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August West
11-03-2004, 17:42
Hi all,

Im planning a thru-hike for this coming spring and am just getting down to developing a mail drop itinerary. I've read several things on the matter, but Im just wondering what the general consensus is on how many days worth of food to pack between mail drops. Our goal is to start in mid-March and finish before September 1st, so our overall average will be 14 to 15 miles a day.

Keep it groovy

-August

Jack Tarlin
11-03-2004, 17:48
August---

Unless one is very slow, there is NOWHERE on the Trail that you'll ever need to carry more than seven days of food; in most cases, you'll be carring between two and five days worth. There are really a lot more places to re-supply than you might think, and in that the re-supply opportunities are so numerous, with the right planning and preparation, you'll never overpack needlessly.

Also, the question of using actual "food drops" has been covered extensively here at Whiteblaze. While sending food to ones self on the Trail used to be the universal practice, in recent years, most folks have opted to get most of their food while en route, unless of course they've chosen to dehydrate their own meals, or are on specialized or restriced diets.

If you go to the "Information" section of the website, you'll find all sorts of re-supply and maildrop information that you might find useful in planning your food and resupply needs.

SalParadise
11-03-2004, 18:15
You especially won't need to carry too many days worth of food because you'll be keeping a healthy average of miles per day.

You may also want to consider that since you're looking to finish somewhat early, relying strictly on maildrops could possibly slow you down. You could get to town either past post office hours or on a Sunday and have to wait, or if you get ahead of schedule and have to wait for packages. A bounce box might add a little flexibility.

Peaks
11-03-2004, 18:53
As posted, people usually leave towns with between one and seven days food. It all depends on what section of the AT you are on at the time. And, how far off the AT you want to go for resupply.

If you haven't already done so, get the ALDHA Companion or Wingfoot's Handbook. Then, make a baseline schedule, and figure out where your resupply places are going to be. Some are no-brainers, like where you hike right past a supermarket (such as in Hanover). Once done, then fill in the gaps until you get to a point where you are comfortable carrying the needed food to get you to the next resupply point.

chris
11-03-2004, 19:24
Part of this depends on how much you want to go into town. In general, I'd rather be hiking. So, I skip some towns where I'd have to hitch in. For example, I think going from Walasi-Yi straight to the NOC makes a lot of sense, for me at least. You can shorten this leg by hitching into a town. Similarly, I think going from Fontana all the way to Hot Springs also makes a lot of sense. Ditto for Waynesboro to Harpers Ferry, although you can supplement in Shenandoah rather easily.

In terms of overall pace, if you think (now, at home) you can eventually average 14-15 miles a day (ending average), then you should probably plan on averaging around 10-12 miles per day at the start. This seems to be about standard anyways. So, you'll want 3 days and a morning's worth of food on Springer. You will not want to go all the way to NOC from Walasi-Yi. From NOC, it will then take you about 2 days to get into Fontana. From Fontana, haul to Newfound Gap (about 3 days) and hitch into Gatlingburg (hate that place) for more supplies. Go from Newfound Gap to Standing Bear Farm (another 3ish days). Go from Standing Bear Farm to Hot Springs.

NotYet
11-03-2004, 20:48
I found that with good planning, mail drops were very convenient, inexpensive, and even more importantly, I got exactly the food I wanted. This allowed me to have a varied diet that was full of the foods that I actually like...and a well-fed hiker is a happy hiker!!! Also, I didn't necessarily want to stop just because there was a place to re-supply nearby. Most of my mail-drops were between 3 and 7 days of hiking. But, I did have two 9-day food drops. This worked great for me, but I don't mind my pack being a tad on the heavy side!

My thru-hike took 5 and-a-half months. I used the Thru-hiker's Companion and the Data Book to plan the food drops. Another important resource that I used in my planning was the calendar...I'm glad I kept tabs on post office holidays, weekends, etc.; so that they never became an issue. Whenever I decided to alter my plans a bit, I'd just take into consideration if I needed to buy a little extra food, or if a holiday/weekend needed to be factored into the new equation!

