[at-l] ResSupply Questions.

[pmags@yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

When I did my AT thru-hike, I did the ole maildrop
thing. Dad was really into my hike and it was his way
of participating. The basement of my parents' house
looked like a re-supply depot for Operation "Whatever
the hell they are going to call the war in Iraq".

Both my parents would dehydrate meals with my
dehydrator and send them off in my maildrops. I can
say with some conviction that I was perhaps the only
person on the trail who received dehydrated pasta
sauce and meatballs from Magnanti Sunday dinners on
ther trail. The franks and beans also was a favorite
of mine. Mmmm mmm (Seriously, chopped up hot dogs and
beans dehydrated/rehydrated very well. It was one of
my favorite trail meals).

If I had to do it again, I would buy as I went along.
Unless you have some dietary restrictions, it is very
easy to buy food along the way on the AT. Not everyone
is fortunante to have a quartermaster at home shipping
off packages. The advantages of doing it this way is
that you are less tied in to a post office schedule.
Admittedly, I did not have this problem too much on my
AT hike. But, (and Kent, CT. comes to mind for this
example) I would receive a post box and there would be
a great grocery store next to the PO!

On the PCT this year, did the buy as I went strategy.
Sometimes the pickings were slim, but I survived. The
twist I did was for some stretches I would buy my food
ahead of time and then send myself a maildrop ahead
out of the larger town.  The places on the AT where
this strategy of sending packages ahead may be
advantageous are at Neel's Gap,  Fotanna Dam and
Monson, all places where the pickings can be slim at
times.

The main reason why I now do "buy as I go" for my long
hikes is more because I do not have someone at the
homeplace willing to play quarter master.  "Buying as
you go" makes for a less structured hike. No need to
worry about if someone at home sends a package. And of
course, you can always encourage people to send the
all important cookies and brownies in the mail. I
would demand it, in fact. :-) (My friends in Boulder
sent Victoria Secrets catalogs in the care packages.
Great bartering tool for Snickers...)



Mags
..a few steps here and there...

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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau

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