[pct-l] Resupply Strategies

[Diane Soini]

When I was initially planning the whole resupply thing was so  
difficult to work out. Back then we all used the Wilderness Press  
books and the trail is divided into sections in the book. I figured I  
would just resupply at the end of each section unless the section  
ended somewhere with a long hitchhike. I didn't think I would do the  
hitchhiking.

Well, turned out the best strategy seemed to be to do the resupplies  
wherever there was the best town. Sometimes this was in the middle of  
a section. Another best strategy was to resupply wherever there was  
anywhere to buy food at all. That way you don't have to carry very  
much plus you get a big hot meal more frequently. In the end, a  
combination of this became my strategy. Resupply wherever there was  
the best town, use that town to resupply myself for towns up the  
trail that didn't have good shopping by buying extra and mailing it.  
And when I got to these little towns, supplement whatever I sent  
myself with candy bars and convenience store stuff. It's a waste of  
money to mail stuff you can get in a gas station.

And the hitchhiking was fun, not a problem at all.

On Nov 26, 2013, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> From: Perry and Penny Gabbard <pnpgabbard at gmail.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] Resupply Strategies
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> 	<CABwdWJC_3FgUWF3Sfe++FpaWKCUGFpoK3Ekitd3b9mH4M03jJw at mail.gmail.com>
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>
> Thanks for all the interesting posts
>
> I am planning for a post-retirement 2015 PCT thru-hike and was  
> laying out a
> resupply strategy. What is the "average" number of days of food you  
> would
> carry between resupply points. Let me know what an of average,  
> high, and
> low number of days of supplies would be..Carry too little and you  
> stop too
> often. Carry too much and you're overloaded. Too many side trips  
> and I've
> wasted time. So far I was estimating 5 days (low) to 9 days (high).
>
> Assumptions:
> -Average distance per day 20 miles, average weight of food per day  
> 2 lbs,
> -Use resupply points not too far off the trail that are strongly  
> recommended
> -Rely heavily on mailed packages of supplies.
>
> Thanks for your help. I'm new to PCT-L...been enjoying the  
> posts...first
> time to post a question.
>
> Perigee