Is it really worth it?

[UL minimalist]

I was planning on going strictly mail drop for my hike. Planning on piking up every 5 days at a designated P.O. The Problem I am coming across is that 10 pounds of food every 5 days plus random odds and ends is going to cost me a butt load to ship. And by my calculations I would spend roughly the same if I just baught stuff at Town stops on my way. Maybe I should send certain items in the mail. Like the GORP and stuff thats cheaper to make myself.

Any suggestions? Are mail drops really worth my yime? What is the overall cost to hike with food included?

[SGT Rock]

Buy as you go. I am only mail dropping maps and some other small items except for about 3 food drops. I decided where to do food based on an article by Hungry Howie and Jack's Resupply article.

[rafe]

Save mail drops for maps and stuff that you can't get locally. The "cost" I worry about isn't $$$ to USPS, but wasted time getting to/from the post office. (Esp. when you arrive in some sleepy town just after it closes on a Saturday afternoon...)

[hopefulhiker]

After doing the trail, it is cheaper to buy as you go. But you can get better food if you dehydrate and do the maildrop routine..

[Appalachian Tater]

There are some good threads here about the advantages and disadvantages of mail drops as well as the cost of a thru-hike so you can make an informed decision. They aren't necessary.

To me, the best reason not to do maildrops is to avoid having a constraint on your freedom by having to get to post offices on certain days during certain hours. I had trouble just getting to a telephone during business hours!

Besides, how do you know what you will want to eat for dinner in the summer heat after hiking twenty miles two months into your thru-hike? You need to be able to listen to what your body wants.

[frieden]

From what I understand, it is not worth it to do many mail drops. Do mail drops, when you do not think the town is big enough to buy what you need, or when stores would be closed (when you are getting your mail drop at the hostel, for example). Do a bounce box for things you don't want to carry on the trail.

Postage is a substantial cost nowadays, and it increases your carbon footprint. I have to do some mail drops, because I have to use/eat mostly all natural/organic stuff, which is harder to find in small towns. Still, I plan on cutting my mail drops in half, and using a bounce box for things like the Dremmel (Ed's nails). Even if you don't need to do any mail drops, you may want to do a few, just for morale.

[mnof1000v]

There are lots of things to look at when considering mail drops. Yes, it can be inconvenient if you arrive at a town after the PO has closed, particularly if the arrival happens on a Saturday. And yes, your tastes can and do change. That said, I used 10 mail drops in '06, and I still think it makes sense to have at least a few.

If nothing else, mail drops keep your family and friends connected to your hike. I put together a few drops because I had people at home who wanted to help me out any way they could, and I figured mail drops were just the ticket. Every so often, I'd call home and tell them I needed a mail drop in some town 6 or 7 days up the trail. In most cases, the mail drop wasn't a necessity. 9 tims out of 10, I could buy what I needed in a grocery store wherever I was going. But it kept my family involved, and made them feel better about my trip.

For me, though, mail drops helped me slow my pace and really enjoy my hike. Quite often, I felt the need to push myself, putting in big miles and long stretches away from town. More than once I intentionally sent a mail drop to a town I knew I'd could reach late on a Saturday or Sunday. In doing so, I effectively forced myself to slow down. Why rush, if I knew I'd only be waiting for a package?

[Appalachian Tater]

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against maildrops. In fact, I think OTHER people should absolutely have maildrops.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get so many goodies out of hiker boxes, everything from chapstick to batteries, a compass, razors, chocolate-covered cherries and Mountain House meals.

The more mail drops the better!!!

[SGT Rock]

Well in that case mail drops of the small stuff like maps and other odds and ends still do you OK. But as for the big stuff and food it just doesn't seem to make sense unless you have some wierd diet.

