How to Resupply on the John Muir Trail
After getting your gear, planning your route, and doing some training, the least fun part of any long distance trip is planning your resupply. PCT and AT hikers have the luxury of flexibility, but because of strict permit rules and the lack of nearby towns and stores along most of the route, a well-planned resupply strategy on the JMT is essential. In this post I'll go over the options to hopefully make the process a little easier for you to do yourself.
Step 1: What to Put in Your Resupply
I like to start by figuring out how much of everything I need per day of hiking. That way when I get to planning the distance between resupply points, it's easy to determine what goes into each box.
You might think of resupply as food, but it really covers all your consumables. To save yourself from excess weight, anything you can put in a resupply you should. This includes:
- sunscreen
- anti-chafe
- TP
- soap (if you're using it)
- meds (depending on what kind of meds you need, keep an emergency stash as well)
- toothpaste
- wet wipes
- hand sanitizer
- map pages
- treats (stuff you won't take with you beyond the trailhed, e.g. a Coca Cola)
- map pages
- flavored beverages
- caffeine
- ziploc bags (endless usefulness)
*Note: According to the US Postal Service, sending flammable things like white gas, denatured alcohol and isopropane canisters is prohibited. Luckily you can buy all of these things at all the ressupply points I list here, so you don't have to worry too much about stove fuel. Just make sure you know how much you need and plan for it.
You don't have to take all of this stuff, but these are just some ideas of things you might want outside of food. Figure out how much of each you need per day and write it down.
As for food, this is going to vary a lot from person to person. I wrote a separate post on backcountry nutrition for the specifics, but basically plan to eat a little more than you'd eat at home, and throw in some extra snacks in case that isn't enough. The less experience you have, the more you should err on the side of having more food. That said, it's easy to overdo it and carry a ton of excess weight. On my first long trip (about 100 miles) I probably took double what I actually ate (yikes).
Day to Day Food Plan
Again this will vary a lot from person to person, but here's roughly how I like to eat every day.
- Morning: an easy breakfast that tastes breakfast-y
Example: Instant Oatmeal or Mountain House Granola with Milk and Blueberries - Mid morning: snack or two
Ex.: Clif Bars or trail mix - Lunch: something a little more satisfying
Ex.: usually jerky, some kind of hard cheese or flavored tuna with crackers - Early evening: snacks again
- Dinner: something hot and usually freeze dried
Ex.: I'm partial to Mountain House, but there are tons of companies making really great freeze dried dinners right now - Dessert: not necessary but much appreciated
Ex.: whatever your heart desires
Everybody has their own strategy, but I think this one will work for a lot of people. Decide for yourself and write down how much of each thing you'll need per day, but be ready to switch up flavors and food types.
Step 2: Calculate Daily Mileage
The John Muir Trail is just over 220 miles and averages around 300 feet of elevation gain per mile, all at relatively high altitude. For first time backpackers, it's definitely a hard trail. Use your experience to determine what you think you can do and lean towards less miles per day rather than more. The average hiker takes about three weeks to complete it, which is about 10 miles per day. We decided on about 12 miles per day for our trip, but of course, your miles may vary.
Step 3: Decide on Resupply Points
With daily mileage in hand, you can now start picking resupply points. Keep in mind the limits of weight you can carry and the size of your bear canister. Some people can squeeze a lot and carry a lot, but to be safe plan on about 5 days of food per resupply.
*Tip: Practice with your bear canister if you can. Take your daily menu (as determined above) and see how many days of food you can cram into it before sending out boxes. This will give you an accurate idea of how many days between resupply points will work for you.
Below I've listed the main resupply options for the JMT along with their trail mile marker (SOBO) and distance from trail.
- Tuolomne Meadows (mile 22, 1 mile off trail)
- Red's Meadow (mile 60, .5 off trail)
- Vermillion Valley Resort(mile 88, 5 off trail)
- Muir Trail Ranch (mile 111, 1.5 off trail)
- Onion Valley trailhead(hitch to Independence Post Office) via Kearsarge Pass (mile 174, 7 off trail) (*Edit* There are new backcountry rules announced by Inyo National Forest that will invalidate your permit if you use this resupply option. See Kearsarge Pass section for details)
There are pros and cons to each, but you'll need to use some combo of these options.
Tuolomne Meadows
Tuolomne Meadows has a post office and a store store with tons of food options for backpackers. The big con here is that it's only 22 miles from Happy Isles, so I personally don't think it makes sense to send a box here. If you want to go light from the start and top up on supplies here, just use the store. If you do want to send something, do it about two weeks before you plan to be there, USPS only.
