Resupplies - Feeding the Hungry Hikers

I figure I should provide a post on resupplies, or at this phase, how I hope resupplies will work. Trying to understand how resupplies can work is the biggest challenge I am facing now. I have never mailed myself food to a post office I have never been to, or tried to find provisions for a week of intense hiking from a Chevron convenience store. Needless to say it is difficult to anticipate what I will be comfortable with for resupplies but important to have an idea ahead of time.

What's a Resupply?

One of a hiker's largest obsession (as with most living things) is FOOD. However when you are out backpacking through the wilderness there aren't always giant supermarkets waiting for you at the top of a pass or in the middle of the desert. That is where resupplies come in.

Unlike the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail travels through more remote areas and thru-hikers aren't always a short walk or hitch away from the nearest town. Therefore, it is important to plan out which towns you do plan on stopping at along the way and understand what kind of groceries you may be able to find.

Frequency

For most of the trip I will try to resupply for 4 to 6 days. However there are some longer stretches through wilderness areas and national parks that will require me to carry food for 7 or 8 days. This can be quite heavy especially on those first mornings out of town. I have been trying to find a good tradeoff of not having to travel off the trail too far or too often to resupply without getting too weighed down by weeks worth of food.

Mail Drops vs Scavenge Convenience Stores

Mmmm Priority Mail

Another difficulty in planning resupplies is deciding when to send a mail drop or try to just buy food from smaller grocery stores or large convenience stores in town. A mail drop is when you or your family/friend sends a package full of food to a local post office for you to pick up when you arrive. Mail drops are necessary in some towns along the trail where there simply are no options for buying food. They can also be used to ensure you always have food you can take with you backpacking in towns that may have smaller grocery stores. Many of the PCT guidebooks and thru-hiker journals advise against using lots of mail drops because your trip becomes more inflexible in terms of what towns you must stop in and when. Plus you have no idea what foods you may be craving if you pack up your food before you leave. My strategy is to send out resupplies from the trail only to the towns that have no other options. When I get to a town with a good grocery store and I know the next town I reach won't have sufficient food options I will mail forward a package full of food.

We'll see if I can make it on Doritos and Little Debbie for a week

The other option is to simply buy whatever food is available. Some of the towns will have bigger supermarkets or grocery stores that most of us are used to shopping at. Many though will only have limited supplies and maybe not the most ideal foods for thru-hikers. You also have to consider how the thru-hiking season is a fairly narrow band of time. Being a sheep at the back of the herd I have to hope that the earlier crowds haven't picked through all the good eats at these little stores before they can restock for the next week. I envision by the time I reach Washington I will have a good idea how to make convenience store food fuel me for 100+ mile sections.

How Do You Know?

None of this resupply planning would be possible without the help of some great PCT guidebooks I have been using. My favorite is Yogi's PCT Handbook. Yogi, a veteran PCT hiker, has complied a guidebook with recent updates from thru-hikers on where the best places to stop for food or lodgings are. This has proved critical in planning out how I can find enough food to get me though my hike.

Planning resupplies is all about understanding what your options are to help making sure you have the right food to fuel you through your trek. While the type A side of me wants to box up all my food in the next few weeks and get it ready for family or friends to ship out to me, I'm glad I'm giving myself the flexibility for my trip and know it will all work out in the end.

PS Only a month until I leave for San Diego to start my hike!!!