[at-l] Re: resupply strategies

[kborski@yahoo.com (Karen Borski)]

gwright@thebiz.net wrote:
"It seems to me that getting off the trail every 3-5
days in order to keep down the amount of food I'm
carrying is going to add lots of travel time"

It will add some travel time to your hike, but for the
average hiker, the distraction and errand of getting
off the trail to shop for food is a welcome change
from the hiking routine.  Every 3-5 days it is nice to
look forward to buying some fresh food and seeing a
new town, even if only for a few hours.  The mental
boost you get from food buying is worth the time; you
will be surprise out how much joy you get out of
looking at food and pondering meals while thru-hiking.
 By buying along the way and alternating what you buy,
you will get a natural variety that is physically and
mentally good for you.

I have gotten in and out of towns, even those towns
off the trail, with resupply completed in 1-2 hours on
the AT and PCT.  It doesn't have to take all day.  Be
focused when you go in to town and quickly do your 
shopping and then get back out...if you want. 

"I'm assuming that the vast majority of the food
purchases in this case will have to be made at small
convenience stores....Even purchases at large
supermarkets are tough because it is difficult to find
small quantities appropriate for 3-5 days of hiking."

On the AT, there aren't many places where you are
forced to resupply at small convenience stores.  In
most towns, you can find a decent grocery store or a
spot where they cater better food selections in a
smaller store just for hikers.  Small stores on the
PCT may require what Lynn Wheldon calls "creative food
buying," but you are seldom put to this test on the
AT.  There are so many hikers out and about during
peak season that most small
stores have learned to profit by offering stuff you
need.

As for food quantities, I have never had a problem
buying food for one at large grocery stores. 
Nowadays, they sell all kinds of foods in one-serving
"lunch-sized" packaging (normally, I wouldn't buy
overpackaged foods, but they come in handy on the
trail).  For instance, if you are shopping for
non-Lipton type processed foods, there are boil-in-bag
packages of 
Minute Rice, small packages of whole wheat pasta,
lunch packs of tuna now in foil bags, etc.  Add to
that mix plenty of fresh breads, cheese, fruit,
vegetables and sometimes even meat for the first 24-48
hrs back in the woods.  It really makes a big
difference in health and attitude to have fresh stuff
intermittently.  It may weigh a tad bit more the first
day or so, but I think it's worth it.  Also, buying
these items singly is more
expensive than buying in bulk beforehand, but you are
not having to pay for postage, worry over spoilage or
lost packages, and you are guaranteed variety that
won't get tiring.  You end up saving money and eating
better in the long run.

"Are my choices limited to a heavy pack with a good
variety of food sent via mail-drop versus a light pack
with the same expensive pop-tart,bagel,mac-n-cheese
menu for six months?  Is there a trick to purchasing
small quantities of food while in town?"

I didn't carry pop tarts, bagels, mac n cheese or that
junk on the AT (did try to carry pop tarts at first,
but grew tired of them and they weren't good fuel for
me), and I didn't have a heavier food bag than others.
 I
carried whole granola, various dry cereals, dried
milk, pure plain chocolate, pecans/nuts, cheeses,
jerkey, tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, potato
bread, whole wheat pitas/tortillas, pretzels, chips,
rice (found
Lipton rice dinners to be healthy enough for me and
never tired of them), pasta, soup mixes, potatoes,
oranges, apples, peanut butter, crackers of all kinds,
tuna in cans, beans, lentils, etc. .... and had very
few mail drops (one at Fontana Dam, one at Boiling
Springs and one in Monson, but none were necessary as
there was adequate shopping at each location and I
ended up going to grocery stores there to get extra
film or supplies I needed that I didn't have the
foresight to put in my mail drops).  

Most of the time, you hit town and have to run in for
errands anyway and will be right next to a store.  If
you have a mail drop with food in it, inevitably
you'll still need to run in the grocery store right
next to 
the PO for something else you need and wonder why you
bothered to send the package and spend $15 mailing
now-stale food to yourself when you could have
purchased that and more without the hassle of waiting
in line, trying to meet PO hours and pre-packaging it
all.

For items that are hard to find in small packages, you
may try to shop along with another hiker or two and
find some staples that you can buy in larger sizes and
split between you.  I used to always buy a large box
of 
dehydrated milk packs and split that with several
others.  Same with batteries, rice/pasta, bread and
such.  Also, you can donate extras and take from 
hiker boxes, too.  A bump box pushed forward with
extra food and supplies that you can use in the next
town is another good alternative to buying larger
quantities at grocery stores and then carrying extra
weight.  Since the bump box isn't travelling far, you
won't have much postage expense for it.

Nocona

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