RE Supply at VVR or MTR

[Keith Fultz]

I am 64 years old, done a lot of hiking but trying to do complete JMT for first time beginning Aug 19.

I want to make this as easy as I can of course, but I am also cheap.
I was thinking that MTR cost of $65 was pretty steep compared to VVR.
Do you think it is worth it to resupply at MTR, especially in a year where I will probably have to hike all the way to VVR. I keep my food weight at about 1 pound per day, but I will not be in a hurry, so I expect about 13 days after VVR or 11 days after MTR.

What are your thoughts. I have to make a decision soon.

Thanks

[Bob Gross]

You might want to decide whether you are going northbound or southbound.

I think that others are getting a resupply drop at the LeConte Canyon Ranger Station or at the Charlotte Lake junction.

–B.G.–

[Keith Fultz]

Thanks Bob, I am going South Bound

[Bob Gross]

I think that some backpackers traveling as a group want to get a large food load brought in by horse. The horsepacker companies are typically coming from the easiest direction, so that means South Lake/Bishop Pass, Onion Valley/Kearsarge Pass, or Road's End-Cedar Grove/Vidette Meadow. Bring lots of cash.

Once I saw two guys waiting at the Charlotte Lake trail junction, and the horseman was overdue. They had already paid $800 for the load. If it was only two guys, I could not imagine that the food bag would weigh too much.

Something seems wrong with that price equation.

–B.G.–

[Keith Fultz]

I was hoping to make it from VVR or MTR to Whitney with no other re supply.
In the past I have carried 40 – 60 pound packs, but with age catching up with me and the advancement of UL hiking gear and things I have learned here, I now have my pack base weight to about 14 pounds and about 1 pound of food per day.
I know 14 pounds seems high to some of the UL hikers here, but carrying a 25 to 30 pound pack seems quite doable to me.

Fortunately, I will not be in a hurry, but of course the tension of days on the trail and food necessary still make for important decisions.

I do have a friend willing to resupply me out of Kearsarge Pass, but was hoping to do the whole trail alone. And I am sure he would want to finish the trail with me. This would not be the end of the world, but this is a bit of a spiritual quest for me as well.

So how doable is it for me to make it from VVR to Whitney or does the 2 days I save from MTR make it worth the cost?

[Bob Gross]

With all of these factors in play, some backpackers decide to increase the pace so that they can finish at Whitney without suffering from hunger. Others get a resupply bag brought in, but it isn't cheap.

I was on the summit of Whitney one time, and a guy was there who had just left Yosemite and this was his tenth day out. He finished at Whitney Portal that evening. He carried his own food and had no resupplies at all. However, he was about thirty years old.

As I recall, he drank his water without treatment in order to speed up his time. He had a tarp in case it rained, but he hadn't used it for the whole trip in order to speed things up.

You just have to decide your priorities.

–B.G.–

[Bob Bankhead]

Going south, re-supply at Tuolumne Meadows store, at Reds Meadow store, and at MTR.

Why MTR instead of VVR?

Because it is only 2 trail days from Reds to VVR and another day to MTR. You also get to climb Bear Ridge with a much lighter pack. There is a short but steep downhill side trail from the PCT to MTR and a different, easy 1.5 mile trail back to the PCT before the climb through Evolution Meadow to Muir Pass and beyond begins.

Contact the Onion Valley Pack Station ([email protected] or [email protected], and phone is 800-962-0775)to inquire about resupply options. Five years ago, the Charlotte Lake ranger station would not accept packages nor allow the packers to drop one there. The horses had to meet you along the trail (~$450). At that time, the OV pack station would hold packages at the station for you to pick up (~ $75)and showers were available as well.

Alternatively, you can hitch into Independence pretty easily due to the campground at OV. Getting back to the trail is a bit harder.

It's a long, heavy carry from VVR to Whitney Portal with a lot of big passes in between.

[Bob Gross]

Here is the image of a sign at Onion Valley.

–B.G.–

[Charley White]

What Bob Bankhead said. Add, check that the water taxi is not drought impaired at Lake Edison, if you consider VVR. The hike would cripple your soul. I did JMT using MTR two years ago at exactly your age, exactly your ration, and right at your pack weight. Food was fine from MTR to Whitney Portal. Exit was on day 10 after MTR.

One advice I'd give is pack your resupply barrel so you can perfectly move its packets–already shaped and tested exactly to fit your canister–to your canister. Don't figure you'll have time & leisure to choose from an excess. Decide now, not then. One or two treats to eat there is plenty. Can of peaches. Having an overflow you must eat in a day (bagels & salmon for me) becomes a problem. I say this because MTR is no refreshing oasis. Un-level, sun-baked, hornet inhabited, crowded with disgustosos like yourself, at the bottom of a flinty, scorched, steep descent you have raced down to get there in time before closing, you don't want to linger there even if you could. Ignore all that if you choose to stay the night, dine, shower, etc. But that's pretty $$, especially if the barrel differential VVR to MTR is off-putting.

