Methods Of Resupply

Enough people have asked me for more details on the logistics of resupplying that I wanted to put together a little blurb about it that was a little more detailed than what I put in the FAQ.

When you talk about any backpacking trip longer than a week, you have to start talking about how you are going to restock your food and fuel supply as you go along.  It is surprising to me how many people ask me whether I will be hunting for my food as I hike.  People on the trail are backpackers, not survivalists (at least those that thru-hike).  Of the 12,000 or so people who have ever completed a thru-hike I am not aware of anybody doing it only eating what they find as they go along.

Ok, so given dependence on civilization for sustenance there are two main methods that people use to resupply: mail drops and buying food as you go.  Buying food as you go is pretty self-explanatory, you find grocery stores, gas stations, Walmarts, outfitters, etc... in nearby towns and buy food and fuel as you need it.  Using mail drops involves sending packages of food to post offices in nearby towns that are marked for general delivery.  Post offices will hold general delivery packages for a few days.  In towns near the AT, the post offices are used to thru-hikers and will hold packages for a few weeks.  When you get to town you just walk in, pick up your package and transfer the food to your pack.

There are benefits to using mail drops.  You can save money because you buy stuff in bulk.  You can often get a little more variety in the food you eat.  You don't have to spend as much time in towns to resupply.  You can eat a little healthier too.  A lot of prepackaged foods contain copious amounts of sodium and preservatives.  If you dehydrate your own food you can avoid them.

After reading that you might say 'wow that sounds great, why wouldn't you do that?'  There are a couple reasons we decided not to do mail drops.  Number one is that dehydrating and preparing 150-180 days worth of food ahead of time is a ton of work.  Also especially with new cuts in the US postal system, post office hours are significantly reduced.  This means if you get into town late or on a weekend you will potentially be stuck there a day or two before you can pick up your package, whereas grocery stores and gas stations are generally open every day of the week and open much later and earlier.  Having to get to town by a certain time adds stress to the hike that we do not want.  Don't forget too that only one in six thru-hikers will make it to Katahdin.  It would be unfortunate to be a month into the trip and have to bail due to injury and have to figure out what to do with 100+ days worth of unused dehydrated food.  Lastly, thru-hikers eat a lot of food to maintain the 5000-8000 calories burned daily and it is tough to really plan ahead for how much food you are going to want five months from now.  With buy as you go, you can just buy more or less food as you need it, with mail drops you have to coordinate a lot with your support team back home to change portions around as you need it.

So in summary a lot of people use mail drops for resupply, but we decided that it adds too much stress and complication to the trip.  We may put together 20 meals and do a small number of mail drops along the way just to add some variation.  If we do though it will be more like surprise care packages to ourselves, not something that we expect to rely on for the duration of the journey.