Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Stashing Food and Water Along Trail

I have been thinking about trying to do the Whitney trail in a day and I was curious of anyone stashes water or food along the trail for their descent. The goal would be to reduce weight on the ascent. Good idea or bad ?

It's a bad idea. There is no point to stashing water. It is plentiful all the way to Trail Camp. Use a filter pump or iodine as needed. As for food, leaving it beside the trail is bear bait. How much can a sandwich or two and snacks weigh anyhow?

I wouldn't personally think it is a good idea to stash food. If you run into trouble and get delayed you might need it.

Water is much heavier then food anyways and is plentiful up to trail camp. If the lakes are frozen, you might need to chop through the ice to get to it. Bring along a filter and an ice axe.

Stashing food would be a bad idea; marmots would devour it in short order, followed by any bears in the area. Water would be a different story. On a mid-summer day hike many years ago, in the dark ages before filters, we stashed a few liters of iodized water near Trail Camp before heading up to the summit. It sure was nice to have that water immediately available when we came down from the summit! Bottles are pretty lightweight, so it wouldn't be a big deal carrying one or two 'empties' on the outside of a pack. Don't try it in winter - the bottled water would freeze pretty quickly.

If you're going to stash water, Platypus water bladders are even lighter and have the advantage of near zero volume empty. The 2-1/2 liter size weighs less than 2 oz empty and flattens down to next to nothing except for the threads and cap.

I generally carry a couple of these when backpacking and tank them up in the evening so I have plenty of water for breakfast and to start the next day's hike without spending any time pumping or waiting for chemical treatments to work.

I've been very pleased with their durability. I've had one develop pinhole leaks after several years but the other one bought at the same time is going strong and the third one (bought to replace one of the first two) is doing fine.

The answer is an emphatic no. I remember as a newbie, I almost took someone's stashed Gatorade. If you going to stash your food you must bring a bear resistant canister...if this is quota season trip.

I guess we should establish if this is a winter or a quota season trip.

If you can't carry a few bars of food, you probably shouldn't be hiking up 6000 vertical feet.

What they said. The practice of caching supplies certainly has its place, but not on the MMWT.

i guess if you lack the experience to have proper foresight in regards to plans going astray and somehow being seperated from your food or water then you shouldnt be in the mountains either. however, experience in the mountains has shown me that "things" happen up there and its good to have back up plans.

How does caching water and food along a well established trail constitute a back up plan?

Again, is this summer or winter trip. This will affect the responses you will get.

I believe, regardless of utility, that stashing food in the Whitney Zone is illegal.

At the JMT junction, especially in summer, you will sometimes see a dozen or more packs off to the side, having been jettisoned for the final stretch up to the summit. These are usually from thru-hikers, but I've seen quite a few day hikers also drop their packs at that point and just grab a bottle of water and a candy bar to take to the top. Don't know if this qualifies as "caching", but it is very common practice among peak-baggers. I'd be surprised if this was illegal; technically, perhaps, if the food wasn't in a canister.

Dave

Someone should ask Sierra Snail about what happens when you stash Powerade...

I'm stubborn this way, but I'm not a big "stasher" of anything. I figure if you can't haul all your things, the things you leave behind are exactly what you'll need later.

-L

So has anyone ever had their JMT junction stash/cache raided by marmots or similar critters?

CaT

I won't cache water or food. Anything, even ants can get to your food. The one time I cached water I really paid the price. To make a long story short I cached too early before a summit push, I underestimated the time it would take to summit due to the terrain and brush as well as the heat that day and I ended up with a liter and a half of water for five hours in the summer. When I finally peed a few hours later and about three hours after getting back to the water I cached, my pee looked like Newcastle. When I got off the mountain and drank a Gatorade at a store, my throat burned as if on fire. So what if you have to take a few extra pounds. What if you were injured and unable to move and were away from your food and water? Having the food and water with you could potentially save your life.


That's my 2 cents

Rafael...

I have to disagree with the majority on this one. Cases where it is illegal aside, I can't see how it is a bad idea to have extra water or food available. It's easy to say you should just carry everything but each and every one of us does the same thing when we pack our bags when we decide what we want to have with us versus what we want to carry. Yes, take as much water with you as you think you will need, and then bring some more as well, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad idea to have extra somewhere else. As long as you pick it up on your way out whether you need it or not, I don't see the problem. Look at all the folks that do the two day trip and sleep at Trail Camp, I wouldn't expect any of them to lug their tents and sleeping bags to the summit. Many years ago I did the trip from Horseshoe Meadows to the top and came out through the portal trail. On summit day I left the majority of my stuff at Trail Crest, summited, then was able to pick up my gear on the way down and get out without stopping.

First, I think leaving most of your stuff at Trail Crest or the JMT junction just to summit is different than than the caching of food and water along the trail mentioned in the original post -- comparing apples to oranges.

As to having extra food and water available, assume it's not available unless it's on your person. If life intervenes, and you can't get to your cache...

Caching food along the trail (other than in a bear canister at a camp site when BPing) is inviting the critters to dinner. They will be thankful for any such food caches, whether they come a la carte or otherwise gift-wrapped in a pack, bag or tent. Absent the food, I think your other non-food stuff is pretty much safe from the critters.

If we're talking about an up-and-back on Whitney, caching water along the trail is unnecessary, given available water sources at least as far as Trail Camp on the MT and Iceberg Lake on the MR. Carry what water you need (plus a reasonable reserve) to get you from the last water source, up to the summit, and back down again to the first descending water source.

You bring your stuff, decide what you want to take on your hike or BP based on final best available info, and then leave the rest either in the car or in a bear box.

CaT

Yep. Actually not me but my buddies. We came up from Crabtree and they left their packs at the MMWT/JMT junction. When we returned to the packs after summiting, one had been chewed through to get to some energy bars and the other had a hydration hose almost completely severed. There were lots of marmots in the area.

I don't hear anyone giving anything but good advice on this thread. Stashing unprotected food is a bad idea. Huge invite for critter meals! My2cents

Thanks. Just wanted to confirm for the benefit of this thread what I already suspected; this is also why I personally would never leave my stuff in any form or quantity anywhere along the trail, including the JMT junction.

CaT