Have a good hike! :)

Youngblood
11-03-2004, 21:16
I'm not sure from the initial question whether you think you pick a certain number of days worth of food (four for instance) and plan your hike around that. The answer is that it will vary depending on personal preferences and availability of options. One mail drop/resupply might be for 3 days and the next might be for 5 days, depending on where the towns are located. Pay attention to Jack's post above, he has done a lot of 'practicing'. You might want to borrow someone else's plan or maybe you will enjoy researching the options and developing your own plan... the choice is yours. :)

Youngblood

Peaks
11-04-2004, 08:51
Part of this depends on how much you want to go into town. In general, I'd rather be hiking.

Good post. You said it better than I. Everyone's idea of how often they want to get into town differs.

hustler
11-07-2004, 21:52
Rule of thumb: If you're carrying more than 4 days of food you are doing something wrong. This includes 100 mile wilderness, smokies, whites, etc.

UCONNMike
11-07-2004, 21:59
I was on a section hike this summer for 9 days, to learn the do and don't from people thru-hiking the trail. They said the same thing no more than 4 days, depending on where you are, b/c you are never a day away from a town where you could grab a short term supply of food before you get to a long term supply point. They also said to forget mail drops, your food tastes change, and you never know what you may what or how much of it. The dozens of hikers i meet abandoned their maildrops early on. On my thru-hike this coming up summer i plan to do no more than 4 days at a time, prob more like 3.

A-Train
11-07-2004, 22:16
Most of the time you're gonna be carrying too much food. I can admit I almost always did and probably still do. I think its human nature to worry about not having enough to get by. The reality on the AT is that you can hitch at almost any road and find some civilization. But always better to be prepared and not have to ruin a day finding food in far off places.

As said above, places like the Whites, Shenendoahs and 100 mile wilderness people really tend to carry too much food. The reality is that yea, most likely you'll find food in these areas, doing work for stay in the whites, stopping at the Grills in Shenendoah or getting handouts from trail angels, etc. I can almost guarantee this, but of course you never wanna roll the dice, assuming it doesn't work out. Think you get the picture.

I'm more in the school of thought of resupplying often, but not sticking around in town. Try and stop at as many places in close proximity to the trail, cause there are lots. I like to keep the load light and resupply every 2-4 days, but don't like spending more than a couple hours in town. If you're going out to hike, you should wanna, well...hike.

minnesotasmith
11-08-2004, 01:39
"Rule of thumb: If you're carrying more than 4 days of food you are doing something wrong. This includes 100 mile wilderness..."

100 divided by 4 gives 25, as in, 25 miles a day in the 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine. Uh, darned few of us can expect to reliably hike 25+ miles a day, even near the end of our through-hikes. Do you advocate everyone up there depending on other people for food after day four, going without food after day four until they get to a town, fishing/trapping/hunting for much of their food, or what?:confused:

Youngblood
11-08-2004, 05:23
I think Hustler's rule of thumb is for hikers that hike as many miles per day as he does, and not for every hiker. As you observed, you need to make the math work out for your hike.

One thing to consider with your math is that you often eat a meal before you leave town/resupply and when you arrive in town/resupply. So, if you do the 100 mile wilderness in 5 days, you might(?) get by packing 4 breadfasts, 5 lunch/snacks and 4 dinners... or you might stop at Whitehouse Landing(?) and have dinner and a breakfast or just stop and grab a cheeze burger for lunch.

Youngblood

Jaybird
11-08-2004, 06:22
i carry enuff food til i can get to the next mail-drop or the next town to re-supply!


no reason to take more food/weight than you HAVE TO carry! :D




the lighter the better....thats what my knees tell me!

Peaks
11-08-2004, 08:23
Rule of thumb: If you're carrying more than 4 days of food you are doing something wrong. This includes 100 mile wilderness, smokies, whites, etc.

I think the answer partly depends on what type of a hike you want to do. For example, I probably carried 6 days worth of food into the 100 miles, partly because I did not plan on going to White House Landing. Likewise, I carried enough into the Smokies to get me to Davenport Gap, and enough thought the White so I didn't need to depend on work for stays, or go into Woodstock or Crawford Notch for Resupply.

