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[at-l] maildrops
How fancy you get on a maildrop system depends partly on you, partly on the
supporter you use, and partly on how much time you have. Some people spend
months organizing spread sheets on what goes in and where, others run to
the grocery, buy several hundred dollars worth of groceries and pack six
months of food in a night or two.
Generally, you first figure out where you want to do maildrops. Sit down
with the data book and a Thruhiker guide (either Wingfoot's or the Aldha
book) and figure out towns that are near the trail and about 5 days apart.
Plan on fairly low mileage in the south, increasing mileage as you go north
until New England, then low miles again after about Vermont. (After hiking
20 miles a day through PA, it was really wierd to be struggling to do 11 or
12 in Maine!) Use the thruhiker guides to note which towns have good
grocery stores - you can skimp on the maildrop if the town says that it is
"good for long term resupply." Pearisburg, Troutdale, and Hanover, for
example. Don't make the mistake I did on my first thruhike and assume that
"I won't hitchike." I only planned to stop at towns that were directly on
the trail or within short walking distance - that meant I was frequently
carrying 14 days of food with me - HEAVY! There are a lot of towns that
are 3-5 miles from the trail that you will want to visit - so plan
accordingly. And some that are farther, but you'll stop anyway - like in
Maine - Andover is worth the visit. Not that there is much there, but you
are so tired by that time that the B&B's make a very restful stop. (Pine
Ellis!)
Anyhow, once you have figured out a mail drop schedule (or borrowed someone
else's) sit down and figure out how many days food to put in each one.
Figure fairly light appetite the first 10 days or so - then the hungries
kick in. Plan an extra day or two of food in the south in case you are
slowed down by snow, rain or injury. In most of the towns you can buy
lunches and snacks along the way - getting variety and nutrition for
dinners is the main problem. So I would suggest concentrating on that. Go
to the bulk stores - keep your eyes out for sales and specials and stock
up. I was able to buy Liptons for 67 cents that way - in a lot of flavors
that weren't available on the trail. I also had lots of different oatmeals,
7 grain cereals, granolas, instant grits, etc. I also went to health food
stores, ethnic markets, etc. to get variety. (Some worked, some didn't.)
You can either do complete sealed up maildrops along the way, or leave the
boxes open and allow your support person to change what is in the boxes
according to your changing needs. For example, some people discover that
they hate mac n'cheese after 2 months, or freeze dried barbequed chicken,
or corn pasta - whatever. Your support person can eliminate those foods
you no longer like and put in something that you've discovered along the
way that you do like. You may also discover that basic supplies are not
being used at the rate you expected. i.e - batteries - I had one set that
lasted the whole trail. (When you go to bed with the sun, you don't use the
flashlight much.) The hiker boxes in the hostels benefited by my spare
batteries and candles. Since my boxes were sealed, I paid to mail the
stuff (from Arizona) to give away. Many hostel hiker boxes end up full of
other peoples maildrop mistakes (i.e long cooking rice and beans for
example.) The support person can also supplement with goodies - cookies,
brownies etc. They can also put in things like spare broken in boots -
your winter gear that you sent home in Virginia - new clean socks -
money/travelers checks. If the boxes are open, there is more flexibility
about getting such things when you need them. It is helpful to make an
approximate schedule for the support person. Keep a copy of that schedule
with you or in your send-ahead box so that all you have to do is tell them
"I'm 5 days ahead/behind my schedule." The post offices along the AT are
used to thruhikers, so instead of holding packages for only 10 days, as
required, they will hold packages for a month or more for thruhikers. Make
sure your packages say, "HOLD FOR AT HIKER". (Jim had a replacement water
filter mailed to him in Damascus. There was nothing on the package to
indicate that it was to be held for a hiker except the fact that it was
being sent to General Delivery.The mailman saw the name on the box, and
brought it to another Jim Owen who lives in town. That Jim refused the
package since he hadn't ordered a water filter and it was sent back to
MSR.) Because the PO will hold packages, your support person can go every
2 weeks or so and send off 3 or 4 packages at a time. Just be sure to
allow enough time for delivery (about 10 days.)
On my second thruhike, I only did maildrops for the first month (up to
Pearisburg) which I mailed before I left. The rest I mostly bought along
the trail. I did a few maildrops that I created along the way - buying in
Kent CT for the Whites (Glencliff NH and Mt. Washington drops) and in
Hanover I bought food for Monson ME those towns that are "good for short
term resupply or that I remembered as being pretty marginal in terms of
variety. (I can only eat so much mac n cheese!)
Maildrops can be fun and will allow more variety in your diet - but take
some time and thought and are not always a necessity. If you live in the
west (or overseas) minimizing mail drops can be a really good idea as the
postage gets outrageous.
Ginny
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