Neel's Gap mail drop problem

[Sailor (The other one)]

Someone warned here about mail drops not getting to Mountain Crossings at Neel's Gap or taking a long time to get there. Three weeks after we mailed a box to Neel's Gap it still had not arrived. A box we mailed to Suches on the same day arrived in a week. Thank God the people at Mountain Crossings are so hiker friendly. Before we even asked, Pirate was at our elbow saying he'd take us to town to re-supply.

[Jack Tarlin]

Sorry you seemed to have a problem, but there is NO mail problem at Mountain Crossings nor is any kind of hiker advisory necessary. I've had stuff sent there since 1995 and never had a single problem; if this was a recurrent thing at Neel Gap, I think we'd have heard lots about it by now.

[take-a-knee]

I mailed a fooddrop to Mountain Crossings this summer (UPS) from GA and it arrived the next day. Sounds like the post office at work again.

[Sailor (The other one)]

I mailed a fooddrop to Mountain Crossings this summer (UPS) from GA and it arrived the next day. Sounds like the post office at work again.

Yeah, we used the post office. Next time we'll use UPS. Jack is right. There is NO problem with Mountain Crossings. They were terrific. They showed us a mail drop someone sent in August they are still holding for them. The problem was with the post office.

[Sailor (The other one)]

Sorry you seemed to have a problem, but there is NO mail problem at Mountain Crossings nor is any kind of hiker advisory necessary. I've had stuff sent there since 1995 and never had a single problem; if this was a recurrent thing at Neel Gap, I think we'd have heard lots about it by now.

There’s no “seemed” about it, Jack. My mail drop would either be there when I needed it or not. It was not and that caused a problem. Simple. Black and white. Nothing “seemed” about it. It was not a problem with Mountain Crossings, which is why I titled it with the words “Neel’s Gap…” As I wrote, the people at Mountain Crossings actually solved the problem for me. The instant they told us the mail drop had not arrived Pirate offered to take us to town to resupply. Winton and his staff are some of the finest people I have met hiking or otherwise in my entire life.

It’s very nice you have never had a single problem with stuff sent to Neel’s Gap. Unfortunately, your experience does not automatically translate into everyone’s experience. I wish it did; you have a great deal of invaluable knowledge and experience I envy and have benefitted from. It is possible something has changed at the Blairsville post office or somewhere else along the chain. I have four friends who are postal employees and according to them such problems are not unusual.

“…nor is any kind of hiker advisory necessary.” You seem to be saying that if such a problem has not been reported before, it should not be reported. Maybe that’s not what you meant, since it makes no sense. If people thought they should only report things that have happened before, nothing would ever be reported. It’s a catch Joseph Heller would have envied.

I sent my mail drop to Neel Gap two weeks before I needed it to be there because I read the following post here on White Blaze:


FYI on sending a mail drop to Neels Gap. It may not get there. A friend and I did a section hike and she sent a mail drop to Neels Gap 10 days before we left. Her package never got there. I would call ahead of time just to make sure they have received it. She talked to the folks at the outfitters and was told it happens a lot even if you send it overnight delivery.
She told them that if it did show up just put everything in a hiker box.

Two reported occurrences may not qualify as a “recurrent” problem in your book, but perhaps some other hiker may be spared a problem by simply using UPS instead of the post office. They might also benefit from knowing that if there is a problem with a drop at Neel Gap, Winton and his staff are there to help.