My Appalachian Trail unsupported record attempt this summer lasted little over three weeks, during which I covered over a third of the trail. But while the trip itself passed by in a flash (not to me-every step felt like an eternity), the planning beforehand took months. I plotted out dozens of spreadsheets of gear and Appalachian Trail resupply and depended heavily on the Thru-hiker’s Companion and the Data Book, trying to hone in on exactly what I needed to accomplish my goal. It was exhausting work that no one should ever attempt to manage on top of the curriculum of a first year med student.

Most of the planning for the trip is marked by trade-offs. I sacrificed some comfort in camp to carry the uber lightweight Salomon Skin Pro pack. I chose to send out 18 mail drops which often meant I ended up with food I wasn’t particularly interested in eating. But one of the biggest decisions was deciding whether to carry that extra day of food, or hike that half mile off the trail and resupply.

Below I’ve listed nearly all the convenient Appalachian Trail resupply locations. I never intended to use all of them, or even half of them. But they were there as backup in case I misjudged my calorie intake or desperately wanted a shower. It’s not extensive by any means. I’ve deliberately left off resupplies at certain distances from the trail. While in Maine anything within a mile made the cut, sometimes down south a half mile was enough for me to rule it out. As abbreviations I’ve used L for lodging, M for meals, and G for grocery.

I hope this convenient Appalachian Trail resupply list can help someone in the planning of their FKT attempt of the Appalachian Trail in the future or for most just give an idea of logistically how much of a terror planning this hike was. This spreadsheet is only a glimpse of what I looked into for planning resupplies and shouldn’t be used as an absolute guide to resupply for a FKT attempt of the Appalachian Trail. I’ll be elaborating more on what it takes to plan a FKT attempt and lessons I learned on my trip in the near future.