I’m planning my maildrop schedule for PCT thru and want to send drops to only those places where food selection is scant or really expensive. No more than 10 drops. What are the absolutely essential mail drops for a PCT thru?
raru
Absolutely essential maildrops
system
#2
One that comes to mind is Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) in the Sierras. They actually have food you can buy, but it is notoriously expensive.
Warner Springs offers some limited food, and usually had a stocked hikerbox when we were there.
You don’t need one in Idyllwild, Big Bear City, Wrightwood, Agua Dulce, Mojave, or maybe Kennedy Meadows (but if the hiker box is low, then you’ll be paying out your nose). Nor for Independence, Tuolomne (stocked like a champ), South lake tahoe, Sierra City (although could be slim pickins).
I would send one to Belden, as the store is very unreliable and moderately stocked.
I would also send one to Burney Falls, because their prices are laughable.
Castella has a good store.
Shelter Cove is a good place for a drop, despite a camp store -that is not suited for hikers.
White Pass in WA would be a good place, but they have a decent selection. There’s just NO other option if you don’t like what they have.
Skykomish is a toss up. There are some stores, but we struggled to find anything remotely healthy. The hiker bix had been emptied.
Stehekin should get one, just cause you deserve it.
Take care and good luck
Tha Wookie
system
#3
I agree with Tha Wookie, but to add my two cents:
I believe the question isn’t where food is expensive. Rather, the question is if there is food at a certain stop AT ALL.
Warner Springs - has just a small convenience store.
Kennedy Meadows, Vermilion Valley Resort, Crater Lake (Mazama) - could have food or not. It depends upon if they’ve just stocked the store. If they haven’t stocked in several days, the stores will be cleaned out.
Belden is just a creepy place. There is a small store near the hostel which has enough food to get you to Chester (46 miles).
Burney Falls State Park - you could go into the town of Burney instead and buy at the grocery store.
Shelter Cove - has no hiker food.
White Pass - has no hiker food, but you could go to Packwood instead of White Pass.
Skykomish just has a large convenience store, but you could go to Leavenworth instead.
Stehekin has very little hiker food.
yogi
system
#4
Just wanted to say that I loved Vermilion. Even though I found hiker box food on sale in the shop, I forgive them coz they sure showed us a good time. An essential stop in the Sierra. Mail food ahead in good time as access to the resort is one loooooong windr road.
Skykomish was also a good stop. A real friendly post office and local trail angel who let us stay in his house. Leavenworth has better facilities but avoid during the Bavarian festival. A bus stops at Stevens pass (if you flag it down) once or twice a day. It stops outside the Post office in Leavenworth.
Wish I could say I knew this from PCT thruhike, but alas, only 3 long section hikes in 2002 (JMT, Lassen and the Cascades) Good luck.
Ross :cheers
Ross
system
#5
If you don’t want to do a lot of cross country mail drops, you can easily do your mail drops on the trail. We bought all our food for Oregon at Ashland and bought all our food for Washington at CAscade Locks and did mail drops from those towns to the small resorts along the way. The campground resorts are very expensive, and as others have said, they may not have any food.
When we were at Warner Springs, early in the season, before there was any food in the hiker box, two hikers had missing mail drops. With four of us cleaning out the mini-mart, there wasn’t much left for those behind us.
Spirit Walker