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letmebefreee
01-14-2010, 20:09
another question for you good folks out there i couldnt find the answer to this even though i know its prolly here. just curious if you have to have someone send your mail drops to you as you go? or can you send them all at once and they will say... hold the package you sent to maine for 5 months. thanks :P

YoungMoose
01-14-2010, 20:22
I dont think hostels would hold it for 5 months. Thats a long time. I think you should send it as you go. I think that they wouldnt mind holding it for less then 2 weeks. The ATC wouldnt mind holding it for a month or so i bet.

Blissful
01-14-2010, 20:24
Need to find someone to mail them out for you.

Spokes
01-14-2010, 20:35
Consider a bounce box. One of the most common lessons learned by thru-hikers is they really didn't need to do so many mail drops in the first place!

Pootz
01-14-2010, 20:58
You will have to have someone back home send them to you, I would recomend a couple weeks in advance. If you mail them to a post Office you mail them to:

Your Name
c/o General Delivery
City State Zip

And Put "Hold for AT hiker" and your expected arrival date on the package.

That being said you do not need to do maildrops. Food is pretty easy to get along the AT.

Good Luck, and enjoy your hike

Tennessee Viking
01-14-2010, 22:00
Both. You would only do a mail drops if you are wanting something from home or when really need them. Or receive stuff from home; candy and letters are popular.

Usually you want to send the next town/hostel or two the maildrops of food, snacks, necessities that you don't want to carry extra of, hard to find along the way, or local prices are steep. Power bars, trail mix, batteries, canned goods, fuel.

You can direct most mail drops to yourself in the c/o post offices or hostels in their addresses. Just note on it: HIKER MAIL DROP, TENTATIVE PICK-UP DATE: whenever. Just make sure the place does accept maildrops, and you might need your license/ID and maybe some bucks because some places charge.

With the trail become more popular, more stores are showing up.

letmebefreee
01-15-2010, 13:52
thanks only reason i am doing mail drops at all is that me and my wife are vegetarian and I didnt know that every town would have a big selection of vegetarian goods... especially down south in small towns and farther up north in the smaller towns. we're doing i think only 4 or 5 but thanks everyone for your input

ShelterLeopard
01-15-2010, 14:52
Vegeterian on the trail will be easy- you'd start to run into problems with being vegan (and not doing maildrops), but plenty have done it.

I'm doing maildrops just for the first month and a half, and at Unionville, NJ. (And getting things from my family at Harpers Ferry). After that, just resupplying in towns. Good luck, and see you on the trail!

Blissful
01-15-2010, 16:07
I'm doing maildrops just for the first month and a half, and at Unionville, NJ.

Unionville is over the border in NY. Just FYI for your address label. :)

bigcranky
01-15-2010, 16:15
thanks only reason i am doing mail drops at all is that me and my wife are vegetarian and I didnt know that every town would have a big selection of vegetarian goods... especially down south in small towns and farther up north in the smaller towns. we're doing i think only 4 or 5 but thanks everyone for your input

You'll likely be pleasantly surprised. There has been a lot of development in the Southern mountains in the last twenty years, and most towns have a good grocery store with a wide selection of national brands. Sure, you're not going to get great food at the gas station convenience store where the trail crosses a dinky two lane road, but the larger towns will be fine. That's been my experience from Springer through southern Virginia, anyway.

The Flatulator
01-15-2010, 16:32
I was a vegetarian on my first thru-hike (lacto-ovo-veg) in '77. There was plenty of food choices along the way even back then. In '82, I noticed more "health food stores", so check out the various guides to make note of which towns have this type of store. A "bounce box" is a good choice when you come to a good store. Post offices along the Trail generally hold boxes for longer than they are required to, but not for 3-5 months. Have a family member or friend send you what you need. I bought in bulk and had everything packaged and in the boxes with the addresses already on them. I just called and had whatever else I needed to be added. Lots of major supermarkets along the way and many of these have natural foods slections available as well.....

ShelterLeopard
01-15-2010, 17:04
Unionville is over the border in NY. Just FYI for your address label. :)

Argh, that's what I meant. Really, really tired today.

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sleep017.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

ShelterLeopard
01-15-2010, 17:04
That guy was supposed to look sleepy, not annoyed. :)

Spot In The Sky
01-18-2010, 10:25
Sooo is it a better idea to have a huge package mailed to you at your first pick up spot and then you take what you need from it and mail it yourself to the next stop, or do you have packages mailed directly to each spot you think youll need to stop?

Im getting mixed opinions about the mail drop system but it looks like the most important things to mail are gear for changing of the seasons, is that right?

