occasions,
I've had postal workers "find" a parcel that they'd previously told me wasn't
there, and it's the "distinctive" thing on the box that made it easy for them
to find it.

*In most cases, it's better to send stuff Priority Mail if you use the USPS:
It's faster, more reliable, and the P.O. seems to take better care of it than
regular mail. Also, Priority Mail letters or parcels can be REMAILED
somewhere else at no charge if your hiker either doesn't open them or
realizes he doesn't need what's inside. With regular mail, you get re-
charged if you "bump" the box somewhere else.

*Lastly, and this'll seem crazy, make sure you have a very complete list of
ALL of the places your hiker should be expecting mail. And make sure, of
course, that he carries this list. That way, there's little chance of his
skipping a mail stop or forgetting to go into a town for mail; also, he won't
go into a place demanding a parecel where, in fact, one doesn't exist. Don't
laugh, I've seen it happen, and it always ends with a hiker screaming at
some poor overwoked postal clerk who's getting berated for not being able
to locate a box that was never there in the first place!

*Lastly, don't panic or call the cavalry if your hiker is a day or two (or
even longer) in contacting you. Schedules are never written in stone, and
especially early in the trip, it's likelier that a hiker will be BEHIND his schedule
a bit. Have no fear; they'll get in touch when they can. Also, be aware that there are still some places on the Trail where a hiker can neither receive nor make a phone call; likewise, a hiker may go a week or significantly more
without being able to check E-Mail. Again, don't panic, you'll hear from him
soon.

All for now, this pretty much covers it!

[Texasgirl]

Jack Tarlin, thanks for taking so much time to give so much good information. My list of "to do's" is growing, and that's all good. I'm excited for my hiker and want, without interferring, to be a part of the experience. It's his hike - I just get to watch the enjoyment. Thanks also for the "don't panic" advice. I read posts where hikers sound frustrated that their spouse/family worries. I've wondered how the spouse/family back at home feels or deals with the extended time of no contact. So thanks for mentioning it.

[Peaks]

Just to reinforce Jack's post:

1. You, the support person, needs a list of everyplace where and when you plan to mail each package. The AT hiker needs the same list.

2. You, the support person, needs a list of everything that is expected to go into each package. The AT hiker needs the same list.

3. Finally, the AT hiker should make up every package, and have them all ready to mail, but DO NO close and seal. That way, adjustments can be made, such as add items, or take out items.

4. And, in case someone didn't say it, mail the packages 2 weeks prior to expected arrival date at a particular place.