Thru-hike without maildrops

[trikos]

I am planning to do a thru-hike. I live in Europe (Denmark), so maildrops becomes a bit more complicated to make and have sent. Therefore I prefer not to have any maildrops.

Have any of you experience with a thru-hike without maildrops? What are the problems with not having maildrops? I know there is a couple of places were resupply can be a problem, but besides that.

I plan to start my thru-hike in the beginning of March 2005.

[MOWGLI]

I am planning to do a thru-hike. I live in Europe (Denmark), so maildrops becomes a bit more complicated to make and have sent. Therefore I prefer not to have any maildrops.

Have any of you experience with a thru-hike without maildrops? What are the problems with not having maildrops? I know there is a couple of places were resupply can be a problem, but besides that.

I plan to start my thru-hike in the beginning of March 2005.

Maildrops are ABSOLUTELY not necessary along the AT. Convenient - YES. Necessary - NO.

I used them early on, and found them to be somewhat of a hassle. The one thing that was helpful, was receiving some lighter gear in mid-May around Pearisburg, VA as the weather warmed, and receiving back my winter gear in July near Glencliff, NH. If you can find a way to deal with that issue (winter gear - summer gear), you'll be in fine shape.

Have a great hike.

Little Bear
GA-ME 2000

[Grimace]

We used almost entirely mail drops during my hike but found we went the grocery store to supplement them at every stop. Why not just go to the grocery store which tend to have more convenient hours anyway? We didn't have a special diet that required special food.

There are several places along hte AT in which a resupply is somewhat important that have poor food options. In that case, you can buy food a week or so ahead a time at a full service store and mail it to yourself up the trail.

Also, some thru-hikers choose to use a bounce box. A box of town clothes, extra gear, extra food, toilletries etc that you mail to yourself from stop to stop. You could always put your Winter gear in a box and just forward it to yourself as you move along the trail.

Lastly, if you click on the Information tab on the top of this page you'll see two articles on resupply advice. The article form Baltimare JAck is quite helpful.

[gravityman]

I am planning to do a thru-hike. I live in Europe (Denmark), so maildrops becomes a bit more complicated to make and have sent. Therefore I prefer not to have any maildrops.

Have any of you experience with a thru-hike without maildrops? What are the problems with not having maildrops? I know there is a couple of places were resupply can be a problem, but besides that.

I plan to start my thru-hike in the beginning of March 2005.

You don't need mail drops, but you might want to send a few packages from a town on trail to the next stop that might not have good resupply. Here's a great resource to pick towns that have plenty to resupply from, and then send on to the next town that might not have much : http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/articlesresupply.php

Gravity

[trikos]

Thanks for the replies. I will read the article

[Lone Wolf]

I did 5 thru-hikes with no mail drops for food. Did a few for maps and gear.

[chris]

One can certainly hike from Springer to Vermont without maildrops, however life might be a little easier in a few places with them. But, absolutely do not send them from Europe. Wait until you are on the trail to send out mail drops. When you get to a town with a reasonable store, send yourself a drop from that town. For example, you might send yourself a drop from Waynesboro, VA to Harpers Ferry, WV. HF does, though, have enough stuff to buy, but the selection is a triffle limited.

[Peaks]

While many have done thru-hikes without mail drops, there sure are convienent in a few places.

As a bare minimum, Fontana Dam, Port Clinton, and Glencliff. And even there you have a choice of mail drop or going further off trail to reach a town with resupplies.

If you do choice to mail drop at these places, make up a box at least a week in advance and mail it to you there. For example, if you want a mail drop in Glencliff, you should put it together in Manchester Center.