NotYet
11-08-2004, 09:29
They also said to forget mail drops, your food tastes change, and you never know what you may what or how much of it. The dozens of hikers i meet abandoned their maildrops early on.

The more you get out there and hike, the better you know your food needs and preferences. I mailed food I like, and I never tired of it (in fact my husband and I even eat Minute Rice with Fantastics Black Bean Flakes regularly at home as one of our favorite meals). :)

As for amounts, I noticed that we did pack more food than a lot of the other hikers that we met...but we ate every bit of it, and we even supplemented what we had packed with extra food we bought in town. I lost 20 pounds, so I don't think I was over-doing it.

The main thing to remember is that every one is different...what works for some can be disastrous for others! Listen to the advice that people give, but use what makes the most sense for you. I don't believe you are "doing something wrong" if what you're doing works for you, and you're enjoying your trip.

Doctari
11-08-2004, 11:39
Some things I usually forget about carrying food:
On the first day out of town I usually don't NEED to carry breakfast, I usually carry it tho :rolleyes:
On the last day into town I usually don't NEED to carry Dinner I usually carry it tho :rolleyes:

And, for me: I dont eat much the first 1 to 2 days of a hike, I KNOW this, yet I always carry food for those days as if I was going to actually eat it. Example: 3 week hike, Day one: ate 2 candy bars, packed; 1/2 Lb dinner, 8 candy bars, breakfast (I hit the trail @ 2:00 PM, why did I pack breakfast??) Day 2: ate 3 candy bars, some jerky, 1/2 of my 1/2 Lb dinner. Packed Breakfast, lunch Dinner. Probable total excess weight carried: 3 Lbs. Each trip I swear I'll never do that again, after 6 years of long hikes, I still do it.

Doctari.

jersey joe
11-08-2004, 17:36
They also said to forget mail drops, your food tastes change, and you never know what you may what or how much of it.
I did mail drops the whole way and was lucky enough to have my family sending them from home as I hiked. This allowed me the opportunity to make changes and adjustments to the food being sent to me as I hiked which worked out well.

jersey joe
11-08-2004, 17:54
When I did my thru, I planned a lot of days between my mail drops, even as many as 10 days. I didn't want to venture into towns any more than I had to. While I managed 10+ days, if I thru hiked again, I would definitly cut down the milage between drops. I found from 4-7 days worked best for me.
Here is the schedule that I used for my mail drops. I'd use it as a skeleton (minimum) and fill it in where you can.
http://geocities.com/joegamehike/mail.html

Youngblood
11-09-2004, 11:00
When I did my thru, I planned a lot of days between my mail drops, even as many as 10 days. I didn't want to venture into towns any more than I had to. While I managed 10+ days, if I thru hiked again, I would definitly cut down the milage between drops. I found from 4-7 days worked best for me.
Here is the schedule that I used for my mail drops. I'd use it as a skeleton (minimum) and fill it in where you can.
http://geocities.com/joegamehike/mail.html

Jersey Joe,

Was there a 'distance from the trail' qualifier that used to determine your maildrops?

Youngblood

jersey joe
11-09-2004, 15:44
Youngblood,
While planning my thru, I didn't want to have to hitchhike at all, I wasn't comfortable with it(being from NJ where it isn't a common thing to do). I also didn't want to hike much more than a mile into town if I didn't have to.

While hiking I realized that It wasn't such a big deal to hitch into town for drops and did so frequently. (Waynesboro, Pearisburg, Gorham) I also bounced my box from Cornwall Bridge and instead went to the grocery store in Kent.

Youngblood
11-09-2004, 16:56
...While hiking I realized that It wasn't such a big deal to ...

Yeah, I think most of us do that on a few things the first time out. When I look back at what all I have figured different today, I wonder what a 2nd thru-hike would be like. I think I would purposely do some things differently just to add some unknowns... how about you?

Youngblood

MOWGLI
11-09-2004, 19:39
I also bounced my box from Cornwall Bridge and instead went to the grocery store in Kent.

