I’m often asked, “How can I send you something on the trail?” Seeing as it’s come up a couple of times, I thought it would be a perfect question to answer for the second round of Ask the Tree. 

How do I send you something on the trail? 
What are good things to send?                 How will I know if you got it?

I’ll be picking up packages from post offices along the trail. A PO will hold a package for 15 days if it’s sent General Delivery. 

Address all packages or letters like this:

Michael Sweet

General Delivery

Town, State, Zip Code

In the bottom left corner of any boxes or letters write:

Hold for CDT hiker 

ETA: (date)

Okay, so now you’re asking where are these places and when are you going to get there? Those are really good questions for Vol. #3 of Ask the Tree. 

What could I send? 

Here’s an article from a website I occasionally contribute writing to titled Top 10 Items Thru-Hikers Want in a Mail drop. I’m way too lazy to not to take advantage of that already being written. 

How will I know if you got it? 

1. SEND IT PRIORITY MAIL. I realize it’s more expensive, but if you want to make sure I get it, it’s the only way to do it. 
2. Let me know it’s coming, so I can ask for it.
3. Put candy canes on it. Seriously. General delivery mail can sometimes overwhelm a small PO. Making a letter or a box stand out helps it get into my hands. My daughter, Maggie, will be drawing candy canes on all my boxes. That way when I ask for my mail by name, I can add in that it has candy canes on it. 
4. Make it freaking fantastic. Then I’ll write about how awesome it was, and if you’re following this blog like you’re supposed to be, you’ll then read about it. Seriously, I have a plan to track everyone that helps/contributes/comes in contact with me along the way, so I can communicate with them about how my trek ends up. 

So that’s how to send it, what to send, and if I got it. My plan for the weekend is to finish up most of my own boxes, so I’ll be able to set-up a blog post soon with actual addresses and estimated dates of arrival along the trail. 

Stay tuned for places named Sula, Leadore, Dubois, Encampment, South Pass City, Pinedale, and Rawlins. 

And as always from now on, if you have some questions, SEND’EM TO ME. 

Kindness matters

Truckin’ on

Tree