[at-l] GPS Questions

[Raphael Bustin]

At 07:01 AM 9/21/2006 -0400, Mara wrote:

>I had nearly 30 maildrops during my thruhike.  If I did it again, I would
>probably have two - just for exchanging gear when the weather got hot - and
>then cold.  Bounce boxes are useful for mailing ahead "extra" gear such as
>maps, film, etc.  I ended up feeling quite silly picking up maildrops full
>of food when there were full service supermarkets in many towns along the
>way.  Not only that, but my tastes changed and sometimes I felt locked into
>eating what was in my maildrop rather than buying what I would have
>preferred.  I also found I got a lot less picky along the way and would have
>had no problems resupplying in many of the smaller markets along the way.
>
>In the mid-Atlantic states, there's plenty of deli-to-deli hiking.  I was
>constantly carrying much too much food from drop to drop.
>
>All this is moot if you have any specific dietary restrictions.  If that's
>the case, then maildrops are definitely the way to go.  I've met hikers who
>could not have hiked the trail if not for maildrops.  That said, almost all
>hikers I've talked with who had more than a handful of maildrops wished they
>had fewer maildrops.


The nature of the trail (and the world) has changed since
the hikes of Earl Shaffer, Eric Ryback, and Ed Garvey.

One of the early hikers buried food caches in
paraffin-sealed glass jars at critical road crossings.
I guess he thought he was hiking through wilderness.

In the early 1990s, at least, mail drops were still
quite the norm.

In the 16 years hence I've observed thru-hiker
habits and noticed much more willingness to
forego these and basically make a habit of doing
town stops (for eats or food-shopping) no less
than every 3-4 days.

I'd be trudging along on a section hike with
five days of food on my back, and the thrus
would be all a-chatter about a deli or grocery
store that was 0.7 miles down the road at
the next trailhead.

I think the thrus (and Mara) had the right idea.
Which is why I'm done with maildrops, I think.
No regrets on this last hike.  I ate well.
Rte. 94.  Unionville, Culver Gap, DWG.  All
right on the trail, at intervals of less than 3-4 days.

There are only a few exceptions here, as far
as I know.  Monson to Abol Bridge being the
most obvious.  (White House did not exist
in 1990.)

Problems with food drops:

* limited hours at post offices (they're
anything but "24/7".) Pain in the a** to
kick back in some dreary hostel or
motel room waiting for PO to open.

* your tastes and habits change as you
hike.

* hard to gauge how much of any given
item you'll need, week to week.

* the logistics of assembling and
mailing (sending) the drops in the first
place.


rafe b
aka terrapin


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