I posted my first trail package this morning. Using the “hold for pickup” service, you can post a package to a U.S. post office which will keep it for you until you get there. In this way, you can stage boxes of consumables to be picked up during your hike. It’s a bit of a balancing act. You have to allow for variations in your hiking schedule, delivery time, and even the hours the post office is open. You don’t want to show up at 10 am to a post office that doesn’t open until noon. Arriving late could mean that you have to spend the night close by and essentially waste a day hanging around when you should be moving.
Mama Bear will post the next three boxes when the dates get a little closer. She will add tortillas just before mailing – they are a great luxury on the trail. Knowing that she is back home, holding down the “fort” and thinking of me is a great comfort, a connection to the real world. I can imagine getting the boxes she sends, perhaps with a little note in them. My father taught me the greatest thing you can give to another person is to wait for them. My boxes will be waiting for me somewhere up ahead. Mama Bear will waiting for my return somewhere behind.