[Jennifer Mitol]

I'll second (or fourth?) the resupply at MTR. If the ferry is running in the am, it's still completely worth the trip to VVR – I had a great time there resting up for the last leg of the trip (i'm 44, overweight, out of shape, pasty white….you get it…) and eating pie.

And drinking a free beer.

Anyway – I had visions of eating a nice relaxing lunch at MTR, eating some contents of my resupply while I repacked my bear can, etc etc. Oh no. I couldn't get out of there fast enough…it was chaotic, hot, messy..I didn't even eat lunch.

But – there's a big difference between hiking up those switchbacks with a pretty empty bear can and then having to fill it up with only 10 days of food, vs packing 12 days into the can and then hauling that up out of that valley.

This year I am visiting VVR for a shower, food and a beer, then resupplying at MTR for my last leg. And I have no idea how I'm going to carry 11 days of food…. I just hope that I'm better at packing my bear can at that point than I was in my living room putting my resupply boxes together.

[Greg Mihalik]

After MTR, and aside from the safety and hanging issues, you don't need to get everything in the canister until your first night south Pinchot Pass. Until then you can hang what doesn't fit.

YMMV, HYOH, etc.

[Charley White]

I have to add, after Greg's note re canister requirements, the book on Evolution Valley is "bears roam there." So, if you are going to adopt the approach where you suffer the constraints of canisters, but decline their full labor-saving rewards (my bias showing?) hang well. Was resupply sergeant to 3 no-bos doing PCT out of college. One lost his pack to a bear in Evolution via hasty hang. He fasted past MTR, dragging into VVR where he gained the trail name, "Dumptruck."

Jennifer got me back to MTR–Keith, you know about those "take/leave" buckets? Forget about them. They are separated by category, overflowing with stuff NO ONE WANTS, surrounded by others. In the cool quiet of the next morning (slept nearby) it was still a miserable task to dispose of my excess bucketage properly. I wish I were going tomorrow.

[Marko Botsaris]

On overflow buckets, yeah its like Crocodile Dundee says, "you can live on it, but it tastes like shit". Still by the time you get there you might feel differently, and one man's crap may be another's gold nugget. Safe to say you are not going to find many snickers cached in those. I'd love to read a typical list of everyone's discards in those barrels. You can buy food at MTR as well, with the "slogged-in-by-mule" price premium.

My original plan was to go all high tech on the packing for the southern leg(s) as I didn't want to buy a bigger bear can. But I realized that unless I substantially changed WHAT I ate beyond what I was willing to do on such a long trip, I was not going to get more than 8.5 days worth of food in my weekender. So 9.5 days with a 1-day overflow. Just like above Greg reminded me that I could hang south of MTR, so I put a hanging kit in my MTR bucket. I still have a motivation to keep the volume low, which I worked really hard on, so that I only will need to hang for a day or two.

[Jerry Adams]

Can I hang my food from tree on the North Lake, Piute Canyon, JMT, Bishop Pass, South Lake loop? I thought canister required. I know it would require expert hanging rather than the lazy hanging I get away with in Oregon/Washington.

[Ken Thompson]

"I'd love to read a typical list of everyone's discards in those barrels." +1

[Ken Thompson]

nm: rare double post

[Greg Mihalik]

There is no "typical".

It depends on the time of year – Thin in June, abundance in late July, August, September.

The last time I was through in September I had my pick of ProBar Meal bars, nuts, and other brownie-like things. IIR, I also picked up some sugar based candies – like jelly beans. There were a number of freeze dried meals in the original wrappers from Mt. House and Backpackers Pantry.

I talked to a guy who failed to get his resupply package, and without a lot of effort put together the 5 days of no-cook food he needed to get to Lone Pine.

If you were going to rely on the buckets for 5 days of food, you would have to be pretty flexible.

If you're looking to add 500 calories a day for 5 days, no problem.

[Jennifer Mitol]

so…um…..how about the sleeping-with-your-food strategy for a day or two south of MTR?

[Tony Wong]

+1 On what Bob Says.

In 2011 I did the JMT Southbound the exact same way.

That said, I would highly recommend that you swing by VVR to spend a zero day there, if you need it.

The staff is friendly and very welcoming…..the love through hikers!

1st beer is free!!!

Great atmosphere to share with your fellow backpackers, a chance to wash your clothes, showers, and eat some good food.

Fond memories of the place…..the social highlight of my trip.

The hike out of VVR to MTR is steep and I would dread carrying a fully loaded pack full of multiple days of food.

Unfortunately, I would say that MTR wins out simply because of their location.

I wish I could have given the people at VVR my money for resupply because my experience at MTR was the complete opposite of VVR.

The woman at MTR was cold and distant, if not rude.

