Everybody loves getting mail
[Important: the above picture was taken by the beautiful and talented Alisa Ames at Purple Point in Stehekin, WA, the last trail town before the Canadian border and my favorite place on Earth!]
I love getting mail. During the three summers I worked at camp, I received exactly 4 pieces of mail. One of those was a replacement headlamp from REI, but man oh man, those letters really brightened my week!
I would love to get mail or care packages from you while I am on the trail. Unfortunately, it is a little complicated, but don't let these instructions scare you! In fact, if you are worried about all the instructions below, go ahead and just mail the letter or package to my Mom, Karen, and she can include it in my regularly scheduled resupply box. Go ahead and email me or Mom to get our home address.
I am sorry for all these instructions, but picking up my mail is a little more complicated when I'm hiking than heading down to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. It is more like hiking a few miles, hitch hiking a few miles, locating the post office, and then begging them for my mail (which they may be holding hostage for $5 or $10!).
Because I have to ask for all my mail, it works a lot better if I know what is coming. It ruins the surprise a little, but it also is an incentive for me to get to the next town! The best way to let me know is to email me, Mom, or leave my a voicemail.
While I do have a schedule for when I will be in specific trail towns, this is not set in stone. I may arrive at a place a week early (unlikely) or a week late. If you are going to send something, it would be best if it made it to the post office several days before my scheduled arrival. If you want more accurate information, you can email my Mom and she can give you a better idea of when I'll be in town.
I love getting mail. During the three summers I worked at camp, I received exactly 4 pieces of mail. One of those was a replacement headlamp from REI, but man oh man, those letters really brightened my week!
I would love to get mail or care packages from you while I am on the trail. Unfortunately, it is a little complicated, but don't let these instructions scare you! In fact, if you are worried about all the instructions below, go ahead and just mail the letter or package to my Mom, Karen, and she can include it in my regularly scheduled resupply box. Go ahead and email me or Mom to get our home address.
I am sorry for all these instructions, but picking up my mail is a little more complicated when I'm hiking than heading down to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. It is more like hiking a few miles, hitch hiking a few miles, locating the post office, and then begging them for my mail (which they may be holding hostage for $5 or $10!).
Because I have to ask for all my mail, it works a lot better if I know what is coming. It ruins the surprise a little, but it also is an incentive for me to get to the next town! The best way to let me know is to email me, Mom, or leave my a voicemail.
While I do have a schedule for when I will be in specific trail towns, this is not set in stone. I may arrive at a place a week early (unlikely) or a week late. If you are going to send something, it would be best if it made it to the post office several days before my scheduled arrival. If you want more accurate information, you can email my Mom and she can give you a better idea of when I'll be in town.
Letters
Letters can be sent by regular First Class mail. The addresses are below.
Care packages
Packages can mostly be mailed via Priority Mail at your local post office. Some locations along the trail only accept UPS. These locations are noted below. DO NOT USE FIRST CLASS MAIL, PARCEL POST, OR FEDEX. Also, do not believe the post office workers when they say the package will reach me in 10 days. The towns I will be visiting are very remote and it often takes longer.
MAILING INSTRUCTIONS:
-DO write my name on all sides of the box in black marker
-DO write "Hold for hiker ETA: [my estimated arrival date, see below]"
-DO NOT use Fedex, Parcel Post, or First Class mail
-DO make sure that I will not have to sign for the package
-DO email me, mom, or leave me a voicemail so that I know the package is coming
-DO check the schedule below so that the package and I arrive at about the same time
WHAT TO SEND:
Once, when I was in Ecuador, my mom mailed me a Halloween care package. It was very sweet, and I appreciated it greatly, but the VHS of Hocus Pocus (while INVALUABLE when you have a tape player) was pretty much dead weight and just took up space in my suitcase. This is the same with care packages on the PCT.
DO SEND things like food, cookies, letters, food, socks (not heavy wool socks though), jerky, crossword puzzles (but just a page or two, not the whole book!), granola bars, dessert, notes about your life and family! I am going to miss you all out there!!!
DO NOT SEND things that are heavy (heavy books, toys, food in glass jars), things that are gross (beets are all that is coming to mind right now...ewww), things that are illegal to mail, things that take up lots of space (stuffed animals, VHS copies of Hocus Pocus, I suppose the DVD version would also be bad).
Boy sorry for that monolith. The dates and addresses for my resupply stops are below.
[Gotta cite my sources like a good college grad! These instructions are paraphrased from Yogi's PCT Handbook]
MAILING INSTRUCTIONS:
-DO write my name on all sides of the box in black marker
-DO write "Hold for hiker ETA: [my estimated arrival date, see below]"
-DO NOT use Fedex, Parcel Post, or First Class mail
-DO make sure that I will not have to sign for the package
-DO email me, mom, or leave me a voicemail so that I know the package is coming
-DO check the schedule below so that the package and I arrive at about the same time
WHAT TO SEND:
Once, when I was in Ecuador, my mom mailed me a Halloween care package. It was very sweet, and I appreciated it greatly, but the VHS of Hocus Pocus (while INVALUABLE when you have a tape player) was pretty much dead weight and just took up space in my suitcase. This is the same with care packages on the PCT.
DO SEND things like food, cookies, letters, food, socks (not heavy wool socks though), jerky, crossword puzzles (but just a page or two, not the whole book!), granola bars, dessert, notes about your life and family! I am going to miss you all out there!!!
DO NOT SEND things that are heavy (heavy books, toys, food in glass jars), things that are gross (beets are all that is coming to mind right now...ewww), things that are illegal to mail, things that take up lots of space (stuffed animals, VHS copies of Hocus Pocus, I suppose the DVD version would also be bad).
Boy sorry for that monolith. The dates and addresses for my resupply stops are below.
[Gotta cite my sources like a good college grad! These instructions are paraphrased from Yogi's PCT Handbook]
Here is a link to where I should be and when. Carrie's Resupply List.