My '05 mail drops

[Bloodroot]

I think I have all the mail drops that I need, I used Jack Tarlin’s recommendations for most and discussed the rest with friends.

Mail drops:

1. Neel’s Gap

2. Fontana Dam

3. Somewhere near Atkins (any recommendations?)

4. Port Clinton

5. Wind Gap

6. Unionville

7. Bear Mtn.

8. Glenciff

9. Monson



Any other suggestions on this would be great.

Thanks

[tribes]

IMHO, I would skip out on Wind Gap, PA and Unionville, NY. Instead use Delaware Water Gap and Vernon, NJ. DWG is one day or less from Wind Gap and you will most likely stop there anyways. Also, IMHO, Vernon is a better trail town with an A & P within walking distance of the hostel at ST. Thomas Episcopal church. I cannot comment on the other areas of the trail but being from NJ, that is how I would do that section of trail.

I would keep the Bear Mtn drop. However, I would keep all of these drops on the small side because you will be on the "deli circuit" by then and will likely be hitting at least one store or deli type establishment every day, if desired, to supplement your caloric needs.

I start April 1st see you if you catch up to me.

TRI :sun BES 05'

[Moose2001]

I would agree with Tribes on dropping Wind Gap and Unionville. If you're going down into Wind Gap to get to the Post Office, you'll be close to stores anyway. So why send a drop there? Stop at Unionville and have a sandwich and a cold drink and keep on going to Vernon.

I would suggest adding two drops, NOC and Standing Bear. You can probably buy enough food at NOC to take you to Fontana. However, you're betting they aren't cleaned out by other hikers. A small drop, two nights, here will take you over to Fontana. Also a small drop at Standing Bear, North end of the Smokies, will cut down on how much food you have to carry out of Fontana.

Have a good trip....see ya out there.

[hungryhowie]

The others have made good suggestions, but I'd like to add one. Unless you've got a particular reason for a drop a Neels Gap other than food, I'd just buy what you need at Mountain's Crossing, the outfitter actually on the trail. They seem to do a very good job of anticipating demand as I've never seen them run out of more than just a couple of items.

As far as Atkins goes, I don't know if it still exists or accepts them, but there used to be a motel not far from the trail that took maildrops. In 2000, they didn't even require a night's stay, although, if it is near the end of the day, they certainly appreciate your business.

-howie

[A-Train]

Heres what I got:

First off, I would skip the Neels Gap drop. Many may disagree with me, but I sent one and didnt really need it. Only positive is that you feel an early connection to home which can be nice. They have a good selection at the Outfitter and the prices aren't that outrageous. When you factor in 8 bucks to send a box of food, why not just buy? There are pounds and pounds of food left in the hikers boxes at Neels Gap and you can resupply to get to Dicks Creek Gap on that alone. Plus most hikers dont eat a lot the first couple days and you'll probably still have half your food bag upon ariving at the hostel.

I agree with Moose. Adding a small NOC box is smart. It's right on the trail. Especially with Rainbow Springs closing.

The "Atkins" drop I recommend is the Relax Inn. The address is in the book, I believe it is something like "Lee Hwy" and is in Groseclose. This is a convenient place for a drop because many hikers end up spending the night here anyway and there is nowhere to resupply besides a gas station. I believe these folks don't mind holding a drop for you even if you dno't stay. I would offer them a couple bucks if you don't.

Sorry this is out of order here, but I disagree with Moose about Standing Bear. I sent a box there and it was overkill. They have enough food in their shack to get you the 2 days over to HS. With Gatlinburg/Mt mommas and SB there is really no reason to carry more than 3 days in between FD and HS.

The rest looks good. I agree with Tribes. The Wind Gap/unionville are overkill with Vernon right there. You can fill in with many restraunt/deli stops in this area.
Port Clinton I sent one too, as there is nothing in the town. But I wouldn't use one again as there is a huge supermarket 2-3 miles down the road and hitching isn't too bad.

I would consider one in Andover ME, but besides that you're lookin good.

[SGT Rock]

Hey, where is the PO at Fontanna? I have driven past there a few times but I have never seen it. I have seen the Hike Inn.

[A-Train]

PO is in Fonatana Village-about 2 miles from the trail at NC 28

[SGT Rock]

I have seen Fontana Village, just never went up in there. Does the Hike Inn accept packages?

[neo]

hey bloodroot
ya definately want to do a mail drop in port clinton for sure,only store there is a peanut store,a good outfitter is there but,i hiked there in off season,i couldnt even buy a roll of toilet paper,sure wish i had mail dropped their,:sun neo

[neo]

wind gap pa and unionville newyork,nothing in union gap but a tavern,small convience store,and a post office:sun neo

[Peaks]

There is a store in Monson, so mail drop is optional.

There is also a store in Unionville, so mail drop is optional there also.

I'll agree with others, no need for a drop at Neels Gap. The store is more than adequate. Most people ship excess gear out from there.

At the north end of the Smokies, you need to decide on either resupply at Mountain Momma's or mail drop at Standing Bear.

