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Cloud
11-02-2009, 12:15
While thru hiking the AT I never sent myself any mail drops and had no problem whatsoever. Now I know the PCT is a lot different in sense that towns are longer hitches and further apart. I would like to use as few mail drops as possible.

Is it possible to hike without maildrops? If not, what are the key sections for maildrops?

Thanks

wandering_bob
11-02-2009, 13:53
Suggestion - order Yogi's PCT Handbook http://www.pcthandbook.com . There is detailed info regarding every resupply possibility. That said.....


Possible? IMO, yes (and I've done all of the PCT except CA sections A-E), but prepare for a heavy pack in some sections, a flexible diet, and practice your hitchhiking skills.

How much you have to carry for how long depends on how many miles per day you are willing to do and how much you eat daily. Note that remote towns and resorts (like Stehekin WA, where everything has to come in by boat or plane), can be expensive. Don't count on always being able to use credit cards or the availability of ATMs; carry a good cash supply.

Buying locally does good things for local economies and encourages merchants to stock items seasonally that hikers will want. Unfortunately, many of the towns and resorts on or near the trail are very small and the pickings and selection can be slim in what passes for grocery stores. This becomes critical depending on where you are relative to "the herd" of thru-hikers. They can strip a store like locust before you get there.

I'd recommend you send mail drops to:

Agua Dulce, on trail at the start of CA section E, does not have a grocery store, and the Sauffley's can no longer allow hikers to "use" one of their vehicles.

Muir Trail Ranch, near trail in CA section H, holds packages but does not sell food in their tiny store. The hiker box there is accessible ONLY to those hikers who are picking up mail drops there.

Belden, on trail in CA section N. The tiny resort store inventory fluctuates wildly. Your hike; your choice. Post office is not at the resort but is within easy walking distance of the trail, but it's hours are wierd. Local trail angel holds packages too.

Shelter Cove Resort, near trail in OR section E. Tiny store serves boaters and fishermen.

Everywhere else, I found at least adequate resupply possibilities locally, if one isn't picky about what one eats. I am, so I used a lot of resupply boxes and supplemented them with local offerings. YMMV.


Wandering Bob

RedneckRye
11-02-2009, 14:22
Warner Springs, about 110 miles north of the Mex border is just a gas station and a PO. And the resort which has lodging, laundry, pub, but no resupply.

And what Wandering Bob said above.

Buy Yogi's book and all will be revealed.

garlic08
11-02-2009, 14:30
Ditto all the above. Maybe the best approach is the "hybrid" one--occasionally take a day off and mail stuff ahead. I did that in South Lake Tahoe and Ashland, OR. Just send a few ahead from home, like Warner Springs for sure. Otherwise you'll be doing some extra hitching to get to groceries. It's possible, but a real distraction.

Mags
11-02-2009, 14:43
If you don't like hitching more than you have to do (I avoid hitching when I can. Takes up time when I could be hiking), the hybrid approach is a wonderful way to self-supply.

A little more work in town, but you don't have to hitch.

Some people enjoy hitching and/or don't want to spend time in town shopping, packing up boxed and mailing them out.

Comes down to personal preference. Me? I'd rather spend the time in town then show up two weeks later, just pick up my box at a podunk fishing store and quickly be on my way.

YMMV.

Jester2000
11-02-2009, 16:17
I'd recommend you send mail drops to:

Agua Dulce, on trail at the start of CA section E, does not have a grocery store, and the Sauffley's can no longer allow hikers to "use" one of their vehicles. . .


This would probably come as a pretty big shock to the employee who just answered the phone at Sweet Water Market, literally on the trail on Agua Dulce Canyon Rd.

I called because I wanted to make sure they hadn't closed. It's in the same strip as the pizza place, so I imagine most hikers will see it.

I mailed a package from here to myself at Kennedy Meadows and Independence (I didn't go straight through the Sierra, and the grocery store in Independence is, I believe, still closed -- you'd have to hitch to Bishop or Lone Pine, or get by on convenience store fare).

