JMT gear list feedback please

Ditto to what Brian said.

-Bring a sleep setup good down to 20 deg
-I used alcohol in my caldera and wished for the simplicity of esbit
-Allow yourself extra time if you are not used to the altitude
-If you are using a tarp def bring a bivy
-I used a ULA Circuit with a 5 day load in a Bear Vault 500 and was completely comfortable.
-Wear a sunhat. I used a baseball hat and burned my ears pretty good.

Lastly if I had to do it all over again, I would skip Yosemite and start from Tuolomne. I was not a big fan of the crowds.

I am planning on doing the JMT later this year as well.

I also plan to use a Caldera with esbit. I don't have the Caldera cone yet. Is it worth it to get the Ti-Tri for the added flexibility of being able to burn wood?

Is a tarp and bivy an ideal shelter? How about a DuoMid with innernet or bivy?

If you have not bought the Cone yet I would highly suggest going for the tri ti for the very reason you stated. My wife and I came to the same conclusion before we left. While we did not need to use wood for fuel at any point, it was nice having a backup plan.

As for the shelter option, we were actually wishing we had brought our tarptent along instead of our tarp/bivy combo. May seem silly to others but we camped in several areas where we were far from alone and alittle privacy for a late day nap would have been welcome.

Thanks for the feedback.

I have not bought my cone yet and I think I have decided to get the Ti-Tri. Now I just need to determine which pot size to get it for.

I hike solo most of the time, and when I am not solo, I am usually not as light. The comment about the privacy of a tarp-tent is a great point. I have a DuoMid and a RayWay tarp that can be enclosed quite well. However, I might trade the RayWay to help pay for a SpinnTwinn, SpinnShelter, or maybe something lighter where I don't need the full protection offered by the DuoMid.

As I live in New York city I am relatively used to sleeping with people making lots of noise. However, crickets chirping can keep me up at night. I am looking forward to it!

I recommend Universal Shade from Dr. Shade. Can be worn with any baseball style hat and removed when you do not need it.( I have it on in the Avatar)
http://www.campmor.com/dr-shade-universal-sun-shade.shtml

Dirty Girl Gaiters: I wear low cut footwear and these gaiters are the only ones I have ever tried that do not ride up, and they stay on. There is no cord under the foot. A small piece of velcro on the heel of your shoe holds them on. The velcro comes with the gaiter ($15, free shipping!) The same strip of velcro lasted the entire hike.

I wore the same Eco Mesh long-sleeved shirt from RailRiders everyday. Never overheated, provided UPF 30+ sun protection, dries fast and I wore it as an extra layer when it was chilly in the evenings.

There is good reason you need Ti-Calderone cones for wood fires. Fire will melt the other kind!

The best stakes were the skewer variety in those areas where the ground was hard pack. 9" Carbon Fiber stakes from Titanium Goat broke.

I was amazed at how long gas from canisters lasted. I used the ti-snowpeak stove and alternated between a large and small canister. For four days I cooked for two, for two days I boiled drinking water. Both canisters had fuel in them at the end of my hike (14 days)

The only water treatment option at the Reds Meadows store was iodine tablets. They did not have flat batteries or batteries for Steri-Pens. I did find AA batteries in the hiker box at MTR. They sell the batteries there, but the nice lady behind the counter told me to look in the Hiker Box first!

After Reds Meadows there was zero Verizon Cell Phone reception until Whitney Portal.

Mid-August. No mosquitos.

I used a 20 degree bag, SMD Wild Oasis Shelter and homemade bivy. I was glad to have each. The bivy acted as a ground cover as well as added warmth.

Somewhere along the trail, I realized since water was so plentiful, I did not have to carry any. I just treated a liter with the steri-pen and drank it on the spot before moving on. Since I have had kidney stones, I am sensitive about dehydration which causes them. I stayed hydrated. To save time in the evenings I treated three liters with chemicals and left it over night, so i would have water ready for morning.

An easy route home from Lone Pine: CREST bus to Lancaster and Amtrak. Amtrak to LA Station, express bus from LA train depot to LAX. (CREST bus does not run everyday) You can also link with Amtrak points north, Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco. Or, CREST north up 395 to Reno.