View Full Version : Critique our Mail Drops
chrisaggie
02-22-2010, 16:42
We just sat down today to do our mail drops. Most of it was simple, though there were a few places we weren't sure what other people did, particularly these places: Do people skip Gatlinburg in general and hoof the 100 miles between Fontana and Hot Springs? Is Luray a good resupply? Also, Ft. Montgomery for a mail drop? What about Crawford Notch and Bartlett
Our list of maildrops is on a Google doc spreadsheet if you want to check it out
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahkuq7yUU-KWdDYzVXJsZGdyZWluMkN0cWJWZXJsaVE&hl=en
Thanks for the help.
We just sat down today to do our mail drops. Most of it was simple, though there were a few places we weren't sure what other people did, particularly these places: Do people skip Gatlinburg in general and hoof the 100 miles between Fontana and Hot Springs? Is Luray a good resupply? Also, Ft. Montgomery for a mail drop? What about Crawford Notch and Bartlett
Our list of maildrops is on a Google doc spreadsheet if you want to check it out
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahkuq7yUU-KWdDYzVXJsZGdyZWluMkN0cWJWZXJsaVE&hl=en
Thanks for the help.
I found Luray to be an excellent place to stop. Grocery, laundry, inexpensive lodging and places to eat within easy walking distance.
It did take me about 45 minutes to get a ride into town and I arranged a shuttle for the ride back to the trail the next morning.
Appalachian Tater
02-22-2010, 17:23
I had planned to skip Gatlinburg but there was a freak snowstorm so went into town for a zero and ended up enjoying it thoroughly. It's like Las Vegas, everybody should go at least once just to see it.
Gatlinburg -- if I had to guess, I'd say 50% of hikers go into Gatlinburg, but that is a total guess. I know alot go in because they underestimated the amount of food they would need to get through. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. Even though I have gone in and like the town more than most, it can be a pain to get in and out of. You are relying on hitches to get down and possible fees to get back up. Its not like the rest of the trail where locals are familiar with hitchhiking thruhikers. I would also check out the hostel just north of the Smokies (sorry name escapes me) they may have enough resupply to get you to Hot Springs or they may hold drops.
Fort Montgomery-- I would do Bear Mt. here. They are the same location but bear mt. p.o. is much closer to the trail.
Crawford Notch -- alot of hikers head into North Woodstock at Franconia Notch a few days before that. Even though it is only about 20 miles out of Glencliff. For most it ends up being 2 1/2 days. From Franconia, your best bet is to make from there to Gorham on the other side of the Whites. It's 40 miles from Franconia to Mt. Washington where you can send a maildrop (for a fee) or just get enough food to get you to Gorham. However, just cos most don't go to Bartlett doesn't mean you can't. Looking at it, I don't know why more don't. It's a good distance between pts. Hitching there should be easy, as well.
Good luck.
No need for maildrop in Pearisburg or Catawba. Pearisburg has a grocery store. A day and a half north of Catawba is a very large grocery store in Daleville.
Appalachian Tater
02-22-2010, 17:45
For that matter, Damascus and Duncannon have nice large grocery stores as well.
Do a drop in Glencliff and get your winter gear back and don't bother with the one 7 miles later.
You can take a bus to a Super Wal-Mart in Harper's Ferry if you don't want to do a maildrop there and there is limited supply in town anyway. Plus a lot of food in the ATC office because so many people get off the trail there!
No need for maildrop in Pearisburg or Catawba. Pearisburg has a grocery store. A day and a half north of Catawba is a very large grocery store in Daleville.
Just an FYI, I believe the grocery store that was in sight of the trail in Pearisburg is out of business - at least it was when I hiked by there. The liquor store adjacent to it however is thriving. :)
Pearisburg is pretty spread out - the closest grocery store that I can remember would be the Wal-Mart and it's "too far to walk and too many turns to hitch". I could be wrong - there may be a grocery store closer to the trail that I'm not aware of. There is a Hardees and convenience store within walking distance. And, you might be able to scratch up a ride to town from the folks at the Rendevous Motel just off the trail. I've stayed there a few times and used them for shuttles without any problems.
There's also a pretty good outfitter next to the grocery store (a big Krogers) in Daleville and within sight of the trail.
