[pct-l] PCT Buy and Mail Resupply

[weathercarrot@hotmail.com (The Weathercarrot)]

hi - you write:

>1. How much exactly did it cost you total for all drift box shipments and 
>re-supplying along the trail?

>From the time I got off the bus in San Diego to the time I got to Manning 
Park, total expenses was $1,300 dollars, which was the cheapest long 
distance hike I have ever done (50 cents a mile - pre-hike gear bought is 
seperate). This included all food eaten, all postage, replacement gear (new 
shoes, etc), a few motels, a fair amount of pizza, and LOTS of ice cream. 
One trick to this success is to do the "in and out" resupply method as often 
as possible. This means hiking into town in the morning, doing everything 
you have to do and hiking back out in the afternoon. Limited time in town 
means limited money spent. There are lots of PCT towns where this works 
well, but you have to really be willing to control your temptations, which 
isn't what a lot of people would want to bother with if they have the money 
anyway. To me, a $2,500 budget (which is closer to average) would be VERY 
comfortable (as far as more restaurants, motels, etc). But I don't think I 
suffered at all the way I did it.

>2. What did you do for areas that now either have no post office, does not 
>mail out or for the now 12 areas that accept only UPS? (Do to the closures 
>of  Agua Dulce, Ollalie Lake Guard Station, VVR if they are not open this 
>season, etc.)

I didn't use UPS at all the entire hike. Shelter Cove Resort would have been 
the exception (sent from Ashland), but I went into Eugene instead to visit 
friends, so I didn't have to deal with it. Ollalie is not closed - it goes 
to the resort instead, and it can go via the postal service. Agua Dulce, I 
would send to the Saufley's if they confirm that they still welcome hiker 
packages (which they likely would - I just don't want to make too many 
assumptions here). VVR, if open, can be regular mail too - they have two 
different addresses - one for UPS and one for USPS. If they are not open, I 
might consider going from Independence to Reds Meadow, or even Lone Pine to 
Reds Meadow where enough snack items can get me the rest of the way to 
Tuolumne.

>3. What did you do about gear that you no longer wanted to carry or gear 
>that you would need. This system would require you to carry all your gear 
>throughout the entire hike and drift items ahead of you? Now your talking 
>more money for the shipment. (Not considering the postage hike that is in 
>effect this year)

Whenever enough stuff accumulated in my drift box that I wasn't going to 
need anymore for the rest of the hike, I would package it up seprerately and 
send it to my family's address on the east coast, where they wouldn't need 
to do anything with it - just set it aside in a corner somewhere until I 
stopped by in the fall to take care of it. It's just a matter of having an 
address somewhere that your mail can be held while you're on the hike. 
Requires no actual support activities on their part. All postage for this 
was included in the $1,300.

>I mean I like your idea but how money efficient is this system. The whole 
>point of planning the re-supply ahead of time would be to make sure that 
>they are not stuck in these (as of this year) "problem areas"! <

Well, the good thing about the self-supported thing is that you are not 
locked into your resupply plans from the beginning. You can adjust as you 
go, and places considered to be "problems" would potentially be an issue no 
matter what method of resupply one uses.

Anyway, hope that all helps. Thanks for the questions.

wc
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