I would recommend planning for a mail drop at Warner Springs, KM (where you might want to send some different gear anyway), and Stehekin (unless you're into really long ferry rides or eating out of the hiker box at the PO). Depending on when you hit Oregon and Washington, you may decide to send yourself packages from Ashland, OR (for Oregon) & Cascade Locks, OR (for WA). Mailing from Ashland to Lake Resorts meant I didn't have to take the time to go into Sisters or Bend (I didn't actually go into any towns from Ashland to Cascade Locks), avoiding hitching time & zero days.

With the exeption of Stehekin, though, I don't think you'll have too much of a problem as long as you're not a picky eater. Definitely get Yogi's guide, though.

burger
11-02-2009, 16:19
I'm going to throw this out here for better or worse: you could hike the entire PCT without a single mail drop. If you get the Yogi guides (and you should), you'll read about how you absolutely CANNOT resupply at some places (Belden, Warner Springs, Burney Falls SP, etc.). I can't tell you how many times I came into those places, having mailed myself a package and discovered that I COULD have resupplied. Of course, your options in some of these small stores would be very limited, but if you're not picky you could find enough calories to get yourself through to the next town.

I think the main reason why Yogi advises people that you can't resupply at some towns is that if every PCT hiker tried to resupply there, they'd be cleaned out quickly and you'd stand a good chance of not finding enough food. But since most people follow Yogi's advice, those little stores tend to have plenty of stock. (Of course, I was near the front of the pack on my thru, so YMMV, especially if you're trailing)

One disadvantage of buying as you go? Cost. Those little stores sometimes charge an arm and a leg.

Mags
11-02-2009, 16:25
As with Burger, I resupply in many places where people don't want to resupply.

As he said, you have to tolerate less-than-ideal food and you have to be in front of the pack before the area is cleaned out.

Having said that, I found it very convenient to resupply for Oregon by mailing out packages in Ashland and for Washington in Cascade Locks. None of the places I mailed packages were POs, so it was a convenient pick up.

The beauty of LD hiking...more than one way to enjoy all facets of the trail.

garlic08
11-02-2009, 21:51
This would probably come as a pretty big shock to the employee who just answered the phone at Sweet Water Market, literally on the trail on Agua Dulce Canyon Rd.

I called because I wanted to make sure they hadn't closed. It's in the same strip as the pizza place, so I imagine most hikers will see it.

Thanks for checking. I'm glad to hear they're still there. It would have been a big loss. I can still remember going nuts seeing the display of fresh oranges there after a long hot day.

sbhikes
11-03-2009, 10:33
You CAN do the whole trail without mail drops. I found this resource to be very helpful even if it's not complete or up-to-the-minute:
http://www.purebound.com/PCT/resupply.htm

I would say the worst resupply spot I saw was Elk Lake. All they had for food were candy bars, jerky, chips and granola bars. But, you could get a ride to Bend with Lloyd Gust and do a full resupply. His phone number will be somewhere along the trail. Make sure you write it down. He's awesome.

The main thing is to never ship anything you can find in an average convenience store. So if you can survive on convenience store food, you can survive without shipping.

Oh, and don't underestimate the weight of bakery food. Resupplying out of the Stehekin bakery will be very heavy. Send a few things to the P.O. there and remember, they do have a convenience store.

Jester2000
11-03-2009, 11:26
Oh, and don't underestimate the weight of bakery food. Resupplying out of the Stehekin bakery will be very heavy. Send a few things to the P.O. there and remember, they do have a convenience store.

. . . but resupplying out of the bakery is also delicious. But depending on when you're there, it might be closed. And depending on the time of year (I finished the PCT somewhat late -- October 6th) the convenience store may have little more than some candy bars, beer, and Stehekin Tee-shirts.

Regardless of when you're there (unless things have changed) it's important to note that the businesses in Stehekin, including the PO, only take cash, and there's no ATM in town.

Spirit Walker
11-03-2009, 13:23
The grocery in Agua Dulce is expensive, but it has everything you need. Last year there were several trail angels on hand who were giving rides to hikers to WalMart and REI (and just about any place else you might want to go.) So don't worry about that town.

