Sea legs to Trail legs

[PSy BaSS]

i need help...... I'm trying to put together some sort of plan for my thru but dont know where to start! i have been putting some serious hours into reading threads, review and journals but seem to be moving further away from my planning! i am pretty close to a brain hemorrhage from an information overload tho!

i suppose i should let you know where i really stand! i'm currently working on a super yacht in the Mediterranean and wont be crossing the atlantic until chrissy time! i'm also australian, so my roots in the US are very week! i will be working until i start walking and trying to plan a months grace before i kick off!!

i know i'm walking NOBO and i know i'm leaving in the first two weeks of march! but that's it! i'm not sure what to do next, i know i should be experimenting with gear to see what works but it's kinda hard on the high seas!

do i take a risk and buy everything in the month before and trial it then? should i start buying things online and hope that i chose the right reviews!
What things should i start with?

i was thinking about drying alot of my foods for drops, how long does it take to prepare for those drops?

the other thing that keeps popping up is being able to send gear to and fro. is it imperative that i have someone that can send me gear when i need it?

sorry for the array of confusing questions there are many more but that will do for now!

thanks for taking the time
appreciate it!!

Psy Bass

[fiddlehead]

Gear is just stuff.
Different gear works for different people.
I would buy your gear here in the states so that if you have any trouble with it, the manufacturers will stand behind their product (most likely)
An excellent place would be Neels Gap at mile 30 Northbound from Springer.
The store there is called Mountain Crossings i believe.

for dehydrating food, try to get food that is fresh from harvesting as it has better taste now and will when you eat it later also.
Plum tomatoes are good, broccoli and cauliflower are favorites of mine.
You can then supplement the Lipton noodle dishes or Mac and Cheese dinners with these dried veggies. Bananas, peaches, strawberries are great too.

Lots of threads on the subject.
Since you are a foreigner with no roots here, i would suggest buying along the way.
Or, get used to our postal system and buy in the bigger towns and ship the food to yourself about once every month.
If you are drying a lot, you can carry that stuff here (or send it) and then send it to these bigger towns once a month in what's called a bounce box. (Hot Springs NC, Damascus VA, Waynesboro VA, Boiling Springs, PA, Kent CT, Gorham NH would be some choices that would work for you.

I'm sure you'll get lots more advice on here.
Whiteblaze is the best to find out this kind of info.

ENjoy your yacht time, hiking is way different. (I once worked my way from Singapore to Broome AU on a 15 meter ketch) (now that Broome is a wild town)

[fredmugs]

One thing that I never knew about mail drops is that if you send a package to a post office and, for whatever reason, cannot go get it, you can call that post office and have it forwarded to a different one free of charge. Make sure you have the phone numbers of the post offices that you mail stuff to.

If you start in the first two weeks of March be prepared for every possible type weather.

[PSy BaSS]

so am i just getting all concerned about nothing! by the sounds of it i shouldn't have any problem resupplying along the way.

there seems to be so much debate about gear and people seem to be under the impression that alot of people end up replacing gear once they're on the trail....if this is the case wont i find it difficult to get in a rhythm with my gear? wont it cost me alot of extra money trying to find what suits me once I'm on the trail?

also what is a bounce box primarirly used for, i understand that you send it forward but what exactly do you put in it?

[fiddlehead]

You put your dehydrated food in it.
And extra clothes that you used in the beginning of your hike and then didn't need in the middle and then need again in the north.
Lots of threads on that subject if you use the search feature.

[PSy BaSS]

cool i will do...

what should be the first bit of gear that i should buy.....i figured my pack will be the last. should my boots be the first?? gear is only stuff but i want to have the adequate stuff when i begin, can you give me any pointers?

[El Toro '94]

Some people have a bounce box for small stuff, like what they will use in town, cell phone, towel, bar soap yadayadayada. I like to use one to mail ahead food that I bought along the way, as well as leftover, excess that I have when I come into town, or if you have something you aren't using now, but think you may need in the future(like winter gear), you can mail it ahead to yourself instead of having to carry it on your back or sending it home-I would think this would be a good option for you, unless you have someone here in the states to send and receive for you. I'm doing it that way to avoid any mixups at home, e.g. I'll mail my heavier winter/3season sleeping bag and winter clothes ahead, and just keep bouncing it ahead until I need it again. May cost a few extra $$, but I know where it is, and it'll be there when I need it, plus a down bag is good padding for my cell phone and other possibly fragile items.
As for gear, I would get footwear first, so you have time to break in if it's boots, and get 2 pair (break them both in, you'll more than likely replace it somewhere along the trail). Or get trail runners like a lot of people do. Starting in late March, as for myself, I would take at least a 20 degree (Farenheit) sleeping bag and then switch out come June 1 to a summer bag/travel sheet or blanket. As for shelter-tent, hammock, or cowboy camping, whichever you prefer. A tent or fly is almost essential, as the shelters will be pretty crowded the first few weeks. Lots of ideas and resources here on whiteblaze. Read the articles on planning and resupply. Make yourself a list of stuff you think you will need and then get it. Organizing/packing it into maildrops shouldn't take too long-my first thru it took me about 3 days of organizing and packing once i had all my stuff