Lone Wolf
01-18-2010, 10:28
Im getting mixed opinions about the mail drop system but it looks like the most important things to mail are gear for changing of the seasons, is that right?

yes. no need for food mail drops

Lillianp
01-18-2010, 11:01
I'm not planning on doing many mail drops-just a bounce box and one in about Pearisburg to switch from 'winter' gear to 'summer' gear. ie, sleeping bag and sending home some clothes. I'm going to go over where I think I should get my resupplies and probably do a few food oriented mail drops along the way-in places I should resupply but amount of options for vegetarians are limited. Probably mostly in Maine from what I can figure out.

BrianLe
01-18-2010, 15:21
Five mail drops for me, no bounce box. Two mail drops are larger "send things back and forth type", one in Pearisburg like Lillianp, the other in Glencliff. In Pearisburg I drop about 3 pounds of baseweight, mostly clothing, and in Glencliff I get some of that stuff back before going into the Whites.

Spreading the 5 boxes out, of course, trying to pick optimal places to get trail runners, prescription meds, guidebook sections. And where possible putting those boxes in places where there's no ready LT resupply option near the trail. Will be nice infrequently to get a few food items that I might not find readily buy in stores --- protein shake powder, EmergenC, refried bean powder, dried ground beef (I wonder how common it is to find TVP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textured_vegetable_protein) in the larger stores near the trail?).

letmebefreee
01-30-2010, 15:03
ummm ok, how do I estimate the day that the sender needs to send the package to the town so that its close enough that the post office doesnt throw it out or send it back... im not carrying a cell phone so do i write them ahead of time like a certain amount of miles before the town telling them to send it? or use a pay phone and call them ahead of time.... i figured i could just guess for the first box because its only like 120 miles in but after that i dunno HELP ME!!!

RichardD
01-30-2010, 15:33
I used a bounce box once and it was a bad experience.
I used one on the Colorado trail, shipped it to Frisco, picked it up then shipped it on to Salida. Plans changed and I went to Gunnison instead of Salida. I called the PO in Salida and asked them to send it on to Creede. They said that they could not do that, I would need to go to Salida and show identification. After much discussion they said all they could do was to send it to my home address in Texas. I told them to go ahead and do that. It never arrived, I lost quite a lot of good gear.
Perhaps I was just unlucky.

BrianLe
01-30-2010, 19:25
"how do I estimate the day that the sender needs to send the package to the town so that its close enough that the post office doesnt throw it out or send it back... im not carrying a cell phone so do i write them ahead of time like a certain amount of miles before the town telling them to send it? or use a pay phone and call them ahead of time...."

Pay phone --- I'd carry a calling card with a fair number of minutes on it (can buy this along the way), call at a town when you estimate you're, say, 10 days away from the town you want to get your package in. Even parcel post across the country (I live in WA state) tends to be around 7 days if I recall correctly. If use the 12 x 12 x 5-1/2 (or x 8) white priority boxes via USPS it's likely less than that.

Perhaps others will disagree with the "10 days ahead", that's just the rough rule of thumb I'm working on.

ShelterLeopard
02-01-2010, 11:40
I wanted to send a fuel canister to the blueberry patch in Hiawassee (with my food box), and my PO flat out refuses to send it. I know that many people on here say you can send it ground/surface mail only, but the postmaster didn't seem to think so. And I've tried reading through that book of regs. Should I just send it groundmail and not say what's inside? Or would that make me a bad person?...

10-K
02-01-2010, 11:42
I wanted to send a fuel canister to the blueberry patch in Hiawassee (with my food box), and my PO flat out refuses to send it. I know that many people on here say you can send it ground/surface mail only, but the postmaster didn't seem to think so. And I've tried reading through that book of regs. Should I just send it groundmail and not say what's inside? Or would that make me a bad person?...

You can pick up canisters at the outfitter in Hiawassee.

ShelterLeopard
02-01-2010, 11:45
I wasn't planning on actually going in to Hiawassee, just the hostel. But, I guess that'd be better than getting arrested for blowing up a mail truck by accident...

Pedaling Fool
02-01-2010, 11:48
I wanted to send a fuel canister to the blueberry patch in Hiawassee (with my food box), and my PO flat out refuses to send it. I know that many people on here say you can send it ground/surface mail only, but the postmaster didn't seem to think so. And I've tried reading through that book of regs. Should I just send it groundmail and not say what's inside? Or would that make me a bad person?...
They're typical govt worker, meaning the typical govt worker doesn't understand the applicable regulations, they basically work off of word-of-mouth and a lot of laziness. I know this because I had the same problem once with the P.O. during a bike ride and I've worked with a lot of govt employees during my time in the military.

