Thru-hiking Basics + Advice

Plan accordingly to pick up supplies in towns near the trail.

Thru-hikes can take months to complete. When I thru-hiked the PCT in '09, it took me 5 months and 1 day. There is no way I could have carried all the food and gear at once. Luckily there are a few ways to go about planning your resupply to make sure you have only what you need when you need it.

POST OFFICE RESUPPLY - This is the cheapest method of resupply, it requires a lot of work and planning before your hike, but then it's the easiest resupply on the trail. The Triple Crown trails all pass by post offices every handful of days. Post offices will hold your packages for 15-30 days, so you'll need a buddy to send them as you hike. This allows you to pop in and out of towns without having to spend time shopping. Here's a breakdown of the benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits:
• Least expensive option, assuming you buy in bulk at cheap prices.
• Good option for dietary restrictions or specialty foods.
• No need to spend time shopping in towns.
• With pre-set boxes, it's easier for your resupply person to send additional gear or food.

Drawbacks:
• Tons of initial pre-hike planning.
• You have to plan around post office hours.
• If you get sick of your pre-ordered food, you're kinda stuck with it.
• You need a reliable resupply person to mail out your boxes.
• No fresh food.

IN-TOWN RESUPPLY - This is generally the most flexible resupply option. Most towns along the more established trails are ready to handle the dietary needs of thru-hikers. It allows you to shop for whatever your heart desires... which will usually be cake and ice cream. Hard cheeses, hard meats, fruits and veggies. However, from time to time you might come across a poorly stocked store where you have to piece together a resupply with whatever they have left on the shelf.

Benefits:
• Good variety of food.
• Fresh fruit, veggies, meats and cheeses.
• No extra food left at home.
• Supports the businesses that supply the hikers.

Drawbacks:
• Might not always find exactly what you need.
• Prices could be higher.
• Shopping can take a bit of time.

HYBRID - The best bet is to do a mixture of the two resupply options, mail a good deal of food and supplement it with groceries. That way you're sure to have enough nutrition to get you through, but can still get some fresh foods and the ability to get the specific treats that you crave.

BOUNCE BOX - A bounce box is another way to bring your situational gear along with you, without having to carry it when you don't need it. Fill your bounce box with gear that you'll need at some point in the future, then mail it to an upcoming post office. When you get to that post office, grab the supplies you need (like maps, seam sealer, ice axe, down jacket, etc) and repackage the box and mail it out again. I have an awesome resupply guy (hi Geoff!) so I haven't used a bounce box, but it is an option to keep in mind for some of your on-again-off-again gear.

HIKER BOX - Oh boy oh boy, I love hiker boxes. Think of a hiker box as a Leave A Penny Take A Penny tray, but for food and gear. These will be set up somewhere in most trail towns, either at a trail angel, hotel, hardware store, grocery store or the post office. They are a great place to ditch that food you're sick of and pick up something that looks good. You can also find useful gear like Molefoam, Ziploc bags, or even books. My love of Kurt Vonnegut began after grabbing Cat's Cradle from a hiker box.

"I hike on a shoestring budget so I count on re-supply boxes sent from friends and family to the post office. I supplement that with whatever I can dig out of hiker boxes along the way!"

Always bring tangible maps and a compass.

Navigation requirements will vary based on the trail you're hiking. The AT is blazed the entire way and is relatively easy to follow without maps, compass or GPS (please note: I don't recommend not using a map of some sort). The CDT, on the other hand, isn't even 100% complete, so you'll need to rely on maps and GPS pretty heavily to stay on trail (or as on trail as possible). If you search the internet, you'll be able to locate the best method of navigation for your trip and probably even some downloadable GPS points for the more popular trails. Even if you have GPS points every half-mile of your trip mapped out, always bring a compass. Electronic devices could fail at any given point and I don't know about you, but I don't know how to repair one in the woods.

Keep feet as clean and dry as possible, and treat blisters to avoid infection.

Footcare is a complicated issue that I could talk about for days, but here are a few of the basic things you should keep in mind. The first two are things to take into account when planning your hike, the second two are for hiking your plan.

LOW PACK WEIGHT - Step. Step. Step. Step. Etc. That's what you'll be doing. Tons of steps. This is big reason why pack weight is so important. Your feet are going to be tested each and every day. Do your feet a favor and minimize the amount of abuse they take by lightening your load.

BREATHABLE FOOTWEAR - Picking the correct footwear is very important. You'll want something that is lightweight, flexible and breathable. Meshy trail runners will ensure good airflow around your foot, limiting moisture build-up. They'll also allow your feet/socks to dry out quickly after they do get wet (via rain or river crossings). Dry feet are happy feet.

TREAT BLISTERS - Blisters are pretty much unavoidable, unless your feet are 100% callous or if you're a robot or something. If your feet are 100% callous, you can skip this section. If you're a robot, 010011001011. The only time you should lance a blister is if it's going to pop while you're hiking, because you don't want a ruptured blister rubbing against your gross socks and shoes. If it's reached that point, you want to take care of it as sterile-y as possible with a needle and some clean bandages of some sort (duct tape and some gauze). A little Epsom salt in town can go a long way to healing blisters.

ELEVATE FEET AT NIGHT - Your feet will swell during the day due to the constant pounding of thousands and thousands of steps. If you set up your tent at a slight incline, you can position your feet in a raised position which will allow the blood to recede.

"Give some love to your feet every chance you get. Wipe them off with a wet wipe. Look for trouble spots and treat them. An infected blister will take you off the trail and possibly end your hike."

At the risk of sounding like your mom, stick to a budget.

Cost is a big variable which depends mainly on how many trail towns and hotels are on your itinerary. But just to give you a general idea, the Triple Crown trails will cost you an average of $1-$2 per mile, not counting your initial gear costs. I'll just do a little math for you here, at $1.50 per mile, the AT would cost you $3,270. You can keep that cost down by camping just outside of trail towns instead of staying in hotels, or if you do stay in a hotel, split it with a couple other smelly hikers. If you pre-order a bunch of food at bulk prices and are able to stick to just eating those foods as much as possible, you'll save a bunch of money.

Upon arriving in a trail town, it's tempting to rush right to the nearest restaurant and consume $40 worth of burgers, steaks, salads, beers and desserts, but these costs will add up fast. That's fine if you build those costs into your budget, but should be avoided if funds are tight. So when making your initial budget, be sure to build in a reasonable allowance for food and hotels, because it'll be very hard to completely skimp on these luxuries.

"To save money, stay out of the towns. I love them, too, but they can be hiker-magnets that will distract you from the task at hand: hiking the trail."