[mweinstone]

as a teen in love with the trail, i crunched the numbers hard one year. i did all the studying that anyone can do even to this day. the only factor that has changed in the equation is the fact that "hard to get items" dont exist anymore.it used to be that you couldnt buy food easy near the trail. now its fully stocked but for the known places that arent witch are few and places like monson where its cool cause its a jumping off point into the wilderness. or fontana or other places where its fun or needed. i arrived at the magic number 27. thats only post offices on the trail or within a second of it. then only mail the best and rarest foods. dont send sams club ramman. if your macrobiotic like i was, then you send brown rice and seaweed and miso and gorp. and tigermilk bars and bee pollon and ginsing and teas and all things that will not be found on the trail ever. never mail even the simplest thing if it can be gotten ontrail. only rareitys. got it? and yes it costs a fourtune.

[Kirby]

20 mail drops for me, with grocery buying points scattered in between.

Kirby

[Tennessee Viking]

Most of the thru hikers I talked to only do maildrops for gear and personal items from home. Most of the food can be picked up on supply runs from near roadside/hostels and trailtowns.

[Lone Wolf]

buy as you go. i'm an expert. trust me.

[SGT Rock]

My maildrops, 13 in all. 8 of them are basically just maps and other odds and ends (like bourbon). 1 of them is "civilian" clothing for the bus ride back from Millenocket to Knoxville. The other 4 are food drops (with maps and such) to places where people have reccomended to me a drop might be a good idea:

Linden, VA (3 days food)
Harpers Ferry, WV (5 days food)
Port Clinton (3 days food)
Glencliff, NH (5 days) this is also where I plan to get my winter gear back.

[rickb]

Thirteen.

Heck, that's how many I had.

But with virtually no other resupply.

Must be nice walking from cantina to cantina.

Dont get fat!

:-)

[Jim Adams]

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against maildrops. In fact, I think OTHER people should absolutely have maildrops.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get so many goodies out of hiker boxes, everything from chapstick to batteries, a compass, razors, chocolate-covered cherries and Mountain House meals.

The more mail drops the better!!!

true...very true.

save the mail drops for special surprizes from friends and relatives and buy as you go.

geek

[Paul Bunyan]

Unless you have someone semdimg you the drops, and can change stuff up, you're going to get tired with your food pretty quickly. If I ever do the trail again, i'll probably only use a bounce box, and maybe a couple of drops in places that either have pretty bad prices, or don't have any place to get stuff. As others have said before, trying to meet deadlines can be a real pain. It's kind of hard to say what you should do, just make your own decision. But just as a note, if you're concerned about the cost, maildrops will probably cost the exact same as buying it yourself.

[SGT Rock]

My wife will shop for me as I go - so I can tell her what I want in those 4 food drops.

[frieden]

maildrops will probably cost the exact same as buying it yourself.

That brings up a good point I had forgotten. When I travel, I go to the local grocery store, and they are the same in any country - they all have sale items! Some people need to go out to eat for socialization, but you can save money by buying what you like at the grocery on sale (something you could never carry in your pack), and fix it back at the hostel. Chances are a lot of people are doing the same thing, and you'll have plenty of conversation!

Does anyone know of a support network for hikers, who do not have a support network at home (for maildrops, and things)?

[Appalachian Tater]

SGT Rock, there is a convenience/country store next to the post office in Linden. They do have things like candy bars, ramen, Lipton's, cracker packs, pop tarts and they make pretty good sandwiches. If you have to get some equipment from the post office anyway, a food drop isn't a bad idea, but it isn't absolutely necessary. You can get a couple of day's worth of food there, especially if you eat a sandwich there and pack one out for dinner.

There's a frequent bus to a shopping center with a Super Wal-Mart and a dollar store, a laundrymat, etc. that runs up the main street in Harpers Ferry. You can flag it down anywhere. Also, check the hiker boxes in the ATC office first, there was a great selection, but it probably varies.

If you need resupply in Port Clinton, you need a drop. Don't forget that you'll probably get a really filling meal at the hotel and a big breakfast at the diner if you decide to stay there overnight.

Glencliff has okay resupply at a large convenience store where the locals buy their groceries. It's not a real grocery store but they have all your typical hiker foodstuffs and some bananas, apples, etc. Course, since you're getting your winter gear anyway, it's not a bad idea to get food mailed with it. That's one of the friendliest P.O.'s on the trail, opens at 7:00 six days a week so you can get there after 5:00 pm and go to the P.O. and still hike out by 8:00 the next morning!