I think you can surely leave in a place you were staying in Chiang Mai.

I’ve been to Thailand a couple times (and will be there in two weeks!) but never on a trek. I am pretty sure whatever company you book with can and will arange something for you.

The Thorn Tree on LP should have the answer.

Thanks for the help, I’ll check out the Thorn Tree…

yes, i did a three day treck in Feb 2004 and stayed at the nice guesthouse II (that’s it’s name). They ran the trecks themselves and they are very organised and it was good value. You leave your pack there (in your room) but keep all your valuables with the owners at reception. They make you put it in an envelope and you write down everything you put in the envelope, cash, passport etc, they check it and sign that’s what you’ve left and you tape it all up yourself. They then keep it in a safe until you get back so nothing gets stolen. I HIGHLY recommend doing the treck with them, and staying there too. The whole thing (3day treck) incl. accomodation was around 3000 baht which was really cheap. Also, they took took you to less visited tribes so you didn’t see a whole bunch of other tours during the treck and you really got to experience how the tribes live, rather than the tribes targeted for the tourist, who are just there to sell you their crafts. hope this helps.

I did a trekking too, with buddy tour. I booked it in my hostel midtown house which is in the same street as their office. It only cost me about 1400 Baht, which is a very good price. They stored the backpack in a luggage room and your valuables in a safe. I really recommend this tour!