Appalachian Tater
02-22-2010, 17:53
Also in Pearisburg there is a Super Wal-Mart right near the hostel--which although not too close to the trail is quite nice and has fantastic views. Overall, a great town for a zero. The local people are great about offering rides as well.
Map of services in Pearisburg (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?num=50&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=115018718594318820858.000477d4699e865f6f1e1&t=h&z=14)
I assume you have a handbook and you should carry one of the three and maps, but in the event you haven't yet obtained one, click below.
chrisaggie
02-22-2010, 18:47
The maildrops for the most part were researched on WhiteBlaze as per the most recommended, that included the ones for Pearisburg and some of the other seemingly major towns (i was surprised to see them as maildrops). Some of the reasons were just like what was mentioned above.
We're taking the guidebooks and a GPS that has aerials, topos etc and maps and downloading all of the AT points as possible.
Thank you for the help...we will take some of it into consideration.
Blissful
02-22-2010, 18:47
We got resupplied before the Smokies and hiked on through with good weather, skipping Gatlinburg. You can resupply enough at C
Curtis' until Hot Springs or drop there.
Your drops are somewhat confusing to me. I'd drop at NOC personally. Skip Catawba and resupply at I 81. Why are you dropping at Damascus? Skip Elk Park, Bob Peoples usually shuttles. Drop at ATC hostel in PA. There was a guy who shuttled to a nice store in Duncannon. In SNP I might skip Luray and rather resupply at Front Royal (there's a big shopping center a few miles down the road) but that's up to you.
Blissful
02-22-2010, 19:06
Crawford Notch -- alot of hikers head into North Woodstock at Franconia Notch a few days before that. Even though it is only about 20 miles out of Glencliff. For most it ends up being 2 1/2 days. From Franconia, your best bet is to make from there to Gorham on the other side of the Whites. It's 40 miles from Franconia to Mt. Washington where you can send a maildrop (for a fee) or just get enough food to get you to Gorham. However, just cos most don't go to Bartlett doesn't mean you can't. Looking at it, I don't know why more don't. It's a good distance between pts. Hitching there should be easy, as well.
Good luck.
For the Whites we dropped at Glencliff, stayed at Chets where you can resupply in Lincoln, dropped at Crawford campground, dropped at Pinkham Notch AMC, resupply at Gorham. Do not drop at Mt Washington, unreliable.
Appalachian Tater
02-22-2010, 19:07
If you haven't read Baltimore Jack's article, I highly recommend it. it is a great overview of the entire trail with resupply and other information. I carried it with me on my thru and consulted it to plan every resupply--although he frequently gives ranges of days for travel time, after a week or two you will know where you fit into it. There may be a couple of small points here and there people will quibble over but you can't go drastically wrong following his advice.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/articles/resupplybook.pdf
oso loco
02-22-2010, 22:55
We just sat down today to do our mail drops. Most of it was simple, though there were a few places we weren't sure what other people did, particularly these places: Do people skip Gatlinburg in general and hoof the 100 miles between Fontana and Hot Springs? Is Luray a good resupply? Also, Ft. Montgomery for a mail drop? What about Crawford Notch and Bartlett
Our list of maildrops is on a Google doc spreadsheet if you want to check it out
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahkuq7yUU-KWdDYzVXJsZGdyZWluMkN0cWJWZXJsaVE&hl=en
Thanks for the help.
Seems to me that the road to Gatlinburg is supposed to be closed until May. You might want to check on that.
curtisvowen
02-22-2010, 23:08
Newfound Gap road to Gatlinburg was open Feb 20th, I was there.
Oso loco, maybe you're thinking about Interstate 40 or Clingman's Dome....Clingman's will be closed for road work.
ARambler
02-22-2010, 23:22
Seems to me that the road to Gatlinburg is supposed to be closed until May. You might want to check on that.
No, Newfound Gap on the road to Gatlinburg is the single best spot to Yogi from the tourists who stop there. I do not recommend going to Gatlinburg.
Also, there are many better options than Luray, like Front Royal, the SNP waysides and mail drop at Bears Den. I have not heard of Fayettville. Maybe a mail drop at Pine Grove Furnace?
