WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 50

Thread: no mail-drops?

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-07-2008
    Location
    Franklin Park, NJ
    Age
    47
    Posts
    45

    Default no mail-drops?

    Is it realistic to hike from Damascus, VA to ME without mail-drops, or at least without food mail-drops?

    I can run, I can walk, but I am very very weak at this type of long-term organization stuff.

    Thank you and happy trails,
    t.

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-20-2002
    Location
    Damascus, Virginia
    Age
    65
    Posts
    31,349

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tanya View Post
    Is it realistic to hike from Damascus, VA to ME without mail-drops, or at least without food mail-drops?

    I can run, I can walk, but I am very very weak at this type of long-term organization stuff.

    Thank you and happy trails,
    t.
    yes. totally realistic. i've never done food resupply drops

  3. #3
    Merry Hikester
    Join Date
    11-13-2004
    Location
    Carrboro, NC
    Age
    39
    Posts
    501

    Default

    Yeah, don't use em unless your trying to save some $ in those nowhere towns.
    Disclaimer: I didn't mean that......I realy love you all.

  4. #4

    Default

    Yes, you can walk from Springer to Katahdin without mail drops. It's not really a wilderness trail.

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-03-2007
    Location
    westminster, Maryland
    Age
    47
    Posts
    2,227
    Images
    58

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tanya View Post
    or at least without food mail-drops?



    Thank you and happy trails,
    t.

    If your doing mail drops for other stuff, just put in the high dollar/hard to get food also. Energy bars/gels/candies you might have a hard time getting.

    In mine I'm just doing the items that will keep me from having to run to 4 or 5 stores while relaxing in town.

  6. #6

    Default

    Realistic, and probably preferable these days. A few maildrops for gear swaps and maps, but none for food.

  7. #7

    Default Also...

    Quote Originally Posted by hobojoe View Post
    Yeah, don't use em unless your trying to save some $ in those nowhere towns.
    Or, unless you have any food preferences (high-nutrition, foreign, better-tasting) that go beyond what the dumbest and brokest third of a trailer park's inhabitants would consider a reasonable diet. When you are in Joe Bob's convenience store in Deliverance, Virginia, that's what they have for sale.

  8. #8
    Springer - Front Royal Lilred's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-26-2003
    Location
    White House, TN.
    Age
    65
    Posts
    3,100
    Images
    19

    Default

    I buy my trail food throughout the year so I don't have to save as much money for my hike. Picking up a couple packs of Liptons every week doesn't seem to cut into my budget very much. I supplement while on the trail. One way I keep the cost of my hike down. If I were to thru-hike though, I'd do it with as few mail drops as possible.
    "It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone

  9. #9

    Default

    I'm doing a SOBO and planning just two maildrops for new sets of maps: Glen Cliff, Harper's Ferry. This means I'll have to carry a large load of maps out of both Glen Cliff and Harper's Ferry, but I consider this extra weight worth it to reduce my maildrops and the risks of losing the maps somehow. The only food drop I'm sending is from Hot Springs, NC to Fontana Dam.

    These same locations would also work for a NOBO, except the food drop at Fontana Dam would be sent north instead of south and it might also be wise to send a food drop to Monson, ME. These two food drops can be arranged on the trail, using a flat-rate priority mail box from the post office and filling it with trail mix or pasta.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-07-2008
    Location
    Franklin Park, NJ
    Age
    47
    Posts
    45

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by RenoRoamer View Post
    These same locations would also work for a NOBO, except the food drop at Fontana Dam would be sent north instead of south and it might also be wise to send a food drop to Monson, ME. These two food drops can be arranged on the trail, using a flat-rate priority mail box from the post office and filling it with trail mix or pasta.
    Thank you, RenoRoamer,

    I was actually thinking that in a pinch I might just organize a mail drop on the trail.

    happy trails,
    t.

  11. #11

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    Or, unless you have any food preferences (high-nutrition, foreign, better-tasting) that go beyond what the dumbest and brokest third of a trailer park's inhabitants would consider a reasonable diet. When you are in Joe Bob's convenience store in Deliverance, Virginia, that's what they have for sale.
    thats just hatin'. pure and simple.
    U.S. Marines.
    no better friend. no greater enemy.

