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RE: [at-l] Question about Mail Drops

This is my first day on the mailing list.. I've enjoyed your comments on
mail boxes, space blankets and the like.  You are definitely the true
hikers type... I'm wondering if there is anybody out there that do day
hikes so we can exchange some info... I live in the Alabama area..
regards,
nf
	----------
	From:  rambleon@email.unc.edu[SMTP:rambleon@email.unc.edu]
	Sent:  Friday, May 29, 1998 8:32 AM
	To:  at-l@saffron.hack.net; DaRedhead@aol.com
	Subject:  Fw: [at-l] Question about Mail Drops

	DaRedhead wrote:
	> Okay - I have the lists, many of them, of where to send mail
drops.  But I am
	> still kind of confused (and haven't been able to afford to go
buy a book)
	> about mail drops.  Do you put them together at one time (I
mean, do you have
	> them all ready before you begin your hike?)  Do you have
someone else send
	> them?  do you pack up stuff when you hit town and send it on??
What exactly
	> do you do to take care of mail drops????  <snip>  Surely you
don't
	> mail them out when you leave - what post office would hold
them for that long?

	The manner in which you organize your mail drops depends on what
kind of a "support
	team" you have helping you out. When i hiked last year, i was
originally going to
	try to have each maildrop boxed and addressed, but not sealed.
My wonderful mother
	was my mail drop support, and she had a "tentative" (and boy did
it end up being
	tentative!) schedule which showed when i'd be passing through
each town. I ended up
	not having the time to get them boxed up, and it ended up being
a good thing. If you
	can call your support person when you go into a town and set up
your next two
	maildrops from there, it gives you much more flexibility. Your
tastes will change,
	you'll find new foods you might enjoy, you're going to be
mailing/receiving gear,
	you might need things you didn't think of before you started,
you might decide you
	HATE maildrops and would rather resupply in town whenever
possible, etc. This method
	also gives you the flexibility to change where the maildrop is
going. You might get
	500 miles into the trip and find out that you're hiking at a
much stronger pace than
	you thought you would be, and that you can get by with one
maildrop and a small
	resupply instead of 2 full maildrops. This method gives you
flexibility, and the
	more flexibility you have while thru-hiking (i.e. no schedule),
the easier and more
	enjoyable it is (IMHO). 

	HOWEVER, not everyone has the luxury of having a support team
who is able to package
	and send your maildrops along the way. If this is the case, then
you can package and
	send out your maildrops before you leave. I met more than one
person last year who
	had to send all of their maildrops out beforehand. _Most_ post
offices will hold
	maildrops sent to thru-hikers for a long time, especially if you
put an estimated
	arrival date on it. If you have to use this method, i would
recommend calling each
	P.O. beforehand to make sure they will hold packages for an
extended period of time
	(i.e. DO NOT do this to the Mt. Washington P.O.....it is the
size of a walk-in
	closet and they like for any maildrops to be picked up in a
timely manner after
	their arrival). The ALDHA Thru-Hikers Companion should have the
phone numbers for
	all of the P.O.'s along the way. 

	Address your maildrops like this: 
	Your Name
	General Delivery
	Address
	PLEASE HOLD FOR AT THRU-HIKER (write this a couple of times on
the box)
	ETA: mo/day/yr

	Feel free to email me if you have any more questions. 

	-Rambleon-
	rambleon@email.unc.edu


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