Yeah your whole point on food is true. If I do 15 days without resupply then I wont have everything in my bear barrel for probably a week. I typically can't get more then 6 or 7 days worth of food in my Bearikade Expedition. And like I always tell people out there that I simply sleep with the rest in my tent. Up until now I have not had a problem with anything coming after my food. It's one of those things I just shrug and say what can you do?I have found that a 10-day ration period to be the best for me
This is true but has different problems such as you can't always find a place to mail a package to but you can buy food from their store. Or the typical problem of packing food you really like but after 2 months on the trail and you get to that package to just say yuck to everything you packed.I also pack all my non-perishable food at home for the entire summer. It saves money
I think it would be very cool if people brought me supplies but the most obvious problem is keeping on schedule. I'd have to plan a hike with several blank days before meeting up with you so I can make sure I can get there on time. I did this last year with meeting up with my dad. My planned hike was going to meet him on Tuesday but he needed to come Saturday so I just threw in 4 extra days to blow anywhere I wanted and it worked out well.
Resupply is always a tricky thing. After three long trips I have most trail heads figured out but it still leaves planning hikes revolving around these places. Other issues show themselves such as fuel. I use butane canisters and because of the hazardous waste liability insurance required to stock these in your stores many don't do it. Some examples are Mineral king, Cedar Grove, Parchers Resort. All don't have those canisters. That notion alone was causing some problems with planning this year. The best solution is to drop packages off in person if possible so I can put fuel in them.
Your mile calculations are about right also. When I went from Windy Point to Marion Lake then from there to Amphitheater Lake both days were about 5 miles and took me 8 hours.
I'm actually debating on not fishing at all this year to cut more weight out. my fishing gear weighs about 12 ounces total and I don't think I did enough fishing the last two years to justify taking it again.Fish the really small lake just above the first large lake.
I finally made a gear chart using http://www.geargrams.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and if I manage to switch out allot of gear this year I am still going to come in around 21 pounds without any food added. That's not allot but when your going cross country every bit counts.
I don't think their route is the best idea for me because they came straight up from the floor of the Enchanted Gorge which would mean allot more gain and loss possibly taking longer then just going all the way around to the Muir Trail. Not dropping down looks like it could be a challenge as the Western slopes of Mt. Mcduffie look steep.Long ago when researching the Enchanted Gorge, I found this reference to a crossing the Black Divide
Pretty impressive that they went into that area starting July 1st. I was worried about crossing the Kings even getting there later. I thought if Rick is home while passing through he could advise me to the best place to cross.