Food & Cooking on the A.T.

Food to Avoid While Hiking

There are no hard and fast rules for what to carry and what not to carry; we’ve seen A.T. hikers carrying sticks of butter, fresh veggies and fruit, and even whole take-out meals!

However, novice backpackers on the A.T. often make the mistake of carrying too much food or food that is heavy. An overly heavy, bulky pack can take the fun out of backpacking. Here are some guidelines for beginners until you get in your backpacking groove:

• Avoid canned foods or foods high in water weight.
• Avoid bulky foods that take up a lot of space and food that can get crushed easily. For example, opt for tortillas over bread.
• Avoid food in glass jars. Pick something else or put the food in a plastic bag or plastic container.
• Repackage bulk food items. For example, put condiments into a small travel shampoo bottle instead of carrying the whole jar. Split big tortilla packets into just what you need for your hike. There’s no need to carry food that you won’t get to eat!

Tips for Success Shopping at Grocery Stores:

• Be sure to look ahead at what services are available in the towns you’ll pass through to determine whether an on-Trail resupply will work.
• Small Trail towns with only a general store won’t have a wide variety of foods available. General stores and outfitters tend to be more expensive for resupply than large chain grocery stores, too
• There are still a few spots where most hikers mail a resupply box due to a lack of easily accessible grocery stores. These include Fontana Dam, Harpers Ferry, and Monson, ME.
• Many thru-hikers will also have to mail themselves at least one or two resupply boxes for replacement gear at some point on the Trail.

What is a Bounce Box?

A bounce box is a resupply box with miscellaneous gear and supplies that a hiker may need at different points in their trip. It could have warmer gear, replacement shoes, a new water filter, medications, etc. It’s called a bounce box because, so long as the box is not accepted and opened, it can generally be forwarded to the next town at no cost. It “bounces” up the Trail ahead of you.

Bounce boxes are sent via U.S. Postal Service and should be sent by priority mail so they can be forwarded if unopened.

Tips for Success Mailing Your Resupply Boxes:

• Pick a trusted family member or friend to be your resupply support. This will be the person you contact when you need a box mailed to you.
• Organize your food at home ahead of time into categories like breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc. This will help your support person make sure you get the food you want when you need it.
• Further organize your food by repackaging it and portioning it out.
• Unless your guidebook specifically says that a business accepts hiker packages, call ahead to check before sending a box there.
• Avoid sending resupply boxes to post offices if you can. Many small-town post offices have limited hours and post offices are closed on weekends, which can delay you if you arrive on a Saturday or Sunday.
• Write “Hold for Hiker: YOUR NAME” on multiple sides of the box.

To address a resupply box to a business:

HIKER NAME
c/o BUSINESS NAME
Street Address
City, State Zip Code
Hold For Hiker

To address a resupply box to a post office:

HIKER NAME
c/o General Delivery
Street Address of Post Office
City, State Zip Code
Hold for Pickup