[at-l] Food - buy on the fly? mail drops? or hybrid?

[GARY HEBERT]

I do not have diet restrictions. and I eat almost anything. which is handy
on the AT cuz you can eat whatever you want and not worry about getting fat,
etc. You walk it off.
that said of course there are healthier things to eat that help your energy
levels,etc.

I did not use food bounce boxes or maildrops.  I bought 100% of my food on
the fly. For the AT this is quite practical, but can be far more costly,
depending on your discipline.  I'm lazy and like to be care free. That's
what I like about getting away from the stress of everyday life, planning,
etc.

My food planning for the next leg all came from guidebooks. I walked into
towns with just info from The Companion, bought food at the most convenient
store whenever i could get away with it. I only went to grocery stores when
i had too, but I also looked ahead and occasionally bought extra of certain
key items if there wasn't much ahead at my next mini-resupply.

I traveled lite and covered typically 20 miles daily, so I rarely carried
more than 3 evening meals and 3-4 days' snacks. Eating in town on arrival
and again before leaving also lightened my # of meals and snacks carried.
 This factor helped me a lot since I'd typically pass thru another small
town in just 2-4 days from then.

Buying at convenience stores, drug stores, gas stations was convenient and
worked for me, but I paid the premium prices. But I didn't care.

Of course you could bounce box stuff ahead to yourself from "good" resupply
points just as easily as somebody at home could ship it to you.  For me this
didn't seem practical either. It didn't solve my issue. I would only be able
to get mailed boxes of stuff when staying in a real town, usually overnite
(time to get my maildrop).  Most of the in between resupplies I just popped
off the trail, hit a convenience or general store or gas station and then
kept going. So getting a bounce box seemed pointless to me when I could just
shop.

But some do prefer the hybrid approach.  Actually most who use maildrops do
this.

If you are fussy or have diet restrictions hybrid probably makes sense.

I liked the adventure of winging it!

FedEx
AT 07,LT 08

(for my PCT attempt in 2010 I'll probably bounce a box ahead to myself since
towns and resupplies are more limited and further apart.)
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