Taking it One Step at a Time: Maildrops

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Maildrops

I've had several inquiries over the past few weeks about where friends/family can send care packages to me along the trail. Below is a list of places where I'm currently planning on picking up food drops along the way. Mail drops will require that specific information be written on the packages, and often times, the receiving locations requests an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the recipient. Since specifics for each location may vary, please contact Rachel Albritton (rralbritton@gmail.com) to get specific mailing instructions for a desired location. Also, the list below may change as I travel up the trail. Checking in with Rach before sending a package will help ensure that your care package is received. Likewise, as I communicate with Rach along the trail, she will help me keep this list as updated as possible.

CALIFORNIA
Warner Springs - Trail Mile 109
Wrightwood - Trail Mile 369
Agula Dulce - Trail Mile 454
Old Station - Trail Mile 1377
Catella - Trail Mile 1506
Seiad Valley - Trail Mile 1662

OREGON
Crater Lake Mazama Village - Trail Mile 1829
Big Lake Youth Camp - Trail Mile 2001

WASHINGTON
White Pass - Trail Mile 2303
Snoqualmine Pass - Trail Mile 2402
Stehekin - Trail Mile 2580

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How to describe myself… I can do it in three words: teacher, farmer, and backpacker.

This past fall marked 10 years that I have been teaching college level introductory biology. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like it’s been quite that long. I never saw myself as a teacher during my younger years. I always thought I’d be a field technician of some sort. I was forced into teaching during graduate school and I LOVE IT! It felt natural and rewarding. I think everyone should be as passionately interested as I am in biology from the food you eat to the climate you live in.

Having an intimate relationship with the food that I eat was developed from birth. My parents were farmers, my parents’ parents were farmers, and so on. Simple concepts, such as, the joy and satisfaction of knowing exactly where my food came from, the labor that went into it, and the sacrifices made for meat instill a sense of appreciation for farming. I am a farmer. Even after I left my childhood farm, I continued to find ways to farm. In college, I worked at a cow dairy farm and in graduate school I worked at a goat dairy farm. Recently, I have had the opportunity to raise chickens and garden. I currently have herbs growing in windowsill containers. It’s in my blood…

…so is backpacking! My father carried me on his back through the Great Smoky Mountains before I could even walk. He taught me everything I know about backpacking in a time when external frame packs were the norm and base weights were well over double digits. He is also responsible for the obsession I have for the Appalachian Trail. I was fortunate to hike this entire trail in 2009. He followed along with me through my online trail journals. He passed unexpectedly in 2012, but his passion for the outdoors is still alive within me. I will continue to backpack. Backpacking, especially over long distances, provides me with a ruler to measure “life” and puts things in perspective. I now approach life like I do with backpacking: I take each day one step at a time.