Navigating Resupply and Zero Days with FarOut

Related Post: FarOut’s “Before You Go” Checklist

Navigating Town

You can determine where towns are closest to you by clicking on the building icon in the tool bar. From there, FarOut pulls up the town guide which shows you which towns are coming up. This is helpful to figure out how much food you might need to carry for a section, relative to where your next resupply in a town may be. Additionally, FarOut shows you if the town has restaurants, a resupply option, hostels, post offices, showers, or libraries, so you can determine if it will be a worthwhile location to stop.

To navigate town during a resupply, it’s most helpful to have your online map set to road map under the settings in FarOut. The road map will show roads that lead to town so you know where to hike to in order to call a shuttle, hitch into town, or walk if it’s close enough. There are usually comments underneath road waypoints that give numbers of local trail angels or shuttles that give hikers a ride into town. When in town, if you zoom while using the road map, you can see what roads to take to get to the post office, grocery store or hostel to stay at. Town runs can be overwhelming with all the different chores to do — laundry, showers and resupply (all while being exhausted from trail) — so it’s useful to have an app that makes it simple to get around.

FarOut also makes it easy to figure out which towns have fun things to do on a zero day. For example, on my Appalachian Trail thru-hike, I was in a section of trail in New York, feeling down, tired, stinky and unmotivated. I needed to resupply soon. I ran into a friend who was raging about a drive in movie theater in the next town up that you could camp at. What?! That sounded like a super exciting and weird experience I wanted to be a part of. I opened FarOut and took a closer look at the accommodation options in town — and sure enough, there was the Warwick Drive-In Movie Theatre that you could camp at for free and watch movies. I was inspired to hike again and wound up hiking another 26 miles on top of the 4 I had trudged earlier that morning. FarOut can be an incredible resource to find something fun to look forward to further up the trail. Knowing fun times are up ahead can turn my hike from a miserable slog to an exciting quest.

Town Run on a Budget

Town runs can be expensive if you’re not careful. A thru-hike can cost anywhere from $5,000 – $7,000 — but I have met people who have spent upwards of $10,000. If you want to save more money on your hike, a thru-hike more on the $5,000 side can be done as long as you have the discipline for it.

One of the best ways to save money is to nearo instead of zero in towns. A nearo is when you hike next to no miles and then take the rest of the day off. You still give your body a similar amount of rest if it’s done correctly. (I’m not sure if a 10 mile day counts as a nearo.) Usually, I would check FarOut’s comments on waypoints close to a road that would lead into town to see if there were any stealth spots nearby. For safety reasons, it’s usually best to camp a mile or so out from a road; however, in a pinch, being under a mile from a road won’t be the end of the world. From there, I would walk a mile or less to the road and hitch hike or walk into town. Hitch hiking can be intimidating, but when you do it with a friend, it’s slightly safer and even fun. Towns close to trail are usually accustomed to hikers hitching in and out and are happy to give rides. I rarely took a shuttle on the Appalachian Trail and met many kind strangers on my hitches into town. From there, I would stay in a hostel for one night, get my laundry and resupply finished, shower and then head out the next day. This would allow me to pay for one night’s stay in a hostel or hotel instead of two. 

Sometimes, there are free spots to camp in town and places where you can still snag a shower and resupply. The waypoints on FarOut make it easy to find these places as there’s a campsite symbol in the middle of a town. FarOut often discloses in the comments or details when there’s a church or hostel that lets hikers stay for free or work for stay. Every once and a while, a trail angel might offer you a free stay at their house. This is always an awesome opportunity to experience the unique kind of friendliness found on long trails and restore your faith in the human spirit.

Additionally, FarOut can help people from underrepresented communities find safe places to stay in town. Usually people will disclose in the comments if a hostel makes them feel uncomfortable so other people know to avoid it. It’s unfortunate that we have to look out for each other in this way — but it’s important to stay safe on and off trail.

FarOut can also be used to find free or discounted meals offered by local restaurants for thru-hikers. This can be a game changer at the end of the day. As you’re headed into town, there are few things better than knowing a free slice of pizza awaits you. Additionally, sometimes there are hiker feeds in towns, where a local organization puts on a large cookout and gives free food to hikers. These are advertised on flyers on trees when you’re coming into town, by word of mouth and also through the comments on towns or roads on FarOut. 

Most Importantly, Have Fun!

Resupplying can be a stressful experience, but it does not have to be all the time. FarOut can help you find fun things to look forward to in town, find free and safe places to stay and even the occasional free food. It’s the little things that make a thru-hike worthwhile, and FarOut makes them easier to come by.

Photo provided by Abby Evans