[Bloodroot]

Thanks a lot guys, you have been a great help. So this is what I am concluding from the majority

Revised mail drops:

-Eliminating Neels Gap

1. NOC

2. Fontanna Dam

3. Relax Inn (Atkins)

4. Port Clinton

-Eliminate Wind Gap and Unionville

5. Bear Mtn.

6. Glencliff

7. Monson (where is the store in regards to the trail?)

8. Possible drop near Andover as A-Train suggests. Is there nothing within distance?

[TJ aka Teej]

7. Monson (where is the store in regards to the trail?)

8. Possible drop near Andover as A-Train suggests. Is there nothing within distance?
Monson's 5 or 6 miles off the AT, whether you hitch in from the AT south or north of town. The Monson General Store is about 100 yards from Shaw's. Shaw's also has a pretty good little gear store out back by the cow shed. If you need anything out of the ordinary though, (odd sized batteries, digital camera memory cards, fuel tabs) you'd do well to mail it to yourself. Up at Greenville (N 8 miles from the AT crossing N of Monson) there's a larger supermarket and two or three outfitters. Remember Monson or Greenville will be your last mail drop before you summit Katahdin.

Andover's little markets will supply the imaginitive hiker for a 2-3 days.

[A-Train]

Bloodroot:

I used the same resupply suggestions as you 2 yrs ago and was under the impression Andover had a couple good markets. Well the truth is the two stores are basically gas station selection, meaning no problem if you don't mind beef jerky, oatmeal cream pies, fudge brownies, pop tarts etc. all at semi-expensive prices.
Yes Rangeley is only a couple days up the trail. I hitched to the grocery store there and hitched right back to trail, as there is a huge IGA. I wouldn't have had to go there if Andover had a better selection.

If I were to hike again I'd have a drop here to get me the 4 days to Stratton.

And TJ is right. Monson is about the same, 2 small general store/gas station stores with mostly junk food. The Shaw's needed to go to a big supermarket in another town and took us there, so you could roll the dice and try getting a ride or send a maildrop there.

[Gimp]

Before we hiked the At in '03. we had no idea just how many food drops to use. I sort of posed the question out there in cyberspace and Two Scoops answered within a minute. We had sort of figured, like you, on a dozen or so, but he said you couldn't have too many. We actually ended up with about 33 and didn't find it too many or not enough. Now being from Canada, we weren't totally sure of just what food we would be able to get easily on the trail. We sort of thought that most of the towns that we would be going through would be a lot like Monson Maine. You know very small with a gas station and al the Lays potato chips and Bud you would ever want but not much in the way of real food and staples. Well on that mark we were wrong, most towns have pretty big grocery stores. But it was nice getting parcels from home and we had dried all the veggies ahead of time that we added to our dinner each nite. We ended up with way too much food in our drops but didn't have any problem giving it away and some said they actually tried to get into town just after the Grayhounds as we left such good stuff in the hiker boxes.
We had planned on 180 days and 180 suppers and 180 breakfasts etc. but with town stays and restaurants and trail magic and only 161 days on the trail we had way more than enough.
At least if you have food drops you don't have to worry about the quality of the store or just how far away it might be.
Some worried about the hours of the post offices nut with 4 or 5 days between them we could see that the next one was 67 miles and scheduled our days so as to arrive in plenty of time before closing. You don't just wake up on Saturday morning and say "oh look 21 miles before the post office closes at noon. Half the fun was trying to figure out just how far before the next post office and where we would stay to make it happen. Alos by posting that schedule for all our friends, we were continually surprised by extra goodies that people sent us and wow was that ever appreciated. Only one of parcel ever went astry, so US Postal Services not only kept lance Armstrong on the straight and narrow they came through for us to.
One other thing You can get good deals by shopping for the specials before you go and instead of Liptons for $1.69 you can them for 3 for $4.00 or even a buck.
Gimp of the Grayhounds
Ga-Me '03

[c.coyle]

ya definately want to do a mail drop in port clinton for sure,only store there is a peanut store,a good outfitter is there but,i hiked there in off season,i couldnt even buy a roll of toilet paper,sure wish i had mail dropped their

You can hitch 3 miles into Hamburg, where you'll find a supermarket. Hamburg's pretty much a full service small town.

[Peaks]

7. Monson (where is the store in regards to the trail?)

8. Possible drop near Andover as A-Train suggests. Is there nothing within distance?

Monson: I assume that you will probably want to go into Monson anyway. It's the last resupply before the 100 miles (and Baxter State Park if you don't go to Whitehouse Landing). As I recall, the general store had the usual thru-hiker food, such as Liptons, etc. Both store and PO are within a few hundred yards of Shaw's. If you want something else, then either plan on going to Greenville, or do a mail drop.

With the exception of the PO in Caratunk, there are no resupply points close to the AT in Maine. So, plan your resupply accordingly. Many go into Andover. I skipped it and kept on hiking. I resupplied in Rangely and skipped Stratton. Many go into Stratton. It all depends on how much food you want to carry, and how far off the AT you want to go for resupply, and how often you want to resupply.

Likewise, you need to make decisions about resupply through the White Mountains. Many resupply at Glencliff. Many also go into North Lincoln for Kinsman Notch or Franconia Notch. Others go to the campground store from Crawford Notch. Others maildrop at Pinkham Notch. All depends on how much food you want to carry, and how often you want to go off the trial for resupply, and how far off the trail you want to go for resupply.

[Max Clayton]

Gimp,
We think alike. Do you have alist of your mail drops?

Max