Bear Vault

How many days?

A midway resupply can reduce your required volume.

Roman, have you considered a bearicade? I just ordered one today as I will be hiking the JMT also. I called to talk to Allen, at the company, and he asked what my plans where. When I told him I was going to hike the JMT he asked if I would rather rent one than buy. I will use it up in the boundry waters here in Minnesota, so would rather buy, but that is an option for you if you won't be hiking a lot in bear country where bear canisters are required.

This is a highly subjective question. How long you're hiking; whether you're going to resupply at Red's, VVR, or MTR; type of food; cal/day requirement- these are all questions you need to ask yourself and answer.

Generally, though I find the cubic inch recommendations on the Bear Vault site to be in the neighborhood. They're recommending roughly 100 c.i per day. Of course, if you're going to live off cashews and Cytomax powder, you'll get more mileage out of that same space.

I've got 20 days to do the trail, but I'm hoping I get done early. I haven't decided on my resupply points yet (I hear Muir Ranch is worth checking out though). I guess it depends on how much I can put in my container. I wish there was some place near me to look at one. I'm a little worried about trying to fit one in my pack. I could probably get a smaller sleeping bag or quilt to make a little more room though. So far, I've only got a 25F down bag.

Roman,
Forgive me for stating the obvious:

Get some cardboard, apply the dimensions, build a model.
Then practice. Use twist ties, not ziplocks. Layer by day.
Your first day doesn't have to go in.

Even at $50 for a resupply, Muir Trail Ranch resupply is the key to hiking the JMT light. When heading South North, it is the last resupply for the final half of the trail. It only adds half an hour to the actual trail and they have supplies for sale you may not want to pack into the 5-gallon bucket you mail there (fuel, bug spray), and you can get a few mins on the internet via satellite to check in with home.

Resuppy on the northern half is easy at Tuolumn Meadows (store and Post office), and then again at Reds Meadows resort (mail a package, or drop of in person before the hike). If you're hiking fast, you won't need a full food canister on the northern half of the hike. At the Muir Trail Ranch you have to fill up, though.

A 25F bag will work fine in summer. I don't think you should go much warmer than 30 degrees, even in July/August, unless you make it a rule never to camp above 10,000 feet.

As for food canisters – the Bearikade is by far the best as long as the Ursack is not approved yet (maybe later this spring). I've hiked the trail many times before canisters became mandatory and never had an incident, but I prefer the peace of mind with the canister over having to camp near some usable trees, or worse, hope that no bear crosses into the higher elevations while you have your food laying out on the ground due to absence of trees.

I don't really pack ultralight, so I don't have pack size issues. If you're moving fast, you can do the trail in <10 days and you may only need a small Bearikade Weekender for the second half of the trail, which will give you some extra room in the pack.

'I've got 20 days to do the trail, but I'm hoping I get done early.'

Why? Take all 20 days if you can, man, and don't look back! If you have 20 days to do this incredible trail, why give up some of that time to justify carrying a smaller food canister? A lot of us are sitting around trying to figure out how to spend more time on the trail, not less.

Given the time you have I'd plan on a full size Bearvault. The estimate of 7 days' worth of food is pretty spot on for most folks, I'd say. Again, about 100 c.i. per day. Get a stuff sack with a known volume and pack it with food you usually take to see how much you get in there.

I'm with Russell. If I was going all the way from LA to do the JMT, I'd make it last.

Pack more food, spend more time in the mountains. Not saying you should go faster, but with 7 days of food for the southern section, you can't be spending too much time fishing at Evolution Lake either.

I'll be on or around the JMT this summer between June 30 and August 3. We're a group of 3 with 3 bear canisters for the southern section, 2 canisters in the northern sections (you can mail things out from the Muir Trail Ranch as well, so when we're heading north, one canister goes home by mail from the ranch).

We eat good, and we do a number of day hikes around the trail bagging some peaks. I've hiked th area about 10 times now, and if there's one rule of thumb, especially in the southern half of the trail it is that having enough food is the key to a fun trip.

Since the advent of bear canister requirements, the southern half of the trail has become logistically more difficult (more weight due to canister, less food fits inside unless you carry another one, which in turn is even more weight). Without resupply for over 108 miles you really have to stick to your plan, which is driven by how much food you can pack and how much you are going to eat.

Resupply by horse packers is extremely expensive and almost impossible to do, since they cannot leave the food behind in the backcountry. Timing this is very difficult, unless you hike like clockwork. $500 for such a supply isn't worth it anyway.

Weather can be a factor – it cost us about 2 days last year – allegedly a "once in 5 year monsoonal event" – but hey, we ran right into it and as a result we were running low on food by the time we got across Mather, and that was the end of our hike: we had to exit at Taboose Pass, or we would have been out of food well before Whitney.

Re canister size – I have a Bearvault 500 and a Bearicade Expedition. The Expedition fits about 2 extra days of food over the BV500, while it weighs just little less. I was able to fit 5 days of food for 3 people (one adult, two 10-year-olds) into the Bearikade Expedition last summer, so you should easily fit 7-8 days into the Bearvault for one person.

