posting food on ahead

[amr911]

does anyone have any experience of posting their food parcels on ahead to be collected en-route?

[adelorenzo]

Posting food drops is standard operating procedure for people doing long hikes like the Pacific Crest Trail. Go check some through hiker sites you'll find lots of info. They also 'bump' gear they don't need until later from one post office to another.

[JRA]

If you are traveling where there are US Post offices, you can mail packages to yourself marked "General Delivery" and pick them up when you arrive.  I have done this backpacking before and it has worked well.

[Aslan]

I did 80% of my re suppling on the great divide route via mail drops. It is easy and it keeps you moving as you do not need to waste time thinking about buying and foraging in towns.  Just pay attention to the hours of operation.  Small post office locations can have narrow hours of operation.

[hikernks]

Also be aware that the PO you mail your package to will return to sender after 30 days.  I mailed out four of the flat rate small boxes (which are free, btw) the post office has, and I think shipping was around $25-$30 for all four.  You can find the shipping cost on the USPS website.  The way to address them is like this:

Your Name
General Delivery
Post Office Address
PO City, State

I'd definitely reinforce the boxes with Gorilla Tape or something, because they were VERY beat up when I got them back.  Nothing was damaged, but if you're sending anything breakable, I'd package it pretty well.