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stevet wrote: ↑Sun Jul 24, 2022 4:28 am
For last summer’s JMT I carried 3300 calories per day plus ate additional food at Tuolumne, Reds Meadow, and VVR. So I echo wildhikers judgement that 2200 feels lean.
My menu’s lack of diversity may be unappealing but it may provide ideas on how to add calories to your plan. Also note, I averaged hiking 10-12 hours per day. If your plan is less, reduce by ~100 calories per hour.
This is pretty similar to what we have, the limiting factor was simply how much you can fit in a bucket to send to MTR: roughly 25-28lb is the limit by volume. And you can’t average much more than 110-120 cals/oz regardless. So one bucket isn’t really going to be enough calories for 2 people unless they go fast. It fills the bear cans (Bearikade Expedition and BV500 about 85-90% full, so we will likely have a few things left over that still fit in. If we hiked it in 7 days vs 10 then we’d have about the same cals per day as you.
I guess I’m surprised as I hadn’t imagined people sending more than 1 bucket between 2 people (though perhaps 2 between 3 is more plausible). But I suppose most people therefore try for 8-9 days on the southern half or just opt for another resupply by mule if they want to go slower.
Rather than trying to adjust your entire trip, I'll just say that the Waugh Lake and Edison Lake Trail Jct camping spots are particularly unappealing to me. One alternative to Waugh Lake would be Clark Lakes and then join the JMT at 1000 Island Lake. IMO you won't be missing much skipping that section of the JMT around Island Pass. I would camp norh of the Edison Lake Jct mainly because it's quite a climb to the next camping along Bear Ridge, which would be quite bit to add. While I like the Minnow Creek area and the upper hotsprings at Iva Belle, I would stick with the JMT since you have already hiked through there; might as well see something new. You may also find that 10 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation gain will be very unchallenging south of MTR. You may find that 7 or 8 days will be enough and you can adjust your eating accordingly. Unfortuntely, they did away with the hiker buckets at MTR (wonder what they do with all of that food now?), so supplementing your resupply from other hikers probably won't be an option. Finally, I recommend camping near the base of the Koip Peak Pass climb at the end of Day 1. There is a very nice spot to your left just before you get to the pond at the low point of the trail.
Once you get out there, don't feel the need to keep to the plan you made at home. I find that I almost never do. Enjoy yourselves and good luck.
