[pct-l] PO's and resupply boxes

[fdumville at earthlink.net]

Each PO will be different. Some of the PO's near the trail will hold your package all hiking season, others will only hold it the required time. I don't remember policies for specific PO's. I think you can expect at least two weeks, the USPS website says UP TO 30 days.
Lead time depends on how you're shipping. Priority mail is supposed to take 2-3 days, I would give it at least week. Parcel Post can take a long time, sometimes weeks since it is the lowest priority. 

Some suggestions:
Use Priority mail.
Add an extra like insurance or delivery receipt, this gives the package a tracking number and extra handling attention.
If you ship fuel which has to go Surface Mail Parcel Post ship your other supplies in a separate mailing.
Mark your box so you can identify it in  a pile of brown boxes.

Always mark your boxes with the following:
"Please hold for Pacific Crest Trail hiker, approximate pickup date ______."

Snap
Subject: [pct-l] PO's and resupply boxes


With all the PCT hikers reading this who have previous resupply experience I want to get your opinions on the following ...

How long do PO's hold a hiker's resupply box? Do various PO's have different hold policies? What kind of lead time do you normally give for sending a resupply box? Are there any PO's that seem to "lose" boxes more frequently than others? Any info appreciated.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/attachments/20080206/88f8a5a6/attachment.html