[pct-l] Resupply points

[Timothy Nye]

Let me chime in here as well.  A negative from my point of view is that you may not have access to hiker boxes to scavenge other people's discards.  These can serve as a valuable supplement if you are this limited albeit necessarily hit or miss.  Further, they allow you the latitude to exchange food you no longer find palatable with other options.  It's amazing how quickly peanut butter can become revolting when it's an integral part of your diet.

Also, my own experience is that I NEVER have been able to correctly plan in advance the correct amount of food I should be taking.  I always seem to take too much initially and have to refine my food bag content as I go along.  See 'hiker boxes' above.  If you estimate too much food then you'll wind up discarding supplies you could have used later on further up the trail.

The trick, in my opinion, is to reach your next resupply with only, but at least, one or two extra meals. This way you're not carrying excess weight yet still have a margin.  The reduction of resupply points, makes this problematic.  Generally, each resupply is at a pass which means you're carrying a full resupply uphill.

Just a few thoughts.

Gourmet

Sent from my iPad

On Dec 13, 2012, at 10:43 AM, "Bob Bankhead" <wandering_bob at comcast.net> wrote:

> 
> By pre-positioning the boxes, you have the advantage of knowing precisely
> where each is located; no shopping about a strange town trying to find the
> PO, motel, etc. to which it was sent.
> 
> The disadvantage is arrival timing. You'll start out with a pre-planned
> schedule, but the Trail Gods abhor such things and go out of their way to
> upset your plans. The longer the hike, the farther askew your schedule goes.
> You may arrive at your Trail Angel's home at other than the pre-designated
> time, only to find they've gone out for the afternoon/day/weekend/etc. You
> can't expect them to stay home awaiting your arrival. Cell phones help, but
> a lot of the trail has no coverage available, or at least not from your
> particular carrier.
> 
> Yes, you can have the same problem with the PO, but at least there you know
> what hours and days they are open and can depend on being able to pick up
> your box within those periods. If it looks like you can't make it to town
> before they close, you can stop early and take advantage of a nice trailside
> campsite that presents itself and just go in tomorrow - or whenever. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
> 
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors. 
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.