Several years ago a couple of hikers wrote an article that is still relevant about resupplying as you go. It doesn't just say, "Make do with less." It also recommends towns that are a bit farther off the trail that have everything you might want (and not just the bare basics.)
The article is at: http://www.pcta.org//planning/before_trip/strategy.asp

frisbeefreek
11-04-2009, 14:35
No maildrops are going to require bigger food carries (as well as more $ at the smaller shops). A bunch of places can be used to resupply if you don't mind eating a lot of junk food (fritos, candy bars, nuts/seeds, jerkey, cheese, pepperoni) and cold camping. Examples include Shelter Cove, Elk Lake, Belden, Warner Springs.

For expensive, I saw $2.50 Clif Bars multiple times on the trail, so it was cheaper for me to mail a package up the trail to myself (including maps and other small trinkets).

I do agree with above posters that Yogi is a bit pessimistic about resupply options - Several drops I did were not needed. Agua Dulce is a great resupply point. I dropped at Crater Lake, but could have easily made it to Sisters with what I could buy there and at the resorts up trail.

There are different resupply options for the High Sierras, mostly depending on your mileage (which is going to be affected by the snow levels). Generally people either resupply at Independance or VVR (I personally went straight through to Tuolumne, but that was tough).

sarbar
11-04-2009, 17:43
An option not mentioned:
Buy as you go but have a back up. By that, have a trusted friend who will take your phone calls (Carry a good phone card with you!) and immediately go mail you what you need. I did this for my friends T & T this year. I was also one of their contacts for others who wanted to send them stuff. Since you can go to the PCTA website and print off mailing slips for every drop on the way, this is even easier for your contact back home.

Lets say you realize at a certain point that you need a new water bladder and hey, 4 tubs of freeze dried veggies would be awesome, etc.... you call them up and say "I will be at this pickup spot in 7 days from now. Can you mail it tomorrow?" And off you go. You know you will have what you need at that point.

Now though, in one certain place in Ca. the store claimed a package had not shown up (the only one where I had to ship UPS instead of the normal USPS postal). I read them the tracking # over the phone, they jotted it down and went back in. Armed with that, the package miraculously appeared in minutes.

By helping them out on a few tricky places or when they just craved something their hike was considerably more flexible. They resupplied often out of C-stores and learned to live with it.

If you do this, you gotta know your contact back home knows where and how to ship and exactly what to buy. Leaving them money is also helpful, as well as USPS boxes, etc. Being that I am a master at that, I let them run a bill up till they got done :p

A-Train
11-04-2009, 19:12
Same sentiments, the PCT is doable without maildrops if you aren't picky. I would use very few maildrops on the PCT if I went again.

Personally I feel the need for a drop at Warner Springs is overblown. It's got the Neels Gap effect where since everyone thinks you need to send food there, the hikerbox is overwhelming. Also, I've observed the mini mart getting a better selection the past few years. They carry lots of hiker snacks, and things like string cheese and liptons. I know WarnerSprings Monty has done a lot to make it more hiker-centric.

Belden is another one. Yes there isn't much there, but the Bucks Lake store/restaurant is a half day before and Chester, which has a market is 2 days north. Drakesbad and Old Station are just past there.

Jester2000
11-05-2009, 11:27
. . . Personally I feel the need for a drop at Warner Springs is overblown. It's got the Neels Gap effect where since everyone thinks you need to send food there, the hikerbox is overwhelming. Also, I've observed the mini mart getting a better selection the past few years. . .

I think there's truth to this, although it's probably going to depend on when you start. If a hiker starts with the pack leaving the kickoff, I'd send a package. The mini mart is aware that hikers are passing through and has stocked certain things you might not otherwise find at a small convenience store, but when I got there it was fairly gutted. And I don't like the idea of depending on hiker box food, but that may be a good possibility for others.

Spirit Walker
11-05-2009, 13:41
We were a week or so ahead of the pack in 2000. Several people ahead of us who had mailed food from San Diego found that their boxes had not yet arrived, so the shelves were pretty bare. By the time Jim and I stocked up, they were empty. I felt sorry for anybody coming in a day behind. Same thing happened at Reds Meadow. I think dinner for the next couple of days was spam sandwiches.