Joe, I guess you missed Salisbury, CT them. For me, that was a great little town. They have a great market & pharmacy. Although I was in & out the same evening, and culdn't get a hitch either way, it was one of those stops that was very memorable. I was all by myself, it was raining, but everything seemed right with the world.

Kent is a great little town too. Lots of good food at the markets.

Ridge
11-10-2004, 09:51
You carry all the food you can, then worry about it when you run out. Mail drops or "bounced boxes" can be planned for and/or adjusted to suit your needs. Eating and planning for meals is one of those things that is as variable as the number of miles per day one hikes, you have to adjust for whats right for you. I usually put on weight before a long hike, knowing I'm going to lose it, even though I try my best not to while on the trail (taking in all the cals I can).

August West
11-10-2004, 13:57
When I did my thru, I planned a lot of days between my mail drops, even as many as 10 days. I didn't want to venture into towns any more than I had to. While I managed 10+ days, if I thru hiked again, I would definitly cut down the milage between drops. I found from 4-7 days worked best for me.
Here is the schedule that I used for my mail drops. I'd use it as a skeleton (minimum) and fill it in where you can.
http://geocities.com/joegamehike/mail.html

Great site Jersey, How difficult was it for you to start off hiking 11-12 miles a day? My hiking partner and I are in average shape and we planned on starting at 8-9 a day...but I like your schedule

Jack Tarlin
11-10-2004, 14:35
While Jersey's list is fine,prospective thru-hikers may want to remember that's it's frequently possible to send mail or maildrops to NON Post Office locations, such as hostels, motels, outfitters, etc. The obvious advantage to this is that hikers have the option of retrieving their mail 7 days a week, and are not subject to Post Office daily hours of operation. Nearly every thru-hiker can tell a story of arriving in town too late to get to the Post office by closing time, or they can tell stories of having to do enormous trail miles at great speed in order to get to a P.O. on time. Most hikers can tell stories of missing their mail because their "saturday morning dash" to the post office in question didn't get there in time.....hikers frequently have to either blow off a mail drop altogether, or wait around til Monday morning to retrieve their mail. And on several occasions each year, such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, one might have to wait til TUESDAY morning to get mail. If your maildrop contains such things as money, medications, etc., this can be a horrible inconveneince.

For all these reasons, I suggest that hikers planning on sending themselves mail or maildrops study the guidebooks carefully and consider sending some, (if not most) of their mail to sites that aren't necessarily U.S. Post Offices.

weary
11-10-2004, 15:15
I was on a section hike this summer for 9 days, to learn the do and don't from people thru-hiking the trail. They said the same thing no more than 4 days, depending on where you are, b/c you are never a day away from a town where you could grab a short term supply of food before you get to a long term supply point. They also said to forget mail drops, your food tastes change, and you never know what you may what or how much of it. The dozens of hikers i meet abandoned their maildrops early on. On my thru-hike this coming up summer i plan to do no more than 4 days at a time, prob more like 3.

I had the advantage of never having earned much money so I knew all about basic trail foods, spaghetti, rice and similar stuff. I had also lived long enough to know what my food preferences would be, so mail drops worked fine.

If there was a resupply source within a mile of the trail, I always resupplied, whether I had hiked one day or six. Whether resupply was from a store or a post office depended entirely on which Wingfoot and/or the data book said was closer.

Weary

Jack Tarlin
11-10-2004, 15:48
While the distance from the Trail is certainly a factor in where you should re-supply (in fact, it's a large factor), to always go with the re-supply place (store or P.O.) that is merely the physically closest to you is not always the wisest way to re-supply: In many cases, there are stores that are physically closer to the Trail than the nearest Post Offices, but they aren't necessary great places to shop, either because of price, availability of specific needed items, etc. And in other cases, there are Post Offices that you'll come to that are either near or even directly on the Trail that aren't necessarily "better" than a store or market that might require you to walk a few minutes further.

