|  Mail
Drop (aka Bounce Box) - A "mail
drop" is a box you have prepared with extra food and
supplies that you mail to yourself at a given town's post
office. When you decide to hike the Trail and you send for
books and maps, there is a listing of all the post offices
along the Trail that are sometimes convenient to get to. Your
mailing label would look like this:
Return
Address
in upper left hand corner,
usually your home address.
Marcia
Roland
c/o US Post
Office
Damascus, VA 24236
In
the lower left hand corner you write,
Save for thru-hiker. Arriving May 10 - 17.
The
post office will hold your mail of any kind for two months
and if it hasn't been picked up, will then forward to the
return address.
You
must also plan ahead to arrive at the post office before it
closes. On Saturday many are open until noon but some are
not open at all. If they are closed you then have to decide
if you take two "O"
days and wait until 8:30 Monday morning or hike ahead
and hitch back to get your mail on that Monday or later in
the week.
To
be able to pick up your mail you have to show your driver's
license to prove that you are who you say. The post office
does not allow others to pick up your mail for you. If you
have made arrangements ahead of time your mail can be sent
to a motel, hiker hostel or bed and breakfast that you will
be staying at.
A
"mail drop" takes extra planning because the thru-hiker
not only mails things to themselves, but supplies prepared
ahead of time left at home can be sent by a family member
or friend. If you need to order equipment that you can't find
in town you can give the address of the next post office you
will be arriving at to the company and they will send it to
you there.
Getting
mail is like "Christmas" for many hikers because
it is a way to keep in touch with family and friends. Words
of encouragement and "goodies" like Snickers, gorp,
letters written on toilet paper, extra band aids and foot
soakers are fun to receive.
Half
Day • Full Day • Overnights
Easy
• Moderate • Moderate/Strenuous
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