Rambler
mweinstone
02-23-2010, 16:17
honestly those choices suck. this is the most ussless drop list ever. most of your towns have large supermarkets. and the spacing is terrible. its as if you tryed to one up my bad spelling with bad drop box listing.when you get your box at a town with a supermarket and free shuttle or within walking distance, how does your box stand up to the store?
BigFoot2002
02-23-2010, 20:10
Bear Mountain post office is nearly right on the trail, but is has very limited hours. I discovered they are are not always open during those hours.
mistiaggie
02-23-2010, 23:26
honestly those choices suck. this is the most ussless drop list ever. most of your towns have large supermarkets. and the spacing is terrible. its as if you tryed to one up my bad spelling with bad drop box listing.when you get your box at a town with a supermarket and free shuttle or within walking distance, how does your box stand up to the store?
Well, you are nice.
The Bear Mountain was not recommended in the guidebook because it might totally be closed down completely. So, why risk it?
Damascus was written elsewhere on the forum because of switching out gear. If you are going to the PO anyway, why not just get a drop and save money.
JustaTouron
02-23-2010, 23:51
Well, you are nice.
The Bear Mountain was not recommended in the guidebook because it might totally be closed down completely. So, why risk it?
Damascus was written elsewhere on the forum because of switching out gear. If you are going to the PO anyway, why not just get a drop and save money.
One piece of advice. Ignore mweinstone. Usually it is pretty easy as most of his post are incomprehensible. The rare post that are comprehendible are just worse.
I would not do a maildrop at Crawford Notch. If there is a tight window for good weather to get through the Presidentials and you have to go to Bartlett for the day (or get stuck on a weekend) you might miss the views on one of the nicer sections of the trail. Try to get enough "meals" to get you from Glencliff to Gorham. There are many opportunities to restock your snacks through this section; AMC huts, small stores to the N and S in Crawfords, Mt. Washington and Pinkham Notch visitor center. Gorham can be accessed from Rt 16 or Rt 2 depending on your food situation; either one should be an easy hitch. The Shaw's in Gorham went out of business so the remaining grocery store is unfortuantely a Wal-mart. Also, the Bear Notch Deli in Bartlett burned down this fall but there is a new store about a 1/2 mile further down the road called Bart's Deli. The food, coffee and service is all better than the previous store.
chrisaggie
02-27-2010, 13:17
Thank you all for your comments. Misti and I have revised our mail drop. It can be seen here (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahkuq7yUU-KWdDYzVXJsZGdyZWluMkN0cWJWZXJsaVE&hl=en).
We made a short time lapse video of us packing for the mail drops. :)
video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miFgNDAhOLQ&feature=player_embedded)
Chris
JustaTouron
02-27-2010, 13:31
Is Chris and Misti your real names...as opposed to Christopher etc., if not I suggest putting the same name on the mail drops as is on your drivers licence.
ARambler
02-27-2010, 13:42
Is Chris and Misti your real names...as opposed to Christopher etc., if not I suggest putting the same name on the mail drops as is on your drivers licence.
My Manager of materials has mailed more packages than anyone else, all were to Jim. It is hard to believe that James is not a jerk. You absolutely should have both last names on the boxes.
btw. The PO's can run low on cash, but ususally, they will let you take out an extra $ 50 on your debit card, if you mail something home or ahead.
Rambler
JustaTouron
02-27-2010, 13:46
ARambler...
Odds are it wouldn't be a problem. But it just takes one mail clerk who feels like being an a-hole to ruin the day. And its not like it is really that hard to do what I am suggesting.
ARambler
02-27-2010, 14:05
ARambler...
Odds are it wouldn't be a problem. But it just takes one mail clerk who feels like being an a-hole to ruin the day. And its not like it is really that hard to do what I am suggesting.
Yeah, I wanted to repeat (for the third time) that the PO's do check ID 90% of the time; so no trail names and both names for couples (although in this case the same last name should help.)
I don't get the 3 days at Catawba. If the Homeplace is open, and you get back on the trail that night, you will probably get to I-81 with zero dinner stops. If the Homeplace is closed, you can get extra food at the little convenience store at the bottom of Dragons Tooth and not even hitch to Catawba.
