Jennifer, I noticed you're taking the Weekender, but you didn't mention if you've ever used one before or list what food items you're bringing. As you probably know, the northern half of the JMT has several on-trail resupply options, which makes the Weekender more than adequate. But, the southern half requires you to go over 100 miles without a resupply (without leaving the trail)...which is a minimum 9 days at your pace. I used a BV500 canister, which is larger than a Weekender, and got my final resupply at MTR (going southbound), and really had to pack it tight for the southern half (which we did in 7 days). Obviously your food requirements and packing skills will probably be different than mine, but you may need to upgrade your canister to the Expedition (which is huge), pack some excess items in Opsaks, or get a BV500. Again, this post is moot if you plan on leaving the trail for resupply, but thought this was worth mentioning, since pack volume is your major concern.

Best of luck!!

Thanks John...yeah, I was at first a bit worried about being able to fit 9-10 ish days of food in the weekender; but I've got some extra padding that I use to augment my caloric intake!!!

Seriously, though, it seems I really only need a pound or a bit less of food a day. I only took 6 pounds for 8 days in the winds and actually had a bit leftover, and my 11-day Patagonia trip food bag was only 8 pounds. I am a bit concerned that after 10-15 days of hiking that my caloric needs might jump a bit, but I don't really know at this point. I guess we'll see if I'm hungry!!

I will be getting the bearikade soon so I can experiment. I was going to wait, but given my newfound worry about my pack I will probably buy it sooner rather than later to see if I really do need to get a new pack. I guess I'll be taking some weekend Midwest trips with a loaded bear canister...woo hoo!

You're talking volume: keep the Weekender. A great choice. The Expedition is just ridiculously large.

I hear what you're saying about not needing that much food for this last stretch. In case you find yourself needing more calories than you anticipated, however,
maybe you'll need to improvise with your food storage for one or two nights. Check your map to see if there are campsites with bear boxes for those nights. Sometimes there are other hikers in the area with room in their canisters for your food. I've happily lent space in my Weekender to through hikers this way more than once. Don't be shy! And though I bow to none in my concern for bears, you may even have to hang food for a night or two. Just be darned sure that you know what you're doing, for the bears' sake!

Edited by book on 03/17/2013 20:45:10 MDT.

What can I get rid of?? Or what am I missing? Last resupply is MTR, then probably 10 days to Whitney.
I am going with two other people, but I will be cooking for myself. My companions are married, so they'll cook together and whatnot; I'm on my own for meals.

GG Gorilla
hexamid solo plus with cuben bathtub floor
EE 30* quilt with overstuff
Exped short downmat UL7

Caldera Cone with starlyte stove
900mL evernew short/wide pot
Ti spork
FBC cozy
Mini bic x2
Half bandana
(All this stuff fits in the pot)

Water bottle for alcohol

Bearikade weekender

Sawyer squeeze - will bring the back-flush syringe
Gatorade/smart water bottle
1.5L evernew bladder for dirty

Bandana (second one)
Toothbrush/paste
Handi wipes, dried out
Sunscreen
Lip balm
DEET
Headnet
First aid kit: hydrocolloid dressings (for blisters, burns, scrapes...great stuff), band aids, antibiotic ointment (repackaged), gauze, antihistamines, aleve)

Zebralight H51 headlamp
Gerber folding knife (0.7 oz)
Nook
Nikon P7000 camera
(Friend has black's atlas...I have harrisons maps; we'll decide which to take)
(Friend has a SPOT)

Clothes carried:
Montbell alpine light down parka (full zip, hood)
Houdini
Capilene 2 tights (sleeping, insulation)
Merino 1 long sleeve
Black rock gear hat
Smart wool glove liners
Haglofs Endo II pullover
Wind pants (montane feather lite. Thanks Anna!!)
One extra pair underwear
One pair extra socks

Worn:
Salomon XA 3D ultra 2 (is this the dumbest shoe name ever?)
Mountain Hardware convertible pants
Merino 1 long sleeve
White Rock sun hat
Darn tough shortie socks
Oakley sunglasses
Bra/underpants TBD
Black diamond trekking poles (don't know what model)

I'd really rather not have to buy another pack (of course, who doesn't love a good reason to buy new gear?!) but I will if I need to. I'm going to try carrying this exact set up on some weekend hikes around here over the next month, see how it carries.

