Let’s talk about trail support. No, I don’t mean being on trail and relying on trail support, I mean BEING said trail support for someone else. Because 1, it’s a major responsibility to take on, and 2, sometimes……. it gets chaotic.
Most of the support I have provided for Epic has been fairly straightforward, with route planning and resupply (or the majority of it) having been set up and ready to go before he even started. Planning would start months in advance, with the two of us going over resupply points, checking on available lodging for hikers, and checking ahead to see which stores and outfitters were available where in-town resupply was more practical.
While there are major conveniences to in-town resupplying, Epic and I have always preferred to stick to specific hiker foods and meal preps, so we usually end up resupplying by mail. Thus, lots of work and advanced planning are required.
We would start stockpiling trail food very early on, and arrange all of it into breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack setups. We would reduce whole packages of consumables into smaller bottles and bags, and we would organize servings of condiments, biodegradable soap, hand sanitizer, and necessary medications, all according to however many days each resupply was meant for. We ended up putting all of this into whichever flat rate shipping boxes allowed room for a summer sausage.
After Epic was on his way, I had a shipping schedule that I needed to adhere to.
Rigidly.
Because, as it turns out, not every post office or Inn or Bed and Breakfast has a policy for holding hiker boxes, and sometimes you need to call each one and confirm how long they can hold a package. And you also have to plan around when the post offices will be open to pick up a resupply package. This part is unavoidable and it’s always annoying.
That’s just the resupply aspect, not even including the joys of utilizing a bounce bucket.
As trail support, you must have open lines of communication. Plans always change, and life on trail is hectic. Sometimes your role as trail support will be limited to occasional assistance. But if you’ve taken on the job of primary support or emergency contact, It’s your responsibility to be the steady rock of reliance for whoever is out there depending on you. Sometimes gear breaks down, sometimes resupply boxes don’t get delivered, and sometimes phones get lost. And sometimes, very important things must take place when your hiking friend is estimated to have zero signal.
On one of Epic’s thru hikes, I had to order a replacement spoon and make sure it got shipped to the proper location ahead on trail. There were several times over numerous hikes that I had to ship designated replacement gear when an article of clothing was torn or a pack was damaged. During last year’s Oregon Coast Trail hike I had to get on the phone with several post offices to track down a missing box. When Epic was hiking the Appalachian Trail, I remember a very strenuous satellite text conversation with him as he attempted to find his missing phone (we found it). There were several times that I was trusted with bank account information in order to ensure certain things were paid for at certain times. There was even a time that I used google maps to guide Epic to a hostel when his phone was having issues.
The job of trail support is no joke, and it requires you to basically be on-call. You should make sure that you and the hiker you’re supporting both know where they will be, and when they plan on being there. It takes lots of coordinated planning and organization to make sure a hiker has what they need, and it’s a good idea to have some contingencies in place if equipment gets damaged on trail.
If you decide to be trail support for someone else, you need to be ready for some crazy phone calls, ready to mail something in a moment’s notice, and sometimes pull solutions out of thin air.
Also, if you decide to be trail support for someone else, thank you for making their hike possible.
Get out there and get dirty.
