7 day hike - Resupply or not?

I plan on hiking from Neel's Gap to Franklin, NC during the first week of October. Looks like it will be about 7 days and 6 nights. I'm torn about whether or not I should plan to resupply in Hiawassee or just go straight through. I'd rather not spend more time off the trail than I have to. My original plan was to shuttle to the Hiawassee Inn, pick up a maildrop and spend the night, then head back to the trail the next day. I got to thinking about maybe just carrying 7 days worth of food with me from the get go. Yeah, it would suck at the beginning of the hike, but I will also get to spend more time on the trail, and not have to worry about the shuttle/hotel/shuttle stuff in Hiawassee.

Is it just crazy talk to bring all that food with me? Still fairly new at backpacking, so i'm not sure just how out-there this idea is.

Thanks for the feedback!

Not at all crazy to carry that much food. It depends on your hiking (and eating style). You're young and shouldn't have much trouble carrying the weight. For a one week trip you should be able to get by with 2 lb. of food per day if you shop wisely. Definitely carry some oil of some kind to supplement your dry food diet. Lipton-Knorr dinners are what I ate every night when I hiked through Georgia in 2006. I carried 6 days worth of food, but my hiking buddy wanted to take a couple of zero days and had some health problems so I didn't need to carry that much as I got off the trail to go into Hiawassee on day three!
It took me 9 days total (1 zero, 1 nero day) to get through Georgia (from Amicalola, including the approach trail). Had I been by myself I would have chosen to hike straight through and could have easily done it in 6 days.
Carry lots of hard candies for quick energy and some dried fruit and meat, as well as cereal and LOTS of GORP, a small jar of peanut butter and the bread of your choice and you should do fine. Some powdered energy drink is also a good low-weight energy boost.

I think a week is 7 days long for a reason.
Six days for toil, or travel,
The seventh day for rest, or resupply.

So 7 days is just a wee bit of a stretch, one way.
A fortnight a perfect length of time for a round trip.

Not sure how hungry you are normally, but for me a 7 day hike wouldn't be an issue to carry enough food. A 7 day segment on a thru-hike would definitely be impossible (for me, maybe not for others. I got so terribly hungry.) Another option to consider is that you could supplement your food if you are feeling hungry or just feel like a hot meal and just drop into town to eat a meal and get right back on the trail.

I recently did an 8 day section hike in NJ and carried 7 days of food, only stopping at a deli to get a couple of sandwiches. I would have preferred it if I could have stopped somewhere in the middle to resupply. But either way you will still have a good time.

Panzer

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Originally Posted by Matty427

I'd rather not spend more time off the trail than I have to.

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You answered your own question.

Looks to me like you're doing roughly 10 - 11 miles a day. I would up the daily mileage and carry less food.

Completely up to you.

I personally wouldn't do it - I'd hike more mileage and carry less food.

Carrying extra food is not a bad thing in case you spend more time out there than you originally thought you would (things happen).

I hiked that stretch on my thru hike without stopping anywhere except at Mountain Crossings for a few groceries. I had originally packed enough food to get to Hiawassee, but when I saw the food at Mt Crossings, I got the idea to restock and make it to Franklin instead. It was nice staying on trail as much as possible.

It's just over 100 miles. Hiking 100 miles on a bagful of food is a fairly important skill to have for hiking the long trails.

If you're new to backpacking, you're almost guaranteed to carry way too much food. Two pounds per day is a good tip, and don't count your last day. You'll probably hike more miles than you think, especially as your food bag gets lighter. Even if you eat your last morsel at dinner the night before (highly unlikely), you're not going to die of starvation in 24 hours. And you can also gauge how you're doing at Mt Crossings and buy a few more groceries there if you really need it.

Thanks everyone. Looks like I'll be going straight through. I'll be packing all of my meals at home and bringing them down with me so I won't have to pay the inflated hiker prices. Plus I can try to aim for 2lbs a day and check it out before I go. Hopefully I still have a sub 30lb pack even with all that food. Just have to see if it will fit in my ULA Circuit!

Thanks again for the input!

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Originally Posted by garlic08

It's just over 100 miles. Hiking 100 miles on a bagful of food is a fairly important skill to have for hiking the long trails.

If you're new to backpacking, you're almost guaranteed to carry way too much food. Two pounds per day is a good tip, and don't count your last day.

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I learned that with my first hike from AFSP to Neel's Gap - I packed basically double what I thought I would need for food! I'm going to keep a breakfast and small lunch for the last day but i'm sure I'll gorge for dinner when I make it to Franklin that night.

Deffinitly able to be accomplished.

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Originally Posted by 10-K

Completely up to you.

I personally wouldn't do it - I'd hike more mileage and carry less food.

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Great minds think alike! :)