Should I switch to aqua Mira?
Do I need the Houdini AND the Haglofs rain jacket? (I really don't like the dri ducks...I tried, I just can't wear it...)
Do I need a warm hat? The black rock gear hat weighs literally nothing, but if I don't need it ill leave it at home
I only seem to need a pound of food (or less) a day...I may regret that on a 20 day hike, but so far it works great up to 11 days, so we'll see....

Edited by Jenmitol on 03/17/2013 21:05:01 MDT.

"I only seem to need a pound of food (or less) a day...I may regret that on a 20 day hike, but so far it works great up to 11 days, so we'll see...."

Maybe one pound per day will work for 11 days. It sure wouldn't be a bad idea to have 1.5 pounds per day for days 12-20.

I met a guy on Mount Whitney who was finishing the JMT in ten days total. He ate his last Powerbar on the way down from Whitney, and he was famished.

--B.G.--

I am with you, I don't see how some folks can get so much gear into a Newt, Burn, Murmur, or smaller Zero. I have a down bag, a fairly minimal kit, and carry about 1.5 lbs of food a day and I still struggle. I had an older model of the GG Murmur and gave up and sold it. Perhaps volume will be the next new frontier for me. I am thinking about ordering a pack from Hogwarts Uberlite Gear, perhaps the House Elf X-Lite in cuben, with an undetectable extension charm.

"I am with you, I don't see how some folks can get so much gear into a Newt, Burn, Murmur, or smaller Zero."

One big factor is a bear canister. When I take any, it seems to double my apparent food volume, obviously less at the start of a trip and more at the end of a trip.

I have an old Murmur and an old Whisper, and they get tough to load up.

--B.G.--

Have you found that you typically need to use the syringe much?

Just a thought, but... On the JMT I personally wouldn't take the syringe. Won't you typically be filtering nice clear water without a lot of sediment on the JMT? Plus in a pinch you could drink unfiltered water, since many folks don't bother to treat water at all on the JMT.

I have debated whether I want to even take a filter. The Squeeze is light enough that I probably will take it on the JMT this summer, but it isn't a slam dunk. For sure I will be leaving the syringe home.

FWIW, A lot of water, some of it with quite a bit of sediment, has gone through my Sawyer Squeeze and the syringe is still in the original package unused. I have never noticed any signs of clogging and have only back flushed it as a preventative measure when home from trips, by holding it against a water spigot.

The Squeeze definitely seems to need cleaning a lot less than my MSR Sweetwater ever did. With the Sweetwater in some locations I would have to clean it, pump some, clean again, and pump some more.

FWIW, I find that I save a lot of volume by very tightly stuffing clothing and other compressible stuff in tiny sil-nylon stuff sacks.

"yeah, I was at first a bit worried about being able to fit 9-10 ish days of food in the weekender"

You could also get a custom Bearikade and match or go a little bigger than the BearValt BV500... I think if you match the volume, you still save close to 9oz.

Not a scientific study, but I always thought about the south bound trip as having a drawback of your body already burning through a lot of the easy stored energy right before the more isolated section, where actually fueling yourself with calories becomes more critical. So, it becomes really important not to succumb to the altitude induced diet and end up eating like a sparrow for the first 100 miles or so.

I'm going to try SOBO this year with my girlfriend with no resupply between MTR and Whitney using two weekenders for likely 8-9 days. The plan we are going with, (besides stuffing ourselves on the first half) is to do the second section with a lot of dense tightly packed food and then gauge our food supply at Bullfrog Lake. If we are too low, and can't beg/buy surplus food from backpackers on shorter trips... we'll just head out to independence and go grocery shopping.

Look for us on the trail, if my girlfriend lets me, I'll have a small sign on my hat that says "I will buy your extra food".