[at-l] Need help planning maildrops/resupply itinerary

[mike <zenobia@pcisys.net> (mike)]

Hello at-l,

I've been spending the past several days planning out a basic
itinerary for my thru-hike which is coming up real fast (Mar 17th!). I
was hoping I could get some comments on my resupply points. I haven't
yet decided which points I'll be picking up in town vs. those that
I'll be getting a maildrop at. I've prepared some quantity of food
already for maildrops so I'm not really adverse to using them. I'd
like to hear some comments on which places are just impossible to get
a hitch to, or if a certain place is just a bad idea to pick up
supplies at, or if I need to rework some timing issues, like "There's
no way you can get that far, that fast, in that kind of terrain...,"
or "You gotta get a maildrop here" or whatever comes to mind... I'm
sure I could use the help. This whole resupplying thing is new to me,
and I don't know really how much the town trips are going to take out
of my day.

I realize my itinerary is probably going to change quite a deal, and
probably early on at that, but I'm trying to get a general idea of the
big picture.

Here's a list of my resupply points with dates. (Hopefully the
formatting isn't too screwed up!) 32 stops.  Gear list in a few
days...

Milepost        Date    Resupply Location
30.7    21-Mar-02       Walasi-Yi
66.8    25-Mar-02       Hiawasee (The Blueberry Patch)
134.1   01-Apr-02       NOC
161.7   03-Apr-02       Fontana
203.8   07-Apr-02       Newfound Gap/Gatlinburg
270.9   14-Apr-02       Hot Springs
338.7   21-Apr-02       Nolichucky/Erwin, TN
404.5   27-Apr-02       Kincora 
455.1   01-May-02       Damascus
530.4   06-May-02       Atkins, VA (Grocery?)
617.4   13-May-02       Pearisburg, VA
689.7   18-May-02       Catabwa, VA 
765.9   23-May-02       Glasgow, VA
842.6   29-May-02       Waynesboro, VA
922     04-Jun-02       Loray, VA
949.7   07-Jun-02       Front Royal, VA
1003.4  12-Jun-02       Harpers Ferry, VA (post office?)
1101.8  18-Jun-02       Boiling Springs, PA
1198.1  25-Jun-02       Hamburg, PA
1273.7  01-Jul-02       Delaware Water Gap, PA
1337.9  05-Jul-02       Vernon, NJ
1426.4  13-Jul-02       Pawling/NYC
1480.1  16-Jul-02       Salisbury, CT
1550.3  22-Jul-02       Dalton, MA/pittsfield, MA
1632.1  28-Jul-02       Manchester Center,VT
1681.4  01-Aug-02       Killington, VT
1726.2  06-Aug-02       Hanover, NH (last convienent place to get cold weather gear)
1795.4  11-Aug-02       North Woodstock, NH
1870.2  17-Aug-02       Gorham, NH
1911.6  21-Aug-02       Andover, ME
1980.3  26-Aug-02       Stratton, ME
2053.6  02-Sep-02       Monson, ME



That's it, fill up my inbox!
Thanks!
Mike
http://www.trailjournals.com/mikesteph