[pct-l] Resupply strategies

[David Thibault]

I've resupplied using both methods and recommend doing a combo for a few
reasons.

I like a better variety of food than is available in many smaller towns so
I beleive I eat better by using a mail resupply for some of my meals.   Variety
is the key here though...  You will not find any meals shipped in one of my
resupply boxes that I can pick up in a local small store - no ramen or mac
and cheese for example.  I also make it a point to make only a few of each
meal so I never get sick of the things I send from home.    My meals sent
to the trail have a greater variety then my normal meals at home.

I also sometimes my send myself stuff at a limited resupply so I can
supplement my local purchases with stuff I know I am not going to be able
to find locally such as Nido Milk Powder and Quick Bulgur with dried fruit
which is one of my favorite on trail breakfasts.  Things like bisquick
powder and nido mixed so I can make dumplings for my soup (which I buy
locally).  Dried vegetables  for adding to meals.  etc.  Things like
cheese, bread, pasta, liptons, nuts, etc can all be bought locally.
It can be a lot of work packaging everything up beforehand.  I used to
vacuum seal everything but now just use ziplock bags and that has worked
well and saved a lot of time.  Also there are a bunch of very good meals
you can quickly put together at home that don't require a dehydrator and
are very nice on the trail.  For example:

Seafood Chowder:
 1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes
1/2 cup Nido
1 Tbl Butter Buds
1 Tsp Old Bay Seasonng
a Few shakes Celery Seed
a 3 oz packet of shrimp or crab meat or clams

Put all items in quart Freezer bag.

At camp add 2 cups boiling water and put in cozy for 10 minutes.


Day-Late



> <<  Cheapest is doing everything for yourself ahead of time and most
> expensive is buying along the way. Although you should factor in the cost
> of mailing if you pre package everything at home. >>
>
> 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.)
>
>
> <<  There is also the hassle of having someone send your boxes to you. >>
>
> This is really a hassle for my wife - but I feel guilty having her make
> too many trips to the P.O.  But in addition to that hassle, I don't like to
> be forced to adjust my hiking schedule.  More than once I have found myself
> scurrying to do more miles than I want just to get to a P.O. by Friday
> afternoon.  On the flip side, I have found myself spending an extra day in
> town just to wait for the Post Office to open the next day.  For me, part
> of the fun of thru-hiking is not having to adhere to a strict schedule.
>  Post Office visits mess with that.  Sometimes (but not always) you can
> find a "non-Post Office option" for pick ups.  That helps with this issue.
>
> I have only hiked a couple months at time previous to this - but enough to
> experience some of these issues.  For my (planned) 2014 thru, I am
> intending to do the hybrid re-supply strategy.  I'll take zero days in
> Mammoth, Ashland and Cascade locks for re-supply to points "downstream."
>  This sounds like a pretty popular strategy and it sure makes sense to me.
>
> Timberline
>
>