- Address:
Hiker's First & Last Name
C/O
General Delivery
Tuolumne Meadows Post Office
Yosemite National Park, CA 95389
Reds Meadow
Red's Meadow is a logical option for almost everyone. They are right off the trail, hold packages, and offer resort services like rooms, a restaurant, and showers. Most importantly they are at mile 60, which is about 5-6 days from Happy Isles. We chose Red's for our first resupply.
Use their website to arrange a package pick up or book a room. Fee is $40 per package.
*Note: If you want to go into town or avoid the holding fee, you can send a box general delivery to Mammoth Lakes Post Office and access it from the same trailhead. It's 8 miles to Mammoth Lakes and there are shuttles from the Devil's Postpile Campground.
Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR)
VVR is a lakeside resort located on the opposite side of Lake Edison from the JMT. It's only 28 miles south of Red's and 23 miles north of MTR, making it kind of an awkward option. That said, it may work for you if you like the other stuff they have to offer, like full resort services on a lake and cheap hostel nights. We opted to skip it.
Access is via a ferry across the lake or a 5 mile, notoriously under-maintained trail around the lake. Go to their website for complete instructions and more details. Fee per package in peak season is $30.
*Note: under the new Inyo rules, the VVR ferry is the only exception to the no-vehicle rule, so your permit will still be valid if you use it.
Muir Trail Ranch (MTR)
MTR is a great, if very expensive option. They are located about 51 miles south of Red's and hold packages. You can use their services if you book a room/cabin (months in advance) but if not, you won't have access to any facilities other than your resupply box. Still, because of it's logical location and distance from trail, we made MTR our second resupply point.
Use their website and follow their directions to arrange package pick-up. Fee is $85 per package, and it needs to be sent at least three weeks in advance.
Onion Valley Trailhead
Edit: As of 2020 there are new Inyo national Forest rules regarding resupply. There used to be a rule that allowed a 24 hour window for trail exit and re-entry for resupplies. Under the new rule, leaving the trail system at all will invalidate your permit, as will taking a ride in a vehicle at any time during your trip. These new rules (if you want to follow them) render a Kearsarge Pass resupply impossible without obtaining a new permit for the rest of the trail from Onion Valley after you exit. This will cause some people to need to do considerable rethinking of trip logistics. I wrote another post here about the implications of this change. For now, either plan on getting two permits, breaking the rules and risking it, or figuring out how to make Muir Trail Ranch your last resupply.
This one is an unfortunate necessity for a lot of people. Without it, you're looking at over 100 miles from your last resupply point to Whitney Portal. While that's doable for some, most people will need to use the Onion Valley option. We made this our third and final resupply.
You can access it via Kearsarge Pass, and it's 7 miles off the trail. From there you have two options;
- The Mt. Williamson Motel offers a trailhead shuttle and package services. They are very expensive ($185 per person) but if you can afford it and like convienence, this is the option for you. Just remember you'll have to be there on a specific day, so it will limit your flexibility. You'll probably need to arrange this months in advance through their website.
- The second option is to either hitch or arrange a ride to Independence, where you can send boxes to the post office at no extra holding fee. Send your box General Delivery using this format;
Your Name
General Delivery
Independence, CA 93526Write "Please hold for JMT hiker" somewhere on it, and mark it in a unique way so they can easily find it (just plaster it with some bright color of duct tape). You'll need your ID to verify that it's yours.
Step 3: Send Your Packages!
Now you have all the information you need to send your packages. Calculate days between resupplys based on your estimated daily mileage, measure out how much you'll need for each, pack 'em up in 5 gallon buckets and ship them out. We found that we could barely fit all of our supplies for both of us in one 5 gallon bucket, so you'll either need to do some crafty packing or use a bigger box for two or more people (Just remember MTR requires you use 5 gallon buckets). The most important thing here is to remember to follow the guidelines listed by your chosen locations so you don't have to pay extra fees, or risk not having your package there when you need it.
The last thing to remember is to not procrastinate. To be safe aim for sending out each package 3-4 weeks before you plan to arrive.
Our Resupply Plan
For our 2019 JMT SOBO hike we resupplied three times; At Red's Meadow, MTR, and Independence (via the post office). Everything went really well and I highly recommend both Red's and MTR for convenience and ease of use. We found that skipping Independence actually would have been fine for us as we only spent two nights on trail after that resupply, but YMMV. It was kind of inconvenient because of the 15 mile round-trip detour over 11,760 foot Kearsarge Pass, but for what it's worth, it was some of the more beautiful terrain on trail and it wasn't too difficult. Also, hitching to and from Independence was really easy because tons of people use the Onion Valley trailhead/campground every day. I hope this helps you decide on how to set up your trip, and we'll answer any questions you have in the comments below!
