A Day with The Appalachian Trail

Today, I’ve been working on updating our Appalachian Trail Delivery Schedule page. A fun chore except that I almost always get lost in the journals of hikers currently on the trail and it really makes me want to be there with them rather than here at the computer…

Anyway, this is our way of helping hikers plan for such a long trek. We’ve compiled a list of towns along the trail where there are post offices available to hold packages for hikers and noted the distance from one town to the next. It’s so much fun to get an order for someone on the trail! How far have they gone so far? What experiences have they had?

I’ve also been trying to flesh out our list of alternate locations – outfitters and hotels along the trail that agree to hold packages for hikers until they arrive. Sometimes hikers arrive after the post office has closed for the day or on the weekend so it’s really nice to have a reliable alternate location to receive your package. These are sometimes hard to come by (I have whole states with no alternate location!) and I can imagine that if I’m having a hard time then other hikers out there are struggling with it too. So, if you’ve had a great experience with a hotel/outfitter along the AT, please let me know so that I can get them up on the site!

I’m also thinking that I’ll add another trail to the site soon. Maybe the PCT? Any suggestions?

How to Survive a Bear Attack

I recently came across this video on Backpacker.com Besides being hilarious, it also has some really useful information on what to do if you come across a bear in the wilderness.

Leave No Trace + Packit Gourmet

Packit Gourmet is featured in this month’s Leave No Trace newsletter!

We are strong believers in the LNT principals and are proud to support this wonderful organization. In addition, we’ve included a 10% off coupon in the newsletter for all LNT members – just send an email to the LNT membership department to get your coupon code today!

View Full Newsletter

Shipping Without an Address

I got a call today from a guy who is flying in from the UK to explore some of our national parks and wanted to get some food shipped to him…but had no idea how that would work. Would he have to get the food shipped to the UK and then have to bring it back to the US or was there some other way to get it to him?

We learned about a service provided by the US Post Office a little while ago that we use to resupply the Packit Gourmet VW Bus and to ship to hikers on the Appalachian Trail and it would work in this situation too. It turns out, that the US Post Office will hold general delivery packages for up to 30 days at no charge. Here’s how you do it:

Find a post office in the town that you’ll be visiting by clicking here.

Then address your package as:

YOUR NAME
ATTN: Hold for recipient ETA DATE
General Delivery
CITY, ZIP CODE

You must send your packages via USPS (FedEx, UPS, etc. will not be accepted by the post office), which works out well because they have some very reasonable flat rate shipping boxes that you can stuff with items weighing up to 70 pounds. Then just go to the post office and pick-up your package once you arrive.

One thing to be aware of – the post office generally closes between 5pm – 7pm on the weekdays, 2pm – 5pm on Saturday and is not open on Sunday.

Pass the Cheese, Please!

We’ve gotten a couple of requests lately for cheese powder, so we’ve done our best to try to find a couple of flavors for you. So far, we’ve come up with blue cheese, romano parmesan and a cheese sauce but we’re still looking and hope to add a few more soon.


This cheese sauce powder makes it incredibly easy to whip up mac and cheese or any other pasta dish in the wilderness. We also made a tasty dipping sauce out of it- we added a few dehydrated jalapeno bits and some powdered hatch chile peppers and voila! nachos (or fondue) in the wilderness! We’ve also tried reconstituting it with hot and cold water and both work – although the hot water does do a better job of it. That was a big selling point for us because many cheese sauces just get clumpy when you try to make the sauce with cold water…and you don’t always have the luxury of hot when you’re in the backcountry.


Romano and parmesan are both great Italian cheeses and they make a delicious combination when blended together. This romano parmesan blend is about the same consistency as the pre-grated parmesan that you can find in most grocery stores so it’s incredibly easy to add to just about any dish. We’ve sprinkled over many a pasta dish and stirred into soups for added flavor.


Blue cheese has such a unique and pungent flavor that when we saw that it was available in a powdered form, we just had to have it! This blue cheese powder is milder than most blue cheeses, which is nice because you can get the flavors of blue cheese to come out without being overwhelmed. Since this cheese is very finely ground, it’s easy to get it to ‘melt’ into your dish without any clumping. We’ve tested it in polenta, risotto and over boiled/steamed freeze-dried veggies and it’s been delicious every time!

Instant Coffees of Asia

I spent last fall traveling through Asia and while I was there I noticed that they make really good instant coffee! I like to keep a couple of emergency packets of instant coffee in my pack when in the backcountry and I thought that some of these would be perfect…so I stashed a few of my favorites away in my suitcase.

When I made it back to the US I started looking for some of the same coffees that I enjoyed while traveling and I was able to locate several of my favorites!

Vinacafé and G7 are pretty similar. They’re both very good and something a ‘typical’ coffee drinker would enjoy – by that, I mean they have cream and sugar already added to the mix. Not too much though, just a little of each. I keep these around for mornings when I need to get up and go quickly and don’t really have time to brew coffee. They’re pretty close to the real thing and super fast.

DeDe’s coffee is from Thailand and it’s good but sweeeeet! If you like a lot of sugar this one is really good. I have a friend who prefers sweet coffee and this one is his favorite. Nice coffee flavor with a good dose of sugar.







The Ginseng Coffee is also good plus you get the added benefit of ginseng. It definitely tastes like coffee but there’s something in there that hints of tea- I guess that’s the ginseng!






The White Coffee/Cappuccino is one of my favorites (tied with mocha)! It makes a delightfully foamy top and the flavor is great. It’s a lovely ‘special’ coffee to have on a trip.







The Instant Café Mocha is my other favorite – probably because I have a weakness for chocolate. The flavor is primarily coffee with cocoa mixed in, so not a super strong cocoa flavor. I could actually do with more chocolate but this one is still good enough that I’ve been drinking it around the house!



With all of these flavors, I’m looking forward to a nice variety on my next trip. I’d previously been using those pods that are meant for single cup coffee makers and these are a huge improvement! I don’t think I’ll be leaving my French press at home altogether but I’ll definitely be taking along several instants for my lazy days.

Wild Mushrooms

I’m constantly coming across wild mushrooms while I’m hiking and they always make me crave fresh mushrooms in my sauce or gravy that night. But I’m not the kind of person that really knows their mushrooms so the chances that I’d choose a poisonous one are pretty high!

So, I went looking for a freeze-dried source…and I found one! These mushrooms come in a medium size slice – not too big and not little kibbled pieces. About the size of a thumb nail (depending on the size of your hands, of course), so they’re great in all kinds of dishes. So far, they’ve made it into a mushroom gravy, on a pizza and rolled up ‘raw’ into a wrap and they’ve been delicious every time! They’re surprisingly good ‘raw’ – not crunchy at all and the taste and texture is just like a fresh mushroom.

I’m going to start carrying a packet of mushrooms with me on my hikes from now on – I’m sure they’ll be eaten in no time!