On our July 24-August 30 hike this year, we used 8 resupply points:

1. Buffalo Creek - maildrop to PO/General Store. Hitching to store was unsuccesful - had to walk the 3 miles. Got a ride back from a homeless guy living out of his car. Store was dingy and the clerk rather unresponsive to basic requests. Wouldn't go there again. The only reason we chose it was our desire to start out with light packs to acclimate.

2. Jeffersonville - maildrop to PO/General Store. Nice little store, nice people, got a ride to and back from a Trail Angel who happened by and wanted to "give back" after his own thruhike.

3. Breckenridge - maildrop to Fireside Inn hostel. Also bought supplies at the local grocery store (City Market). Stayed 2 nights, slackpacked the day after arrival to Copper Mountain using the free bus schedule. Owner gave me a free fuel canister.

4. Leadville - maildrop to Leadville hostel. Got a shuttle both ways from "Wild Bill," the hostel owner. One of the best if not the bes hostel I've ever stayed in.

5. Twin Lakes - maildrop to PO/General Store. Walked a mile to the store. Wasn't open yet but a local guy had a key and let us in to get our packages. Got a ride back from a vacationing family who were fascinated with our thruhike. The Dad said "it was an honor" to shuttle us! BTW, the store did sell fuel canisters for my Coleman Exponent Ultralight and similar types like the Pocket Rocket; didn't expect this.

6. Salida - maildrop to Simple Lodge & Hostel. Got a ride right to the door from a Trail Angel - a young woman we had met a few days earlier hiking up Mt. Yale. Salida was our first zero day - very nice town. Bought myself a new pair of trail shoes after my boots fell apart. Hostel owner shuttled us back to trail.

7. Creede - maildrop to Snowshoe Lodge. We really lucked out on transportation as Creede is a tough hitch. After walking the one-mile side trail, we walked another 2-3 miles down the dirt 4WD road where we hardly saw anyone. But a family from Texas drove up and offered to take us a few miles. After conversation in the car, they generously took us all the way to Creede and refused gas money. Trail Angels!

We decided to stay in Creede 2 nights and slackpack the next day so we obtained a shuttle from the guy who owns the outfitter all the way to the one-mile sidetrail and a return shuttle from a local woman from the the end of the next segment, over 30 road miles away on Rt. 149. She also drove us back the next morning to that point.

8. Silverton - maildrop to Silverton Hostel. Did a zero day. Got a ride with less than 5 minutes of hitching into town, got a shuttle for return.

Also, there was discussion about the Trail Angel at Lujan Pass. We met Mr. Appel on the trail several miles from his setup. He encouraged us to partake of his goodies which we did when we arrived there. Very generous. BTW, he also dispenses trail goodies to AT hikers in NC in the Spring.