My advice is don't mail fuel along the AT, just not worth the hassel, plenty of places to resupply.

BrianLe
02-01-2010, 14:17
Don't know for certain that this is up-to-date, but here's a relevant article and associated discussion thread:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8311

ShelterLeopard
02-01-2010, 15:03
I've read it, but the PO showed me a little pamphlet sent out by the gov. that said no flammables of any kind. Seemed pretty straightforward... I'll find the pamphlet (she gave me an extra) and quote it directly later.

coheterojo
02-01-2010, 15:26
Use UPS or Fedex ground if you want to send fuel canisters.

JustaTouron
02-01-2010, 15:51
I've read it, but the PO showed me a little pamphlet sent out by the gov. that said no flammables of any kind. Seemed pretty straightforward... I'll find the pamphlet (she gave me an extra) and quote it directly later.


Rules change all the time with the goverment.

Without actually doing any reseach I woud be pretty confident in speculating that some AT hikers are going by what the rules were before 9/11, anthrax in the mail, a shoebomber, and a TSA restriction of large tubes of toothpaste. And then claiming they know more than the postal employees regarding the current regulations.

The regulations on mailing potentially explosive fuels aint getting any looser folks. What you could mail in 2000 isn't what you can mail in 2010.

ShelterLeopard
02-01-2010, 16:19
Use UPS or Fedex ground if you want to send fuel canisters.

Good idea- I'll make sure with the Blureberry Patch that it's alright to FedEx a package to them (some places do not like receiving fedex, but I think a hostel would be fine with it), and since that's the only place I'd need it, works perfectly.


Without actually doing any reseach I woud be pretty confident in speculating that some AT hikers are going by what the rules were before 9/11, anthrax in the mail, a shoebomber, and a TSA restriction of large tubes of toothpaste. And then claiming they know more than the postal employees regarding the current regulations.

The regulations on mailing potentially explosive fuels aint getting any looser folks. What you could mail in 2000 isn't what you can mail in 2010.

I think this must be the case- the regs. were very clear. NO flammables, fuels, alcohol, etc...

Pedaling Fool
02-01-2010, 16:37
This is current USPS instructions from their website. http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/pubs/Pub52/pub52.pdf

You can ship them, but I'll still say I'll never do it again...major pain in the ass, only because the PO workers don't know the rules. I don't know how the UPS or other organizations handle it, but I'd be willing to bet they only do it via ground shipment like the PO.

Pedaling Fool
02-01-2010, 16:44
I think this must be the case- the regs. were very clear. NO flammables, fuels, alcohol, etc...
Did the regs look like this? http://www.usps.com/aviationsecurity/

Note that an overwhelming majority of mail is sent via air at some point. However if you want to send allowable flammable material it must be marked for ground transport only, in addition to a few other things.

ShelterLeopard
02-01-2010, 17:19
Thanks for the links- I'll post the pamphlet I got at the PO when I get home. (Since I'm just mailing the one container, it's okay if it's a pain- I'll deal)

Pedaling Fool
02-01-2010, 19:30
...Should I just send it groundmail and not say what's inside? Or would that make me a bad person?...
BTW, I would never send fuel canisters through the mail without telling them, they will be transported in an aircraft.

I'm assume some hikers have mailed fuel canisters without informing the PO, but that is a risk I'm not willing to take, simply for the sake of safety; it has nothing to do about my concern over fines or whatever.

The thought of unnecessarily creating a safety hazard for the aircraft is something I could never do.

Jack Tarlin
02-01-2010, 19:32
John is right, tho it's very rare that one should have to mail one's self fuel anywhere on the A.T.

If you do, tho, send it GROUND MAIL only, and check the rules/regs before you post it as they frequently change.

JustaTouron
02-01-2010, 19:53
Shelp, you should give the hostel a call. If the place is geared for hikers they might sell fuel.

ShelterLeopard
02-01-2010, 20:48
BTW, I would never send fuel canisters through the mail without telling them, they will be transported in an aircraft.

I'm assume some hikers have mailed fuel canisters without informing the PO, but that is a risk I'm not willing to take, simply for the sake of safety; it has nothing to do about my concern over fines or whatever.

The thought of unnecessarily creating a safety hazard for the aircraft is something I could never do.


No no no! I meant mark it ground mail only at the counter without saying why. But, I think I'll just FedEx it ground, or see if they sell fuel.



Shelp, you should give the hostel a call. If the place is geared for hikers they might sell fuel.

I was planning to call them about the FedEx package, didn't consider asking if they actually sold fuel- good idea, thanks.

veteran
02-02-2010, 02:02
USPS Poster for Hazardous Materials (http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/posters/pos298/welcome.htm)