[pct-l] re: Food Packages from Canada

[caa@uvic.ca (Craig Atkinson)]

Hey Jess!
I was quite suprised to see a fellow uvic e-mail address in the pct digest
today!
I'm also going to school there and I think I can help answer your questions
about maildrops.

I haven't done the PCT, (yet),  but I did successfully hike the AT in 99. I
used about 20 mail drops and I got every single one of them, although by
then end of the hike, I was certainly not using all of the food inside them,
prefering to try different stuff from the grocery store. It gets a little
boring after a while you know!

I also had serious concerns about mailing the packages through US Customs,
so I went overboard on the documentation and I included a list of all the
goods inside, and a letter explaining why I needed food sent to myself in
the states, and a rough spreadsheet of my itinerary. The first package I
recieved in Hiawassee, Georgia was opened and had the yellow customs tape on
it, but after that I never noticed any other interest in my stuff, and I
never had a problem getting them. Definately allow a larger lead time for
mailing them out, I think mine were sent by my parents at least two weeks
ahead of the projected time I would get there, sometimes more than that.

Lucky you to be out on the trail this summer, I'll be enrolled in more
classes, ahhhh....

Craig Atkinson
caa@uvic.ca