I know that resupply depends largely on the trail conditions/quality of grocery stores, etc, etc, but what is the average number or miles between resupply stops?
jackie b
Distance between resupply
system
#2
I found on planning my 01 thru and actually doing it plan on about 5 - 7 days between resupply. But keep in mind this is not the golden rule. Your best bet is to do the research and plan according to your needs. The variables are many so my advice is to decide on the weight you want to carry and plan resupplys to better fit your needs. Keep in mind the food you carry will be one of the more heavy items you carry. The less weight you carry the more comfortable you will be on the trail. But along with keeping weight of food down will nessitate more frequent stops. Sorry about the spelling.
Your milage may vary
A lousy day on the trail is still so much better than a great day at work!!!
ShakeyLeggs
system
#3
hey jackie,
i would suggest 2 lite drops in GA. i would guess you could do like me and carry way too much food thru the entire state, but i am gonna break my food down early and pick that weight up later. You will easily be able to make Walasi yi in 3 days max 4. So go lite to there. and then hyawassi is then again 3 or 4 days. so go lite again.
I would also suggest high energy snacks like hersheys chocolate. get several of yer favorites, you can make it up a hill faster on chocolate, treats, and besides, you really don’t have any appetite for the first week, even tho you think of food, when it is Ramen time, you would rather not eat, but eat it to stay fit for tomorrow. I ate breakfast lunch and dinner in NOV and by Walasi Yi, i just wanted to snack instead. I would also consider some sort of hard candy or simple treat that lasts like a blow pop or jolly rancher.
Lower food weight in the beginning, more snack weight eaten throughout the day is better in my limited experience. Hope I helped.
burn
system
#4
I found early on that carrying 5 to 7 days worth of food sucked and wasnt necessary most times. If you use the hikers companion or Wingfoots book you can plan a resupply about every 3 days. Carrying less weight makes the hike more enjoyable. Youd be surprised at how fast you can thumb into most towns.I guess the downside is getting out of town after youve run into some of your hiking buddies.A few maildrops will be good.I started with 7 and only used 3.I found Fontana Dam to be a good maildrop.
Virginian
system
#5
I resupplied 36 times over 140 days of hiking. So, on that basis, my average was every 4 days. It ranged from 1 day between resupply to 9 days. I’ll try not to carry 9 days next time.
Peaks
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#6
Jackie,
pretty much depends on how often you’d like to resupply. The major town stops in virginnia are an average of 7-10 days apart (damascus to Pearisburg to daleville to waynsboro to Harpers Ferry). But you can easily resupply at places like Atkins, Bland, Catawba, Glascow, Front Royal to cut those numbers in half. There is tons of flexibility depending on how you feel-whether or not you feel like you need town or you’d rather spend more times in the woods. I found it personally helpful and enjoyable to resupply often and carry less food, but at the same time avoiding major long town stops. As suggested above it is very doable to hitch in and out and still put in a good days work. Sure it took me until Rangeley Maine to figure it out 
but maybe you’re better disciplined than me.
A-Train
system
#7
Jackie B,
Baltimore Jack and Weathercarrot have a comprehensive list of where they resupply in the “articles” section of www.whiteblaze.net. It is definitely worth checking out.
Bankrobber
system
#8
I’m curious how much of a hardship would be created if you choose not to hitchhike?
Is this an unrealistic goal?
Joe
Joe Michael
system
#10
I was surprised to see that some one other than me has no appetite the first week of a trip. I have to force myself to eat for the first couple of weeks. From Springer I carried seven days worth of food and still had some of it two weeks later. It wasn’t until the smokies that Got an appetite. Then the amount of food I needed to carry was very different from the beginning.
Big B
system
#11
Big B i think it is adrenaline or the I am so glad i am finally here moment. also drinking water like a fish kept me full. You can always go into Suches, Blytheville, helen, or any number of other towns like delonega. they are an easy hitch in GA. and Jo, churches think of hitch hiking hikers as a way of service to mankind or good samaratan. they publisize it in their services to pick up hikers. i had heard that from one of the baptist guys who was also a plumber who gave me a ride. seems like they compete for how many their church can help. one guy past me, turned around and then carried me 70 miles back to amicolala from just south of hyawassi…i think that is great service.