Stay away from freeze dried Mountain House-like stuff – very bulky compared to packing your own pasta or minute rice meals that cook in just minutes. Gas cartriges don't have to fit into the bear canister, and in some select areas you can even cook on a wood fire. I think if you cook with kerosene, you must fit that into the canister just like all other things that smell.

If it's your only trip where bear cans are required just rent a Garcia bear can in Yosemite for $5, and mail it back from Lone Pine. Alternately, rent a Bearikade expedition for ~$60 so you can bring fluffier food.

If I had 20 days I would start very easy at the north end and ramp it up for the southern half.

Happy Isles to Tuolumne- 3 days. That lets you have an easy first day to Little Yosemite Valley. Then on day two hike Half Dome and make your way to near Sunrise High Sierra Camp. Day three to Tuolumne where you pick up a resupply mailed to the post office.

Tuolumne to Red's Meadow- 4 days. Not that it requires that much, rather there is so much to see, do, and fish. Either mail a resupply, shop at the store, or spend 1/2 day going into Mammoth to shop at the shops.

Red's to Muir Trail Ranch- 5-6 days including a layover at MTR or VVR.

MTR to Whitney Portal 7 days, 8 if you rent a Bearikade Expedition.

Hi Roman,
I can attest to them being able to hold a week’s food. On many four day trips Dave and I shared one canister. And for an eight day trip I had the following items inside of the BV400.

7 freeze-dried dinners
15 1-quart/liter servings of GU2O in locking bags
15 Lara Bars
5 Pro Bars
4 2 oz (57 g) bags of hulled sunflower seeds
2.5 oz (71 g) dark chocolate covered coffee beans in a plastic bag
4 oz (113 g) assorted sugar-free hard candies
Seven locking bags of vitamins and wheat grass tablets.
Here is all of it spread out on my plan table.

And then it is all inside the BV

I have switched to the Bearikade Scout for short trips and the Weekender for week-long. You may be able to put your entire trip’s worth in an Expedition, but they are spendy

Never having used a Bearcan before we managed to get 13 days food in one (well two actually, 13×2) for the section from Vermillion to Whitney Portal; we ended up doing this in 12 days……alas I ended up carrying both as my partner hurt her back (so she said :-)

Roman,

After reading through this thread, I picked up the cheap plastic trash can under my desk. It is approx. the same diameter as the BVs (tapers from 9" to 8"), and is an inch taller than the 450. I think I got it all Wally World. You might try a trip through the trash can aisle after you have all your food prepared to find one that you can test the fit in. Just a thought.

-Tim

Bearikade Expedition can be rented at a discounted price if you mention you are thru-hiking the JMT. It can fit 5 days for 2 people. They will send it ahead maybe 10 days or so to your home address so you can try fitting it to your pack and filling it at home. With 5 days of food and summer gear, my Jam Pack 1 is jammed pack full without a canister. Unfortunately, with a canister, the pack is not going to have any more room as you eat up the meals unless you can transfer clothes into it as space allows.

where do you rent the Bearikades?

Wild-ideas.net

NB the dash!

ah yes, duh!

https://id262.securedata.net/wild-ideas/rent.html

Thing is, for the 50 days I need the two weekenders, I can buy one…

I'll just buy them and maybe dump one on ebay afterwards.

Don't dump it on ebay without trying to sell it first, here at BPL. The Bearikade is a very fine piece of equipment. The "rifraf" should only get a chance if none of us want one. I'd pick it up for my oldest son.

I agree, sell it here. I would be interested in another one for long trips with Dave.

And when are you going? 50 days is a long span. I need mine for two trips without doubt, one the end of May and one the end of June. The next time I would need it is for our annual fall "let's tempt the hiking gods" trip at the end of September/beginning of October.

And contact me anyway. We have a bunch of Bear Vaults as we did a couple cache trips that we needed them. As Dave owns 50% and is in Hawaii right now (that %$@#*&@) I should ask him before I sell them.

sure thing – although based on past experiences, I am very slow at letting go of any gear… I just sold a Marmot winter sleeping bag I bought in 1991 that never fit me right and probably only got used once :-)

We're leaving Wisconsin June 24, drive out west slowly, several stops on the way. Arrive at Lone Pine around June 27 where we set up our turnaround food depot. VVR and Muir Ranch will be mailed. Next day at Reds Meadows for those depots and up to Tuolumne for some day hikes and another double depot at the post office.

Start the JMT yo-yo at Happy Isles on June 29 or June 30, with just the Bearikade Expedition, big enough for us on the mroe frequent resupplies on the northern half of the trail. At Muir Ranch on the way south we pick up the two Bearikade weekenders, reach Whitney Portal around July 17, next day back up north so the permit is still valid (24 hours between wilderness exit and re-entry is tolerated).

Back to Muir Trail Ranch for resupply, plus they mail stuff back home for you, too, so we'd send the two Weekenders home from there. Hit Yos. Valley around August 3rd, take a little time off at Tuolumne Meadows again, then hike White Mountain Peak on our way back east, probably overnight on the summit, and then a few more days home – Day 47 of my plan has us back home.

I do have a BV 500 from last year when we cached that in the southern section of the trail. Too small for the food we'd need and a PITA to open. I hate the locking mechanism on that thing.