Shenandoah NP drops

[tx.katie.finch]

My husband and I are looking for a decent place to drop for resupply in SNP. We're wanting to go through the park as slowly as possible to see as much as possible and don't really feel like carrying 11 days of food (it fits, just not comfortably). Any experience/ideas?

[wilconow]

http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/where-to-eat.htm

[Blissful]

Big Meadows has a pretty good resupply. They have mountain house food, etc. You could probably make do at Lewis Mtn and Elkwallow as well. Elkwallow had a hiker box when we were there.

If I knew where you would be and when, I could bring you your drop to Swift Run Gap (if you mail it to me). If we are here, that is (we will be gone a week in June and a few days in July). Would need to know specific dates, etc. And phone contact. PM me.

And you only need about 7-9 days.

As far as I know, there are no mail drop locations in the park itself.

[jlb2012]

The vendor in SNP is ARAmark - they will not accept or hold any maildrops.

There are possible resupply points but only if you want to buy stuff at ARAmark prices - depending on time of year the possibilities are Loft Mtn campstore, Lewis Mtn. small campstore, Big Meadows campstore, and Elkwallow Wayside small campstore/grill.

As an alternative you could probably hitch out of the park at Swift Run Gap / US 33 and head toward a post office or B&B or motel and pick up your drop. Same can be done at Thorton Gap / US 211.

Lastly there is the illegal possibility of leaving caches - this is relatively easy to do since Skyline Drive crosses the AT many times so it would be possible to drive to various cache points and leave food in bear proof containers. This is however illegal so if you do this you are running a risk of having your food removed by rangers before you get to the point and if they can figure out who left the drop then you could be fined. In other words if you choose to follow this approach be careful to keep out of sight and be sure to pick up the emtpies at the end of your hike.

[Lauriep]

If you will be staying as a paying guest at Skyland Resort or Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah, they will hold a package for you. If you call to make a reservation they'll give you a P.O. Box you can send it to and it will get to where you will be staying.

Caching is not only illegal, it's not a good Leave-No-Trace practice in this setting (there may be some ecosystems and situations where it might be a viable practice). Along the A.T., hiding one would create unnecessary soil and vegetation disturbance. And, if you're not careful, well-hidden caches can be hard to find again unless you... leave a trace.

Laurie P.
ATC

[Skyline]

Laurie makes some good points about caches. For her stated reasons, and the fact that in-season they just aren't necessary. For food, I don't recommend them in SNP except maybe in deep winter when other options are so limited. (In drought, water caches can become a necessity, however tho anyone doing this must absolutely pack out any empty containers. Fortunately, we have started to recover from last year's drought so no water issues at this time--tho we are still running a technical water deficit.)

If you would rather not deal with the restaurants/lodges/grills/campstores in the Park (they will suffice for hikers, but are limited in selection and high in price), a good option would be to leave the Trail at US211 (Thornton Gap) and go west into Luray. We have three super markets including a Wal-Mart SuperCenter, plus anything else a hiker needs. Or you could send a maildrop to the P.O. here.

You can attempt to hitch into and out of Luray, or use the services of Mountain & Valley Shuttle Service (www.mvshuttle.com (http://www.mvshuttle.com)). That would be set up with a tentative date and time in advance, and you'd call when you reach a point a day or less away to update your progress (probably Skyland if NOBO, Elkwallow if SOBO). Then, just call from the pay phone at Thornton Gap upon arrival and the shuttle driver can be there in short order.

[fredmugs]

Since you did not list your hiking dates I'll throw in my two cents and say that not all of the in-park stores open for the season at the same time. When I went through last year in early May the one on the southern end was not scheduled to open until late in May.

Look at where the wayside stores are at and the lodges. Also make sure you have a blackberry shake at the wayside stores!