Hello! Next month I begin my first extended solo-thru hike on the JMT. I've never hiked any of California or for more than 5 days alone, so it should be an experience! I've used this website and members as a resource for everything (mostly forum searches) while getting ready and I look to y'all one last time for something that needs more personalized advice.

My hike will be 20 days (I'm a teacher, long summer and I want to take my time and not be worried about making miles). I'm at a pack weight of 14 pounds with no water or food right now, but I weigh a pretty lean 195lbs and if need be can lug around a good amount of weight at the pace I'm going. I'm having some trouble deciding on resupply points and food. While going slowly can have some advantages like I mentioned above. It can create some troubles when it comes to food carrying and supplying. Any suggestions, I'm open to hearing all, including actual food to bring.

I don't care the slightest about monotony in food, I somewhat prefer the standardization to be honest. So don't hesitate to throw out any suggestions of that nature. For example, I planned on eating pemmican I've made throughout the whole trip but have unfortunately eaten up most of the reserve I have and don't currently feel like/have the time to go through the process of making 20 days worth of pemmican. I like to keep it simple with meats, cheeses, starches and breads. I don't consume a lot of vegetables other than potatoes and corn(just being honest), I know, I know.

Thanks a ton, in advance, for any help or thoughts!

Hi Jackson,

Three weeks on the JMT sounds like a wonderful trip (I'm biased - I did the same last year with my sons and I'm doing it again this year with my two oldest daughters).

Last year we mailed ourselves several 5 gallon buckets of food to the following places for pick-up on the following days:

3rd day in Tuolumne Meadows
6th day in Reds Meadow
11th day at Muir Trail Ranch

Our sons were 15 years old and were able to carry 9/10 days of supplies in their Bearikade Expedition out of Muir Trail Ranch. Our daughters are younger and my wife and I will carry their food. So this time we do an additional re-supply over Kearsage Pass (you can pay a packer to bring the re-supply over the pass and meet you at the intersection with the JMT).

Enjoy the JMT!

Manfred

P.S.: You can find lots of great information on the JMT Yahoo group

There are two stores that are right on the trail where you can pick up supplies.
Tuolomne Meadows and Reds Meadow, both of these cater to campers and backpackers, so you can resupply for a few days here quite easily.

VVR has a small store, and also a restaurant, motel type rooms, showers, laundry. If you are looking to take a break from the trail and hang out with fellow backpackers this is a good place to stop. It a couple of miles extra hiking plus a ferry ride.

Muir Trail Ranch is the last stop for easy resupply, the rest of the 110 miles you will do in one stretch or as the previous poster mentioned have packers bring you supplies over Kearsarge Pass. At Muir Trail Ranch they do not sell any food, but do have things like fuel and batteries for sale. Instead you can mail yourself a 5 gallon bucket of supplies and their website have specific instructions on how to do that.

As to which specific foods to bring, peruse this forum for ideas. Although you say you don't mind monotony, try for as much variety as you can. Sometimes on the trail your tastebuds seem to change and you just can't stand something anymore, so you wouldn't want to have 20 days supply of that one thing you can no longer stand.

Thanks for the information! I will either rent a Bearikade (depending on price) or buy a Bearvault 500 and sell afterwards. I plan on one resupply at MTR if I rent the Bearikade; and if I buy a Bearvault, I will do a small resupply at Red's or Tuolumne (any suggestions on which place?) and another at MTR. I will have to get creative after MTR to fit 10 days of food in the Bearvault but hopefully I can find some bear boxes the first few days out to stash extra. Any ideas on that?

Thanks for the help and don't hesitate to suggest some of your favorite trail foods. Especially if they are low-weight/high-calorie options. I'm looking around for ideas but the more options, the better!

Edited by jaxwithanx on 06/21/2011 00:54:07 MDT.