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John Muir Trail, late Aug./early Sept. gear list.


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Home Forums Gear Forums Gear Lists John Muir Trail, late Aug./early Sept. gear list.

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  • #1301370
    Charles Grier
    BPL Member

    @rincon

    Locale: Desert Southwest

    I would appreciate any suggestions you might have regarding potential weight savings for the gear list below. I estimate the walk as taking about 20 days. I am no longer interested in tarp or tarp/bivy camping, nor, being well over 70-years-old, do I find sleeping on closed-cell pads particularly comfortable or refreshing. I am planning to use the BV-450 Solo for the entire trip and using an Ursack with an odor-proof liner to protect food that won’t fit into the BV when I resupply at Muir Trail Ranch. I estimate that about 4 days food will need to go into the Ursack: I will use whatever bear lockers are available on this stretch of the trail to protect the Ursack. I have hiked the JMT twice before (1954 and 2008) so I have a good idea of what to expect in terms of weather, camping, bears and terrain. I'm going solo. Thanks.

    Qty Item Category Weight, oz

    Footwear
    1 Trail running shoes, NB MO889. 32.00
    1 Smartwool medium cushion crew socks, wool. 2.25
    1 Lightweight gaiters, Dirty Girl 1.22

    Walking stick
    1 Walking staff/cane, Leki. 9.00

    Clothing worn
    1 GoLite running shorts w/ built-in brief. 4.00
    1 Home-made Supplex® long sleeved shirt with button pockets, dark green. 6.20
    1 Icebreaker merino wool SS T-shirt, blue. 5.00
    1 Bandana, cotton, 1/2, handkerchief 0.50
    1 Hat, Tilley, broad brimmed. 5.60

    Items carried in pockets
    2 Notebook, Rite in the Rain 3" x 5", 24 pages. 1.40
    1 Bic ballpoint pen 0.20
    1 Swiss Army Knife "Classic" 0.76
    1 Butane lighter, Bic Mini. 0.35
    1 Chap stick. 0.50
    1 Bifocal sunglasses with graded shading. 1.00
    1 Whistle and Photon 2 mini-light on lanyard 0.70

    Pack
    1 Elemental Horizons Kalais pack with stay and one hip belt pocket 31.00

    Clothing normally carried in pack
    1 Wind Shirt, home-made, full zip, pockets, blue, 1.1 oz rip-stop. 4.09
    1 Fleece pull-over, home-made, LS, 100 wt. microfiber fleece. 7.80
    1 Montbell inner down jacket. 8.20
    1 Shell pants, home-made, 1.8 oz rip-stop nylon, with cargo pockets. 4.40
    1 Mittens, Polartec 200, home-made. 1.50
    1 Watch cap, Polartec 100, home-made. 1.00
    1 Long underwear bottoms, Patagonia Capilene 2. 5.80
    1 Smartwool medium cushion crew socks, wool. 2.00
    1 Waterproof clothing bag, home-made. 0.60

    Rain Gear
    1 DriDucks rain jacket W/hood 6.12
    1 Garbage bag kilt 0.80
    1 Waterproof Pack liner, silnylon, home-made. 1.50

    Shelter and sleep equipment
    1 Zpacks Hexamid Cuben fiber tent. 9.50
    1 Ground sheet for tent, 40" x 96" polycryo. 1.60
    1 Tent stakes: 9 Titanium and stow sack 2.10
    1 Inflatable pad, Thermarest Prolite 3, Short, in stow sack 13.30
    1 Sleeping bag, Western Mountaineering Summerlite with 2 oz overfill. 21.00
    1 Sleeping bag and down jacket stuff sack, uncoated rip-stop. 1.00

    Cooking equipment
    1 Canister stove, Snow Peak Giga titanium in silnylon stow bag 2.72
    1 Stove wind shield, cut down MSR 0.86
    1 Fuel canister, Snow Peak large empty weight. 5.20
    1 MSR Titan kettle, 28 fl oz capacity, w/lid and wire bail. 4.80
    1 GSI Cascadian polypropylene 12 fl oz cup w measure markings. 1.60
    1 One liter water bottle, recycled club soda, trail water bottle. 1.60
    1 Platypus collapsible 2-liter bottle, camp water. 1.00

    Water treatment
    1 Backup water purification, Katadyn Micro-Pur, 40 tabs. 0.50
    1 Sawyer Squeeze water filter with one, 2 liter dirty water bottle. 4.00
    1 Cut down water bottle water scoop. 0.15

    Food Storage
    1 Bear Vault 450 solo bear canister. 31.00
    0 Ursack with odor-proof sack for the BV overflow after MTR. 9.00

    Cooking kit, small items.
    1 Stow sack, spoon, pot scrubber, soap in dropper bottle, Bic mini 1.98

    First Aid kit
    1 First Aid kit. 2.54

    Personal kit
    1 Toothbrush, tooth powder, floss, bridge picks and comb. 1.52

    Sun and Insect kit
    1 DEET and Sunscreen in 1/2 oz. containers in stow sack. 1.60

    Sanitary kit.
    1 Shop towel squares 2 per day, hand sanitizer and ointment. 3.00

    Repair/Service/Emergency kit
    1 Sewing kit, fabric patches, mattress repair kit, eyeglass repair. 3.50

    Outside ditty bag, silnylon
    1 Cord, E-light, glasses cleaning, 4" pencil, spare glasses, Ace bandage 3.50

    Maps and information.
    1 JMT map set copied onto light paper, guide book loaded on Kindle 1.70
    1 Compass, Silva "Guide" 1.08

    Electronics
    1 McMurdo Fast Find PLB 5.40
    1 Amazon Kindle eBook 6.50
    1 Camera, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120 and fleece case & spare battery. 6.60
    1 Ipod and ear pieces with battery charger 4.20

    Weight worn and carried in pockets, lb 4.5
    Pack weight, lb 14.4

    #1973410
    Bob Gross
    BPL Member

    @b-g-2-2

    Locale: Silicon Valley

    In one place, you state the bear canister is a BV-450, and in another place it is a BV-500. There are several ounces of difference in weight.

    –B.G.–

    #1973443
    Charles Grier
    BPL Member

    @rincon

    Locale: Desert Southwest

    Typo, sorry. I just corrected it.

    #1973519
    Bean
    BPL Member

    @stupendous-2

    Locale: California

    Hopefully they will be entirely gone by that time, but maybe a mosquito headnet? They were still really thick last year into early August. This looks like it will maybe be a pretty warm year, and they might manage to linger.

    #1983233
    Bryan Oliphint
    BPL Member

    @hottub

    Locale: Southeast Texas

    I hiked the JMT end of August, early September several years ago and didn't hit hardly any mosquitos. I passed through a couple of marshy areas that had them, but they weren't a problem as long as I didn't stop. I didn't take–and fotunately didn't need–any bug protection. But of course every year is different.

    As for canister volume, I had the same problem you are facing…not being able to get all my food in the canister after the ranch. I solved it by basing all my breakfasts and lunches around rice (and some pasta). I packed the rice and pasta in an odor proof bag outside the canister. I only had to do this for about two days before everthing fit. (I packed ten days food, but finished the south leg in 8 days).

    I met a couple of other guys who put their overflow food in waterproof sacks and sunk them in the river. But the bags leaked, so I can't recommend it–though the principle seems sound. (Same guys put their sweaty, new, expensive merino base layers out to dry–and had them eaten by rodents; some people have no manner of luck whatsoever).

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