You can get from Fontana to Hot Springs, that's what we did rather than stop in Gburg. Expect sticker shock at Standing Bear, but there's enough there to get you to Hot Springs, probably on fumes, ready to chow down. This is one of the longest difficult restocking stretches on the whole AT. The other might be the HMW.
XCskiNYC
03-12-2010, 14:35
Bear Mountain post office is nearly right on the trail, but is has very limited hours. I discovered they are are not always open during those hours.
The USPS site says it's only m-f 8-10 a.m. So if it's really even less than that, yeah, Ft. Montgomery looks like a better bet.
Cool looking spreadsheet though. I might try to figure this one out to (google docs) to use for my gear list.
Jester2000
03-12-2010, 15:41
. . . Drop at ATC hostel in PA. . .
I may be confused, but to my knowledge there is no "ATC Hostel" in PA. Am I wrong? Oh, and tragically, the ABC Store in Pearisburg is no longer right on the trail.
ARambler...
Odds are it wouldn't be a problem. But it just takes one mail clerk who feels like being an a-hole to ruin the day. And its not like it is really that hard to do what I am suggesting.
Yeah. Here's a weird thing I found out: There are POs where if we put "Jester AND JustaTouron" on our package, we both have to be there to pick it up. Whereas if we put "Jester OR JustaTouron" on it, only one of us has to be there. I don't believe this is official USPS policy (it might be, or maybe not), but I do know people who have run into this problem.
stranger
03-18-2010, 02:55
Maildrops are not going to save you any money...if anything, they cost more than buying 90% of the time. Plus the Damascus supermarket is one of the best along the trail these days. But either way it's all good, it doesn't really matter now does it?
Also, as Jack Tarlin's article suggests, try to send as many drops as possible to motels, outfitters, hostels, etc...cause these places are usually always open, where as PO's close around noon on Saturday for the weekend.
JustaTouron
03-18-2010, 08:55
Yeah. Here's a weird thing I found out: There are POs where if we put "Jester AND JustaTouron" on our package, we both have to be there to pick it up. Whereas if we put "Jester OR JustaTouron" on it, only one of us has to be there. I don't believe this is official USPS policy (it might be, or maybe not), but I do know people who have run into this problem.
Would not surprise me if it was official policy and when people were able to get the packages anyway was an employee being nice and not following policy. As opposed to no policy and when people had trouble it was someone being a jerk.
And means both; or means either. I learned this the hard way when we bought a safety deposit box and put an "and" instead of an "or" between my wife's name and mine. When my wife went to the bank to access it, she was told we both had to be present. (We have since fixed it, but it was a PITA.)
peakbagger
03-18-2010, 12:52
My two cents on food drops and the whites is that most folks underestimate the substantial reduction in daily mileage when they leave Glencliff and officialy "hit the whites" and therefore underestimate their food. There are no real convienient spots to resupply unless you are willing to hitch at road crossings. That said, if you time the AMC huts right, you can usually get some baked goods and all you can eat soup for lunch at the huts. This can stretch the food supply, you can also buy a meal up at the State Pakr building on Mt Washington but it tends to be a bit pricey.A typical hitch to a store is going to be a minimum of 2 hours during daylight and longer in the evening, therefore if you are on a tight schedule, the added hitches can screw things up a bit.
Thanks, peakbagger, those are good points to consider.
Blissful
03-18-2010, 14:42
I found I needed less food in the Whites b/c of the AMC huts. Breakfast food in AM (sometimes free pancakes), soup and breads at lunch. Then supper leftovers at work for stay. But I also got off at Franconia Notch, Crawford Notch and Pinkham Notch too.
As far as hitching eating into your schedule, the Whites is a good place to take it easy due to the terrain and weather conditions. Rest can be beneficial. IMO.
Bear Mountain post office is nearly right on the trail, but is has very limited hours. I discovered they are are not always open during those hours.
Budget cuts!
I visit Bear Mountain Inn often, and a lot of the time, there's no one in the PO during hours it should be open.
Fort Montgomery is a bit further but more reliable.
There are two PO's at the other end of Harriman park. From the trail crossing at Route 17 just north of Arden Mtn.
Arden, NY; 10910, 0.7mi W and Southfields, NY; 10975, 2.1m E. The Data book 2010 also has L and M listed for Southfields.
FW