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-03-2007
    Location
    westminster, Maryland
    Age
    47
    Posts
    2,227
    Images
    58

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by johnny quest View Post
    thats just hatin'. pure and simple.

    Whats that Johnny?....... Your favorite CD in your collection is famous bangos play'ns of the 80's......

  13. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-10-2005
    Location
    Bedford, MA
    Posts
    12,678

    Default

    Maildrops are out of fashion... and not really necessary for food resupply. OTOH, maps force the issue, when you're hiking significant distances. That is to say: the complete set is too heavy to carry, and you can't really rely on buying them as you go. Bottom line, maildrops still happen, though the main purpose (for me) is fresh maps, not food.

  14. #14

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wrongway_08 View Post
    Whats that Johnny?....... Your favorite CD in your collection is famous bangos play'ns of the 80's......
    those are my cousins your talking about. and their spouses...who also happen to be my cousins.
    U.S. Marines.
    no better friend. no greater enemy.

  15. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    05-08-2005
    Location
    Baltimore, MD
    Age
    61
    Posts
    624
    Images
    5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    beyond what the dumbest and brokest third of a trailer park's inhabitants would consider a reasonable diet. When you are in Joe Bob's convenience store in Deliverance, Virginia, that's what they have for sale.
    Shoot, I can get that at the Box -n- Save in Pasadena...

  16. #16

    Default

    Tanya:

    While there are a few places on the Trail where having a food maildrop is a blessing (because there's either no market anywhere nearby, or the available market is lousy), you can absolutely hike the Trail without sending yourself food.

    You might want to check out the "Articles" section of Whiteblaze where there is a lot of information on re-supply, shopping options, etc. Also, any of the major Trail guidebooks will have extensive information on places close to the Trail (or actually ON the Trail) where you can get food.

  17. #17
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-26-2007
    Location
    maine
    Age
    63
    Posts
    4,964
    Images
    35

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    Or, unless you have any food preferences (high-nutrition, foreign, better-tasting) that go beyond what the dumbest and brokest third of a trailer park's inhabitants would consider a reasonable diet. When you are in Joe Bob's convenience store in Deliverance, Virginia, that's what they have for sale.
    If you could just stop at better-tasting and pick up at "When," this would be valuable input.

    Must you pick on my "fambly?"

    Bless your heart.

  18. #18
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-14-2005
    Location
    Virginia, 10 miles from the AT near SNP
    Age
    61
    Posts
    10,470
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    171

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by _terrapin_ View Post
    Maildrops are out of fashion... and not really necessary for food resupply. Bottom line, maildrops still happen, though the main purpose (for me) is fresh maps, not food.

    The idea that mail drops are somehow "out of vogue" is disingenious at best. We did mail drops because of the better and well rounded nutrition found in making adequate dinners at the end of a hard day (I believe food to be one of the most important items to the aspect of a successful hike and one that, IMO, can easily get neglected). If you're young with muscles that can repair themselves quickly after being abused day in and day out on the little protein and veggies you ingest from cooking bulgar, potatoes and noodles, don't mind the hassle of having to forage off trail for food and figure out meals from the pop tarts and noodles at convenience stores where there are no grocery chains - or even trying to figure out food In big grocery stores, go for it. We did both buying (mainly for lunch and some breakfast) and drops (dinners) and it paid off for us.







    Hiking Blog
    AT NOBO and SOBO, LT, FHT, ALT
    Shenandoah NP Ridgerunner, Author, Speaker


  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-10-2005
    Location
    Bedford, MA
    Posts
    12,678

    Default

    disingenuous: lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically ingenuous; insincere

    No, I don't think that applies, not even remotely.

    I believe my views on the matter are fairly mainstream. They're based on experience (as are yours) and observations of/by other hikers. Mail drops are great if you have the support and the patience to deal with them. They involve lots of work beforehand and they can complicate a hike. I certainly can see where, if you're willing to deal with all that, you can end up with a fabulous meal plan. Or you can just wing it, as most do these days, and still get by.

  20. #20
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-03-2004
    Location
    Fairfax VA
    Age
    69
    Posts
    494

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    Or, unless you have any food preferences (high-nutrition, foreign, better-tasting) that go beyond what the dumbest and brokest third of a trailer park's inhabitants would consider a reasonable diet..................
    Do you include in that the favorite food of the worlds greatest hiker, Little Debbies?

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •