My Appalachian Trail unsupported record attempt this summer lasted little over three weeks, during which I covered over a third of the trail. But while the trip itself passed by in a flash (not to me-every step felt like an eternity), the planning beforehand took months. I plotted out dozens of spreadsheets of gear and Appalachian Trail resupply and depended heavily on the Thru-hiker’s Companion and the Data Book, trying to hone in on exactly what I needed to accomplish my goal. It was exhausting work that no one should ever attempt to manage on top of the curriculum of a first year med student.
Most of the planning for the trip is marked by trade-offs. I sacrificed some comfort in camp to carry the uber lightweight Salomon Skin Pro pack. I chose to send out 18 mail drops which often meant I ended up with food I wasn’t particularly interested in eating. But one of the biggest decisions was deciding whether to carry that extra day of food, or hike that half mile off the trail and resupply.
Below I’ve listed nearly all the convenient Appalachian Trail resupply locations. I never intended to use all of them, or even half of them. But they were there as backup in case I misjudged my calorie intake or desperately wanted a shower. It’s not extensive by any means. I’ve deliberately left off resupplies at certain distances from the trail. While in Maine anything within a mile made the cut, sometimes down south a half mile was enough for me to rule it out. As abbreviations I’ve used L for lodging, M for meals, and G for grocery.
I hope this convenient Appalachian Trail resupply list can help someone in the planning of their FKT attempt of the Appalachian Trail in the future or for most just give an idea of logistically how much of a terror planning this hike was. This spreadsheet is only a glimpse of what I looked into for planning resupplies and shouldn’t be used as an absolute guide to resupply for a FKT attempt of the Appalachian Trail. I’ll be elaborating more on what it takes to plan a FKT attempt and lessons I learned on my trip in the near future.
|
Mileage |
Resupply Point | Notes: | OT | Address (if maildrop): |
| 0 | Katahdin | 0 | Appalachian Trail Lodge, 33 Penobscot Avenue, Millinocket, ME 04462, 207-723-4321 | |
| 15.1 | Abol store | M | 0 | |
| 151.2 | The Sterling Inn | L, mail, G | 1 | PO Box 129, Caratunk, ME 04925 (207) 672-3333 $25 |
| 220.4 | Hiker hut | M, L, mail | 0.3 | Steve Lynch, 2 Pine Rd., Sandy River Plantation, ME 04970 (2078978984) $25 |
| 298.3 | White Mtn. Lodge | L, mail | 0.1 | 592 State Route 2 Shelburne,NH 03581 (603) 466-5049 $33 |
| 319.4 | Pinkham notch | M, store, L, mail | 0 | AMC Visitor’s center, c/o Front Desk, N.H. 16, Gorham, NH 03581 (603) 466-2721 |
| 332.9 | Mt. Washington | M | 0 | |
| 373.1 | Franconia notch visitors center | M, mail | 0.8 | Call: (6037458391) |
| 398.9 | The Hikers welcome hostel | L, M, mail, snacks | 0.4 | PO Box 25, Glencliff, NH 03238, $20 |
| 442.2 | Hanover | L, M, mail, store | 0 | |
| 443.6 | Norwich Inn | L, M, G | 0.25 | The Norwich Inn, 325 Main Street P.O. Box 908 Norwich, VT 05055 (802) 649-1143 $99 |
| 464.6 | VT 12, On the edge farm stand | M | 0.2 | pies, veggies, fruit, drinks, ice cream |
| 484.3 | Kent Pond, Mountain Meadows Lodge | L, M, mail | 0 | 285 Thundering Brook Rd., Killington, VT 05751 (802-775-1010), $59 |
| 596.6 | N. Adams, Mass. | L, M, G | 0.5 | Redwood motel (413-664-4351), $60 |
| 611.1 | Cheshire, Mass | M, G, mail | 0.3 | Cheshire, Mass PO ZIP 01225 |
| 620.1 | Dalton, Mass | L, M, G, mail | 0 | PO 01226 Dalton, Mass. |
| 629.7 | Cookie lady | mail, cookies | 0.1 | Roy and Marilyn Wiley, 47 Washington Mountain Rd., Becket, MA 01223 (413-623-5859) |
| 639.1 | US 20, Berkshire Lakeside Lodge | M, L, mail | 0.1 | 3949 Jacob’s Ladder Rd., Becket, MA 01223 (413-243-9907) (reservations, $80) |
| 690.3 | Salisbury, CT | M, L, mail, G | 0.4 | Maria McCabe 4 Grove St., Salisbury, Conn. 06068 (860-435-0593) $35 |
| 697 | Falls Village, CT | L, M, mail, G | 0.5 | Falls Village Inn |
| 711 | Ct. 4-E. Cornwall Bridge, CT | L, M, G, mail | 0.9 | Hitching Post Motel, (860-672-6219), $65 |
| 723 | Kent, Conn. | M, mail, G, Outfitter | 0.8 | Backcountry Outfitters, 5 Bridge St., Kent, CT 06757; 860-927-3377 |
| 755.3 | NY 52 | M, grocery | 0.3 | |
| 779.8 | Convenience store, US9, NY 403 | M, Store | 0 | 24 hours, full resupply |
| 817.5 | NY 17A | Ice cream | 0.1 | |
| 819.5 | Greenwood Lake | L, M, G, mail | 0.9 | |
| 832.5 | NJ 94 | Deli, ice cream | 0.1 | |
| 844 | Unionville, NY | M, mail, G, camping | 0.4 | PO Unionville, NY 10988 |
| 853.1 | High point state park HQ | 0 | 1480 State Route 23, Sussex, NJ 07461 (973-875-4800) | |
| 896.6 | Delaware Water Gap | L, M, G, mail | 0.1 | PO |
| 945.4 | Pa 309 | L, M, mail? | 0 | Blue Mountain B&B (570-386-2003), $100 |
| 972.5 | Port Clinton, PA | L, mail | 0 | PO |
| 1043.4 | Duncannon, PA | L, M, mail, G | 0.1 | Doyle Hotel, 7 North Market St., Duncannon, PA 17020, 717-834-6789 $25 |
| 1059.9 | US 11, Carlisle | L, M, mail? | 0.5 | America’s best inn (717-245-2242), $55 |
| 1069 | Boiling Springs, PA | L, M, mail, G, outfitter | 0 | Gelina’s B&B, 219 Front St, Boiling springs, PA 17007 (717-258-6584), $69 |
| 1078.5 | PA 34 | M, G | 0.2 | Green mountain store and deli |
| 1087.1 | Pine Grove Furnace State park | L, M | 0 | Ironmaster Mansion, (717-486-4108) |
| 1166.5 | Harper’s ferry | L, M, mail | 0.7 | Teahorse hostel, 1312 W. Washington St. (304-535-6848), $33 |
| 1187.3 | Bears Den Hostel | L, M, mail | 0.2 | Bears Den Hostel, 18393 Blueridge Mountain Road, Bluemont, VA 20135, 540.554.8708 |
| 1219.8 | US 522, Front royal | L, M | 0 | Mountain Home B&B, (504-692-6198), $20 |
| 1238.9 | Elkwallow wayside | M, G | 0 | |
| 1257 | Skyland | L, M | 0.2 | (877-778-2871) reservations |
| 1265.1 | Big Meadows | M, L, G | 0 | (877-778-2871) reservations |
| 1273.8 | Lewis mountain CG | M, G | 0.1 | |
| 1300.6 | Loft Mtn. CG | M, G | 0.5 | |
| 1327.6 | Inn at Afton | L, M, mail | 0.2 | (540-942-5201) $40 |
| 1462.4 | Daleville, VA | L, M, G, mail | 0.2 | Howard Johnson Express, 437 Roanoke Road, Daleville, VA 24083 (540-992-1234) |
| 1487.1 | Va 624 | L, M, mail | 0.4 | 4 Pines Hostel, 6164 Newport Rd., Catawba, VA 24070 (540-384-7599) |
| 1554.1 | Pearisburg, VA | L, M, G, mail | 0.8 | |
| 1565.4 | Sugar run gap road | L, M, mail | 0.5 | Woodshole Hostel, 3696 Sugar Run Rd, Pearisburg, VA 24134 (540-921-3444) $15 |
| 1580.6 | Va 606 | M, mail, G | 0.5 | Trent’s grocery 900 Wilderness Rd, Bland, VA 24315, (276-928-1349) |
| 1646.5 | Groseclose, VA | L, M, G, mail | 0 | Relax Inn, 7253 Lee Hwy, Rural Retreat, VA 24368, (276-783-5811) |
| 1720.1 | Damascus, VA | L, M, G, mail, outfitter | 0 | Hiker’s Inn, 216 E Laurel Ave. Damascus, VA (276-475-3788) |
| 1770.7 | Dennis cove rd | L, mail | 0.2 | Kincora Hiking Hostel, 1278 Dennis Cove Rd., Hampton, TN 37658 (423-725-4409) |
| 1795.4 | US19E | L, mail, G | 0.3 | Mountain Harbour B&B, 9151 Highway 19-E, Roan Mountain, TN 37687 (866-772-9494), $25 |
| 1844.4 | Erwin, Tenn | L, mail | 0 | Nolichucky hostel and outfitters, 151 River Rd., Erwin, TN 37650 (423-735-0548) $20 |
| 1898.5 | Log cabin drive | L, M, G, mail | 0.7 | Hemlock Hollow Farm Shoppe, 645 Chandler Circle, Greenville, TN 37743 (423-787-0917), $20 |
| 1912 | Hot Springs, NC | L, M, G, mail | 0 | The Sunnybank Inn, 26 Walnut St (PO Box 233) (828-622-7206), $20 |
| 1948.2 | Standing Bear Farm Hostel | L, M, G, mail | 0.1 | Standing Bear Farm Hostel, 4255 Green Corner Rd., Hartford, TN 37753, (423-487-0014), $20 |
| 2048.6 | NOC | L, M, G, mail | 0 | NOC, 13077 Hwy 19W, Bryson City, NC 28713 (800-232-7238), $20 |
| 2119.6 | US76 | L, M, mail | 0.5 | Top of Georgia Hostel, 7675 US 76 East, Hiawassee, GA 30545 (706-982-3252), $20 |
| 2157.5 | Neel Gap | L, M, mail | 0 | Mountain Crossings, 12471 Gainesville Hwy., Blairsville, GA 30512 (706-745-6095) |
| 2185.9 | Springer | 0 |
Hey, thanks for this. Enjoying your site. Glad I’m planning this AFTER medical studies (I’m an acupuncturist/herbalist, doing some adventuring now that classes/boards are finito).
I’ll be taking a bit different approach to my food than you but agree when the body is pushed harder you can tolerate a lot more junk. At any rate this list is super helpful. I’m looking at around 25 for estimated 4.5 mo thru. Not ultrafast but at least ultralight 🙂
Hey Dawn, I’m glad you’re enjoying the site! Best of luck on your AT trip!