As a rule, re-supplying your food primarily by mail is a good choice if you're on a limited or restricted diet (vegan, Kosher, No-salt, etc). It's also a good way to go if you plan to dehydrate or otherwise prepare most of the food for your trip. And up to a point, it can be a good way to go if you plan to buy a lot of stuff in bulk quantities before your trip in order to save money (tho the reality is that when you throw in postal charges, this generally doesn't save you much in the long run).

Most folks these days get most of their food while en route, except for the comparatively few places where maildrop re-supply is a good idea, mainly because of the absence of, or the long distance from, a decent store. But the principal factor should not necessarily be whether or not a P.O. or a store is actually closer to you or the Trail: In some cases, the closest spot is indeed the best place to go for your re-supply; in many cases, tho, this is simply not the case.

Also, be aware that many trail towns have more than one store or supermarket, and the closest one is not always the best one; in many cases, this simply isn't true, and in many cases, taking a few extra minutes to walk to the larger or "better" store will be well worth your time.

Just because a possible resupply location is really close to the Trail does not necessarily make it the best place to get your supplies. Instead of planning on going to every place that's really close to the Trail, the prudent hiker might instead want to study his or her guidebooks and planning guides more carefully, to ensure that they don't make more pit stops than they really need, and that they elect to shop and re-supply at the places that make the most sense, both in terms of convenience to the hiker, as well as in terms of selection, price, etc.

Lastly, most folks don't resupply at every possible location; it's simply not necessary to do so, and it'd take up a great deal of one's time hitting every spot merely because they were less than a mile away.

Youngblood
11-10-2004, 15:55
While Jersey's list is fine,prospective thru-hikers may want to remember that's it's frequently possible to send mail or maildrops to NON Post Office locations, such as hostels, motels, outfitters, etc. The obvious advantage to this is that hikers have the option of retrieving their mail 7 days a week, and are not subject to Post Office daily hours of operation. Nearly every thru-hiker can tell a story of arriving in town too late to get to the Post office by closing time, or they can tell stories of having to do enormous trail miles at great speed in order to get to a P.O. on time. Most hikers can tell stories of missing their mail because their "saturday morning dash" to the post office in question didn't get there in time.....hikers frequently have to either blow off a mail drop altogether, or wait around til Monday morning to retrieve their mail. And on several occasions each year, such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, one might have to wait til TUESDAY morning to get mail. If your maildrop contains such things as money, medications, etc., this can be a horrible inconveneince.

For all these reasons, I suggest that hikers planning on sending themselves mail or maildrops study the guidebooks carefully and consider sending some, (if not most) of their mail to sites that aren't necessarily U.S. Post Offices.


Jack,

I think you forgot to mention the 'down side' to mail drops not sent to U.S Post Offices. I'll try but I think you know them better than me. The U.S. Post Office is pretty secure, in that you need to show an ID to receive your package. This is not always the case at businesses, some times they tell you which closet they are in and you go and get yours yourself without anyone checking what you take. The PO will foreward packages up the trail for you if you want to leave before it gets there. Seems like there may be a couple of other things too. Anyhow, it may be that some packages that are of exceptional value or that you absolutely have to have, that you may want use the PO.

Youngblood

Jack Tarlin
11-10-2004, 18:49
Youngblood made some very sensible points, especially as regards "valuable" mail, i.e. mail containing such things as traveller's checks, medication, a new ATM card, irreplacable gear, etc. And the ability to "refuse" a parcel or mailing it ahead or backwards can be useful.

However, the "security" aspect is overstated, I think: I've very seldom heard of hiker mail being lost or stolen from a store, hostel, or non P.O. site; likewise, I have indeed heard of packages getting mis-placed or mis-directed by the Post office, tho this is often the fault of the sender, who mis-labelled a package, used the wrong zip code, etc.

There are advantages to both methods. YB has pointed out the principal benefits of using the USPS; the principal benefit of using other sites is mainly convenience, especially if you direct your parcels to hostels or motels where you planned on staying anyway. In these cases, you have the added benefit of having your mail already there when you arrive, so you not only can skip the trip to the P.O. to get your mail, but it also doesn't matter what time or day you arrive. Also, motels and hostels will happily turn over your mail to other folks if you direct them to do so, and this is NOT always the case with a Post office. So there are advantages and disadvantages to each method.