Big B
system
#12
I made this my standard. I only carried 6 or 7 days twice: through the Smokies, 6 days (I didn’t go to Gatlinburg, but could have) and 6 days from Monson to Hurd Brook Shelter (I also had my brother bring a r/s to me when I met him @ Jo-Mary Rd).
A past thru-hiker @ Harper’s Ferry advised me that the easiest way to cut pack weight is your food. He was right. I’d have to add them up, but I’d guess I r/s in over 30 places. Most of those I did spend the night in too (I like my laundry and shower), I wasn’t very good at the in and out of town in a day thing. In fact I pretty much planned on a short day into town, to take a ‘nero’ and then out the next day (ok, not exactly early morning either). Hey! I still made it and only did 6 20s the whole way.
As to hitching, I knew a guy that was refusing or didn’t want to do it. Last I saw him was Bland where he was going to go BACK into Bland (after passing by the road and walking into the woods past 71 there) to go to the DQ. Never saw him again ?! Hitching ROCKS! I loved it…some of my best stories and people and memories…playing dog in the back of a pickup with 5 of my trail buddies. Ahhhhhh…
:bawling
Bluebearee
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#13
In 2000 there was a guy named " Gizmos Dad " and he did the trail as you suggested. Walked every inch and if town was too far to walk he did not go there. Every thing is possible if you take your time and and follow your dream.
tin cup
system
#14
Many times you don’t even have to try to hitch, people will just stop even if you’re not hitching and offer you a ride. People around trail towns know who you are, and that you need a ride and don’t have wheels. And many of them will go out of their way to pick you up and drop you off wherever you want to go.
I think the average of 2 pounds of food per day has been mentioned in previous forum threads on this topic. A-Train, Bluebearee, Wolf and other can tell you if this is a good estimate in their opinion or not. Anyway as you can see 2 pound of food per day really adds a lot of weight if you are carrying food for say 7 days (i.e. 14 pounds of food).
See you out there. :cheers
Maintain
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#15
Hitching is part of the fun. Like the ride we got out of Andover. That truck had such an exhaust leak ,that we thought we were gonna die in the back of that camper shelled bomb before we ever got to the trail. Later that nite we all had a good laugh.
One time me and Cantore caught a ride in a RollsRoyce,believe it our not and actually convinced the two girls driving it to take us all the way up the broken down dirt road back to the silent retreat in Great Barrington.
Virginian
system
#16
just very briefly to answer the question maintain threw out. Yea 2 lbs of grub a day is a good estimate. When your appetite gets going there will be no way to satisfy it in the woods, bc you cant carry that much food. Sticking to 2 lbs a day seems to work. Fill up extra room in ur belly with water.
The only time I wouldn’t recommend 2lbs a day is from springer to Neels. All of us had WAY too much food when we got to mountain crossings. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need 8 lbs of food to make it 31 miles. I’d say carry 4-6 lbs at most to start, itll help pack weight. If you get there quickly you can eat more. I personally never have an appetite backpacking until the 4th or 5th day
A-Train
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#17
I know that resupply depends largely on the trail conditions/quality of grocery stores, etc, etc, but what is the average number or miles between resupply stops?
60
There are so many variables that no numerical answer really makes sense, but if you want a number, well... 60 miles seems about right to me. To give you a sense of why this is an unanswerable question:
- In some areas, there are numerous snack bars for park visitors. In these areas, the very concept of resupply starts to get a bit hazy. I could eat major meals and top off my snack supply so often that I probably had the same Ramen down in the bottom of my food bag for 10 days or more. The whole cycle of fill-pack, empty-pack, refill-pack, empty-pack just broke down.
- Your fitness and mileage will change radically over the course of the trail, and you may adjust your resupply pattern accordingly. Early on, 30-40 miles without resupply seemed challenging. Once I started to get fit, 60 miles seemed about right (hence my answer above). Today, I'd probably prefer 80-100 over moderate terrain. Resupplying often keeps pack weight down, but I find the resupplying process time-consuming and not a highlight.
- Resupply frequency is not entirely dictated by food requirements. You may also want to visit a town to take a shower, heal up, replace gear, call home, gain weight, or just wallow in the protectiveness of civilization. I caught a train to New York City for a day-- I can't believe I did that!-- because a really great group of friends decided to go. I found that my psychological need for town visits decreased steadily over time.
Eric
system
#18
All I can say is if did’t hitch I would have never met Melvin in Pearisburg. Now no one should miss Melvin…so hitch and enjoy!
yo-yo