[pct-l] Resupply strategies

[Scott Williams]

For my PCT hike, I did the hybrid Fireweed speaks of, that is sending to
places I knew I wouldn't find a good selection of food, either from a box
sent by my wife, or from supplies purchased in good stores on trail and
mailing them myself.  At times I resupplied from hiker boxes.  But I would
eat anything on the PCT.

For my CDT hike I had changed my diet substantially and didn't want to live
on ramen and mac and cheese and I spent a winter drying quality foods,
meats, lots of veggies and then bought grains and potatoes, nuts and dried
fruits already dried.  I bought some really great hard cheeses, such as
aged gouda, cut it into smaller, one section pieces and vacuum packed it
and kept it in the fridge until it was needed.  By the way, some of those
that didn't get used are still good, almost 2 years later.

As Why Not, my hiking partner for this hike, was on a similar diet, we
spent an entire afternoon calling motels all along the CDT to find out who
would be willing to hold our boxes so we wouldn't have to rely on Post
Office hours for pick up.  Yogi's guide was invaluable for this as she's
got all the important motels and hotels, resorts and trail angels listed.
 Almost no one turned us down and none needed an exact date, we'd have our
home support person  write an ETA on it before it was shipped.  In the case
of one motel in Rawlins WY, when we got into town, the motel was full but
we were given our boxes and then the manager packed us all into her PU and
drove us around town until she found a place that could take us.  The place
was full of construction crews all needing rooms and that manager was an
unexpected Angel just when we needed one.

The CDT was 28 pre-packed USPS Regional boxes and as I eat a fantastic
amount of food on trail, mine were the big ones.  Why Not got away with the
size smaller.  The cost was substantial, over $1,000 for mine alone, so
this is not a cheap option.  I'm sure my hike would have been much lower in
total food costs had I only sent boxes to the towns that had poor supply
options and just ate what I ate on the PCT.  But that was the cost of
really good food and a much more nutritious hike.  That was my choice.

For the AT, this coming spring, I'm planning on another hybrid taken from
my two prior hikes.  I'm drying a lot of great meat and veggies just as I
did for the CDT as I really like my own cooking, but I'm planning on only
shipping those items and purchasing all the other foods in towns along the
way and maybe do some hiker box diving when it looks good.  I'll carry more
of the hard to get basics for my kind of eating and pick up the bulk items
locally and create the meals as I go.

If you're planning on shipping to yourself, study Yogi's guide and find the
places where resupply is poor and make some calls to motels in the towns.
 This by the way was an idea I first heard from Why Not, who had learned it
from  Boston and Cubby in 2010, and it is much better than rushing your
hike for PO hours.

Lots of options, but you don't need an exact date upfront to mail packages,
but you do need someone at home to mail them.

Shroomer


On Thu, Nov 28, 2013 at 12:47 PM, Mary Kwart <mkwart at gci.net> wrote:

> "When I was looking at the cost of resupply, it struck me that for
> each food package I'll send, I will pay $16 on shipping. Am I really
> going to make that up by finding cheaper food at home? Hmmmm... Not to
> mention the freshness factor. I don't really trust cheeses and such
> for more than 2 or 3 weeks - not enough time to make them logical
> choices for shipping. (Note: I am shipping from North Carolina where
> Flat Rate is the lowest cost. If you live on the West Coast Regional
> Rate will be cheaper, but it is still a significant cost.)"
>
> For the kind of food I eat, it is cheaper for me to do it ahead of
> time. I also send the boxes as late as possible and the boxes are kept
> in cold storage. I don't pack cheese, except for parmesan grated and
> that has never molded. I make a schedule for the person sending me my
> boxes and they send them to coincide with when I will arrive so they
> don't sit around.
>
> "This is really a hassle for my wife - but I feel guilty having her
> make too many trips to the P.O."
> Many of us do not have the advantage of a significant other at our
> beck and call, so have to make other arrangements with busy friends.
>  "But in addition to that hassle, I don't like to be forced to adjust
> my hiking schedule."
> I will send packages to motels if I can. Once again , this pre
> supposes you will know exactly where you will be staying and the date.
> This is easier for only going out for a month, but 4-5 months? I
> believe Shroomer has done this on the CDT and can speak to longer
> logistics. This means more time arranging things ahead of the hike, if
> you have that time. My hiking schedule usually coincided with arriving
> on weekdays anyway. I like to get into town early to start doing
> chores, so getting to the post office before it closed was an
> incentive.
>  "For my (planned) 2014 thru, I am intending to do the hybrid
> re-supply strategy."
> I, too will do a hybrid system this time--a balance between taking a
> bunch of time to plan and arrange and just winging it at stores along
> the way.
> Fireweed
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