[pct-l] Re: Resupply Strategy California

[aandg at telusplanet.net (Alistair & Gail Des Moulins)]

Hi Dave T. and all

Gail and I used the following strategy:
We are not fussy eaters and we did not send any packages (apart from a mail
order to Tuolomne Meadows from Hadley's in Cabazon)

We started with 3 days of food. Then,

1) Mt. Laguna.  Small store, but good stock of what we needed - also hiker
can of coleman fuel.

2) Warner Springs.  We made an emergency trip here to get more lunch food as
the appetite kicked in to high gear!
     Not much selection - we came away with 8 hot dog buns, 8 hamburger
buns, a large bag of potato chips (2200 calories), a pack of marshmallows, a
tube of pringles, 12oz can of corned beef and muffins and choc milk to eat
there.

3) Anza - We stayed at the Hiker's Oasis - definitely recommended. Paul (the
Bear) gave us a ride to Anza to get supplies - good store.

4) Cabazon - We walked in 6.5 miles against the strong wind to Hadleys Fruit
and Nut market. This place is amazing with excellent bread, granola and
dried fruit of all kinds, picked up some other supplies 2 miles back towards
the trail at the country store. Got a ride back to trailhead.

5) Big Bear City.  Good grocery store and nice friendly place.

6) We had hoped to get supplies at the Summit Valley store before Silverwood
Lake but store still closed for season (3 May 2003).
    Cajon Pass: Not enough stock for full 7 day resupply at Chevron next to
McDonalds but did get 2 days supply - expensive.

7) Wrightwood: Very good large grocery store for resupply.

8) Agua Dulce.  The small store in town is OK for resupply. The new large
grocery store was due to open in the near future when we were there (11-12
May 2003).

9) Tehachapi.  Excellent supermarkets at far (west) side of town. Laundry
nearby and excellent chinese buffet at The Great Wall (between Save-Mart and
Albertsons).

10) Kennedy Meadows.  Good store - We managed to do a 9 day resupply (27 May
2003) despite them having been almost cleared out of stock on the May long
weekend.

11) Cedar Grove. Small store - only 2 small aisles but we managed to
resupply OK (6 June). It's 14 miles west from Bubbs Creek junction to the
Cedar Grove trailhead at 5300' elevation and a really scenic hike with all
the waterfalls and Yosemite like canyon. 6 miles further to Cedar Grove - we
had no problem hitching both ways.

12) VVR. Limited resupply - no bread or cookies but they did sell us some of
their own make tortillas which were good. We ended up having to buy some of
these pre-packaged freeze dried meals which are expensive. Watch for
out-dated stock!

13) Tuolumne Meadows.  Good store, easy resupply. Coleman at outdoor
equipment store just along road. We also mail ordered granola and dried
fruit (mango, papaya and pineapple) from Cabazon.

14) Echo Lake would be an OK resupply - we checked it out 29 June 2003 but
we had to go to South Tahoe for boots and pack.  Agree with Chris about
Caesars breakfast buffet. We took in the Horizon buffet for supper as well -
excellent too. We recommend Local's Choice for a haircut if you want one.
Large grocery stores.

15) Sierra City.  Small store, but relatively good resupply. New manager
very keen on pleasing us hikers. He'd installed a rotisserie and was cooking
chickens. We bought one and had great fun tearing it apart for supper!

16) Buck's Lake. Small store - resupplied OK - friendly staff.

17) Belden. It was hot 92F when we got there so just had 1/2 gal ice cream
and drink. Limited stock of food. We probably could have got a few days
supplies but were glad we did not need to.

18) Old Station - One of the most friendly stores on the trail. 14 July
2003 - Arrived 3pm and Laura had just locked the store but willingly
reopened it and did not hurry us on our purchases and said she'd reopen
again if we needed something else. Try not to arrive on Monday as restaurant
is closed and other restaurant about 3 miles north is closed Tuesdays. Our
2000 edition Town guide is very misleading here - the map is totally wrong!

19) Burney Falls SP.  Resupply OK but rather expensive - not as bad as
Shelter Cove Oregon.

20) Castella (Amarattis). Resupply OK. We almost went to Dunsmuir though.
Hiker can of fuel at #25 at campground when we were there.

We did not go to Etna but it made for a heavy haul of 10 days food 4500'+ up
out of Castella on 2 of the hottest days of the trip.

21) Seiad Valley.  Good Resupply at the small store. Excellent blackberries
by side of trail on the way in to 'town' on Grider Creek road (31 July
2003).

Note 1: If you go just into Oregon: Callahans does AYCE pancakes or french
toast for breakfast for PCT hikers only - (not advertised on menu but if you
order one of those items it's AYCE and very good quality too!)

Also: We sent no packages in Oregon or Washington - but were very thankful
of hiker box at Shelter Cove to cut our costs - that place is a rip off!
White Pass was a very difficult resupply due to lack of stock. We had to
carry a lot of potato chips.
Stehekin we managed just! AYCE breakfast excellent!

Our vote for best store on trail:  Market Choice in Ashland.

Alistair & Gail







Hi there all.

Well, the procrastination must end and the planning
for 2004 must begin.  I'll be hiking the CA portion of
the PCT, starting at the kick off party.

Now that many of you have done the trail once or more,
do any of you have a recommended resupply strategy?  I
can see mailing most of my packages with all the food
I need, except where there is a real market to
purchase from that is convenient to the trail/hitch.
I'll also have a bounce box for random things, and
perhaps for a portable CD burner for my digital
camera.

Can anyone give me their tips and ideas on their ideal
resupply strategy? (Or point me to theirs on various
web sites, etc. where they have been posted already?)

Thanks!

Dave T.