I paid for about 10 minutes of slow dial up internet time on their laptop to let my family know that I was alive and that bears had not killed me and that my hiking buddy, Jeremy, had not left me to die on the trail. Cost might have been just shy of $10. I had a $10 bill and gave it to her, but she did not have any change. The woman gave me a long silent stare as if I should shit out exact change to pay for the time. After a long moment of silence she blurted out in frustration something about not taking my money my paying with a $5 bill. I was happy to pay, but I don't carry a pocket full of coins.

They had a small area set aside for backpackers to sit under the shade and a garden faucet spigot to get some water. No toilet to speak of that they would let me use…I was simply told to go into the trees and dig a hole.

I walked away from MTR thankful that I resupplied, but the gist of my experience was that they don't like backpackers. Their main business is providing luxury camping and dinning experience for couples. Lord forbid that any of their guest should see any dirt bag hikers.

Anyway, the JMT is an amazing trip and the small bump in the trail at MTR was minor, but was in stark contrast to the wonderful experience that I had with the people at VVR.

Tony

[John Rowan]

As a recent VVR guest (7/17), I can confirm that they are doing pickups on the far side of the lake in the AM at 9, 10, and 11. The lakebed is very dry, and I'd say that the total mileage from the start of the Lake Edison trail is somewhere in the 2-2.5 mile range once you walk across the lake to the ferry landing. Even though it doesn't shave a ton of miles off of the walk, the universal consensus from the people who hiked was that the ferry was worth it.

They have been a bit more clear about the availability of the ferry in recent weeks (before I left for my JMT thru, there was a lot of debate going on about if/when the ferry was running, and I haven't really seen if the current schedule has become common knowledge yet), but since someone asked above, I thought it was worth chiming in.

Obviously, this could change later in the season, but, as a passenger on the 11AM ferry (thanks to a 4AM departure from Tully Hole!), I can confirm its existence.

[Bob Gross]

They could fix the Lake Edison level problem. They just need more backpackers.

Every backpacker who stops there gets a free beer, I think. Then everbody relieves themselves into the lake basin. Pretty quickly, it will be up to overflow level.

–B.G.–

[Duane Bindschadler]

Planning a Sept JMT and have been grappling with the same issues as others on this thread. Our plan at this point is to (1) stay at VVR but (2) resupply at MTR. We also have decided to use the Mt. Williamson motel's package deal (hotel room, breakfast, and ride to/from Onion Valley) in Independence for a resupply before the last push to Whitney. This is actually less expensive than a pack station resupply (unless you've got at least a half-dozen people). Another option that might be worth considering.

Our plan is to do about 12 miles per day. We'd leave VVR with just enough food to get to MTR (1 night), and walk away from MTR with about 9.5 lbs (each) at 1.5 lb/day.

Anyway, just another option to consider.

[Scott Bentz]

My preference now would be to not stop at VVR and just stop at MTR. I did stop at VVR on my JMT hike and liked it a lot. The food was great. Who would not like a good piece of fried chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and some veggies while out on the trail?

Nonetheless, it is a stop I did not need to make as the MTR resupply came up 2 days later. If the ferry was not running that wold make it a long day getting there and out. Including the layover at VVR we hiked it in 14 days. So, we really didn't need to stop at VVR. It was fun though and we spent the day with Reinholt Metzger and his wife with him telling his tales of his fast hikes of the JMT. Pretty fun.

The problem with MTR has been well described in this post. Rude people, hot and expensive. Too bad VVR is not where MTR is. That would be a perfect spot for a nice stop like VVR. Of course, if you spend a lot of money, you can eat a real nice meal and get some hot tubs, etc. at MTR which would be a real treat. I'm too cheap.

Your issue will be the 11 days of food. We had 8 days of food which meant we had to hang for the first night after leaving MTR. We spent the night at McClure Meadows and did not have any issues. We were at 1.5 lbs. of food per day and you are at 1 lb. so you can get quite a bit more in your canister. We were all using Bearicade Weekenders. A Bearicade Expedition would have given us probably 2 more days worth of storage.

Good luck on your trip.

[M B]

If I did it again I would skip MTR resupply. Its only 1 day from VVR for me, 2miles out of the way, requires a few hrs of time, and is hot as hell at the low elevation.

I did the trail in 14 days, spending 2 of those days at VVR.Left feeling like a million bucks after night in a bed and several good meals. Only took me 6 days from MTR to WP,I finished with 3 days food left in my bearikade weekender.

[Jennifer Mitol]

I wish I could skip MTR…

But as it is I'm pretty sure I'm going to be using a food bag as a pillow for a few days after MTR. Since, like Marko, I'm trying for the SKT (slowest known time) for the JMT this year, I have NO idea what I'm going to do with all my foodstuffs for the last stretch.

I simply can't imagine cramming 2 more days in there….

[Author]

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