[at-l] Postal Packages on the AT Trail

[kellyswhitman at hotmail.com (Kelly Whitman)]

Good info, Jim.  I've copied and pasted it into my "Tips" text file.  
Thanks!

Kelly Whitman
iN*TP*
-----------
"There ARE no other women like me."  -- 7 of 9

>At 03:14 PM 12/30/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>>Someone (who I do not know) said that mail could be forwarded along the AT
>>(Bouncing?) but how is this done if one is not present?
>
>Forwarding requires giving a forwarding notice to the Postmaster.
>Bouncing is usually used to refer to the practice of sending a package of 
>things to yourself from one PO to another up the trail. A "bounce box" 
>usually contains things you think you might have trouble finding in trail 
>towns and/or larger supplies of things you want to carry only in small 
>amounts. You use the bounce box to replace what you used then mail the 
>excess on to the next town stop.
>
>
>>To be clearer -- If I walk the trail and get to a place where my mail has
>>been sent but it is a Saturday and I don't want to wait around until 
>>Monday to
>>get my mail; is there some way to have it forwarded without my being 
>>present to
>>request this?  Can this be requested on the telephone?  Or, does it take a
>>letter to the postmaster?
>
>Before leaving home get a few forwarding notice cards from your home PO and 
>have them in your pack. If you hit a PO when it's closed and don't want to 
>wait or beat a package to a PO you can leave the forwarding notice card 
>saying where to forward it (having a list of POs in your pack would be a 
>good idea too). All POs have outside boxes. If the PO is closed drop the 
>forwarding card in the outside box.
>
>>Does anyone have any experience with this?  Also, can the request be to 
>>have
>>the mail forwarded to a hostel or a hotel, etc., so that one does not have 
>>the
>>same problem at the next town?
>>
>>My instinct tells me that I can have mail forwarded anywhere I choose, but 
>>I
>>wonder if there are additional charges, costs, money involved.
>
>Your instincts are good. It will be forwarded to the address you specify if 
>you originally paid postage at a rate that includes forwarding. 1st class 
>and priority mail include forwarding. Parcel Post *does not* include 
>forwarding. If you left a forwarding request for a parcel post package it 
>would be forwarded 'Postage Due'. If a to PO, there is no problem. If the 
>forwarding address was a motel/hotel/hostel they would only get notice of a 
>postage due parcel being held at the PO. This according to my good hiking 
>buddy, Postmaster Rick Reed.

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