In short, most hikers use all sorts of resources when it comes to picking up mail or parcels, and most folks seem to end up using both Post offices and private addresses. In most cases, it all works out just fine.

Peaks
11-11-2004, 09:09
Just to continue Jack's post a little further:

And most thru-hikers feel that if they were to hike the AT again, they would use fewer mail drops.

So, this brings up the question Jack, how many mail drops did you use on your first thru? And how many do you now rely on?

hikerdude
11-11-2004, 13:11
I prefer the Freezed dried Chili Mac myself. And a fresh Italian 12" sub for tonite after I pick up my chili mac at the P.O. and pick up some Hot Pockets at the store for trail bars to get out of town.
But nobody is in to that crap anymore. Its beyond that now, its beyond backpacking. You don't carry anything, food, or a stupid backpack, or even a cup or bottle to drink or wear a shirt or socks. All of the trail is accessed by a car thru some couple mile side trail at the most. They all lease cars from the local I-95 cities on your travel maps with some friends you get together. Then you call on your cell phones to meet and start to just run from car to car with nothing but animal shorts and 2oz windshirt on and running shoes today and you'll do your best milage ever maybe even 50 mile a day if your a pro, depending on the level your groups training level without any bothersome gear at all with you. The great thing is the colder out the faster you run to keep warm. Then when you make it back to the second car before dark you drive to a fancy place to eat and pick up the other car and sleep at some budget motel with Cable TV and a fresh made clean bed everyday and plan your route for tomorrow on the xtra bed if you didn't share it with another trail runner. Then you do the same thing the next day all over again after a big breakfast first. It's all about the new future of hiking.:confused: mumblemumblemumble

SGT Rock
11-12-2004, 09:44
The more of those out there, the less actual crowding on the trail at campsites and shelters. Seems like a plus to me LOL.

MileMonster
11-12-2004, 12:07
I just wanted to point out that, in my experience, hitching in the south is pretty easy thus making getting to resupply fairly easy. Don't be afraid to go 10 miles into Helen or Franklin. They see so many hikers down there that just about anyone will stop to pick you up. Just my experience.

jersey joe
11-13-2004, 12:02
Yeah, I think most of us do that on a few things the first time out. When I look back at what all I have figured different today, I wonder what a 2nd thru-hike would be like. I think I would purposely do some things differently just to add some unknowns... how about you?

Youngblood
I agree Youngblood, there is a certain excitement to the unknown. That being said, I guess sometimes we may plan too much.

jersey joe
11-13-2004, 12:15
While Jersey's list is fine,prospective thru-hikers may want to remember that's it's frequently possible to send mail or maildrops to NON Post Office locations, such as hostels, motels, outfitters, etc. Jack,
Sending packages to Hostels was another big unknown to me(like hitchhiking) before I started my hike, so that's why I didn't use them in my planning. If I were to thru again I would send packages to hostels as well as POs. Neels Gap is a no brainer, NOW!

I definitly ran into quite a few situations where I was racing for mail drops before the PO closed for the weekend. This was a bit inconvenient but I was able to bounce boxes up the trail if needed by sending them priority. Also, for me, planning out how I would get to my mail drops before the POs closed proved to be an interesting challenge and certainly made my hike more interesting.

jersey joe
11-13-2004, 12:21
Great site Jersey, How difficult was it for you to start off hiking 11-12 miles a day? My hiking partner and I are in average shape and we planned on starting at 8-9 a day...but I like your schedule
Thanks August,
It wasn't all that difficult to average 12 miles a day in the beginning of my hike. I was in pretty good shape and 12 miles if you think about it is only 6 hours of hiking at 2 miles an hour(very doable). I think the key is to listen to your body, try to stay healthy, the miles will come. One limiting factor that I never thought about before my hike is that in March it gets dark at 5pm, days are shorter, so I would sometimes find myself pulling up at a shelter at 3ish and calling it a day.