Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Bear canister rental, etc - JMT - MtW to Yosemite

Hello all!

I'm trying to decide on a couple of things for a JMT NOBO hike with my husband next month. The current one is bear canisters - looking for my best rental options. It looks like the Portal Store rents them, but I didn't see details for longer periods, or ways to return. (Doug?) I'm checking REI/Adventure16 rentals, also Bearikade rentals. Any suggestions?

We're prefering the northbound option, though not married to it yet. Prep is getting based off of Wenk's book (I may order Yogi's PCT book), plus we hiked the AT in 2005 (GAME, whole thing, yep), so we have most of the gear we want (though we're disappointed that our Hennesey Hammocks won't be joining us).

I'm wondering what the likelihood is of getting by with one bear canister, maybe the large Bearikade one. (probably low, but still hoping) I know from our AT hike that we were surprisingly unhungry for the first month, and this was reinforced last weekend; I was doing about 1lb/day of food in the last half, and .5lb/day will do me fine for a 3wk jaunt (women, did you know that we lose weight much, much slower on a long hike? argh!). Also, we have to decide whether to do a resupply before MTR, or just slog the 110mi there without taking up a day and a half for an in-between resupply. Our longest AT resupply was 7 days; 8-10 would definitely be our new longest.

Last week we did MWMT, the one-day torture option. (whee!) Very fun, and we were happy our bodies accomodated us. For a go at the JMT, we're figuring to average 12 mile days, and about three weeks total. Another logistics question... if we drive to Lone Pine / WP, is there a good place to stash a car for three weeks?

Anyway, any suggestions are appreciated! If someone knows a JMT-specific board, please do point me to it.

Thanks,
Kara

I find that I can put 6 or 7 days of food for one person in a Garcia bear can. That includes food for 3 meals. No fresh stuff, all dried or dehydrated. For two people, I would think you will still need two cans, particularly due to the need to store things such as toothpaste, sunscreen, etc. The Bearikade may give you a bit more capacity given the straight sides. I am planning only one resupply on my SOBO at VVR.

I have found also that I consume less than I plan for but its always prudent to have a little extra food.

Yahoo has a JMT group you can join. Information has been good overall. There are some trail veterans posting to the group.

I also look at the postholer.com PCT website for trail conditions and have found it valuable.

Thanks Al!

Kara, what date are you starting? I might be able to give you ride from Lone Pine to the Portal.

I have a bearvault 500 and the Bearikade Expedition. Difference is about 30% more space and less weight in the Bearikade. I am able to pack about 5 days of food for 3 people into the Bearikade, while the smaller Bearvault at best can hold 4 days for the three of us, more like 3.5 days for 3. If you are alone, though, the Bearvault or something of similar size should do a 8-9 day load.

parking - leave your vehicle at the Portal trailhead long term parking lot. Getting back there is more difficult.

Peter

oh - there's a JMT forum

http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewforum.php?f=17

but I don't see a lot of traffic there.

Thanks Fishmonger. I have a feeling we'll end up buying two Bearvaults and reselling them afterward on Craigslist or eBay. I'll definitely check into the long term parking at Whitney Portal - as long as my car doesn't look like a giant ice chest, that's probably what just what we're looking for.

John22, it sounds like we'll be parking at the Portal, but thanks for the offer for the ride!

Kara

You can rent Garcia canisters in Yosemite or Tuolumne for $5 per two weeks. That's $20 for two canisters for a three week trip. They don't care if you aren't using them in the park. And they have drop boxes for returning them after hours.

0.5 lbs of food per day is pretty minimal. Even if that's 50% fat you're still eating less than 1500 Calories per day. That wouldn't even cover my basal metabolic needs, nevermind hiking 10-20 miles in the mountains with a pack. On long trips I eat as much as 2.5-3.0 lbs of food per day and still lose weight. Not surprisingly I find the volume of bear canisters to be woefully inadequate for any trip longer than about 3-4 nights. I have never even tried to store my sunscreen and toothpaste in one. Let the bear brush his teeth and put on the SPF 30 if he wants...

I purchased a Bearikade Expidition last year after agonizing a long while about the utility and the $$$$. Turns out it was an excellent decision for my requirements - solo 2-week+ treks into the Sierra. Last year I managed to carefully load 16 days of food into the thing.

Kara,

I did all of the research too and really didn't want to end up buying a canister. However, I didn't want to get up to the ranger station and discover that they didn't have any rentals left either!!!

I see that you're in San Diego. REI doesn't rent the canisters. However, Adventure 16 in Mission Valley rents the same bear canisters that the ranger stations recommend and rent. I believe $7 the first night and $1 per night after that. Call them and make a reservations... (619) 283-2374. Some of the most helpful staff I've yet to encounter.

Good luck with your hike! When are you heading up there? If you have a method of getting back from where ever you're ending up maybe you and hubby could hitch a ride up with me and Mom if we're heading up the same time...

~Chris

I've parked my truck there 7 summers, 2-3 weeks at a time, never really bothered to clean it out much (it had a cooler we used on the trip to CA in the back, dry, but definitely smelly from a bear point of view). I never had a problem then, and if you don't leave any beef jerky on the dash, I think you should be ok. I can't imagine that the bears have gotten the taste of motor oil over the last decade since I last parked up there.

I usually get by on about 1.5 lbs a day and still lose some weight on these hikes. My Bearikade fully packed for 5 days, one adult and two 11-year-olds comes in at about 14lbs (2.5 of that for the canister and other non food items in there)

I've tried all 3 bear can options (Garcia, Bear Vault and Bearikade). I find that the Garcia holds the least, weighs the most and is kind of difficult to get in and out of with the lip around it. The Bear Vault holds more and the clear blue sides are a plus cause you can see in from the outside making it easier to get in and out of. The Bearikade is very nice and light, I rented a few for a large group trip and the rental experience was real positive. For a trip as long as the JMT I would go with either the Bear Vault or Bearikade.

LOL... Fishmonger, I had looked forward so much to eating like a pig on the Appalachian Trail, and I was so disappointed for the first month. I was really surprised how much food we left in the hiker boxes from what we'd mailed to ourselves in our food drops. Even my husband had the same effect for the first month, and so did most other hikers! At least those of us over 25 years old.

I'd have a protein shake for breakfast (we decided we really love these silly things when hiking - 300cal, 42g of protein, plus lots of vitamins, and no heating needed), some trail mix and a granola or energy bar during the day, and half a pack of Lipton Sides noodles or Idahoan instant potatoes at night (starting out... later we each ate a whole one). And sometimes some Gatorade, which really helped on a big hill - surprisingly so. Sugar or electrolytes, dunno which was the bigger factor. Not a heck of a lot of food each day, and I often felt too full! Of course, we really inhaled food in town, but more because it wasn't Lipton noodles than because we were actually hungry.

That 22mi hike up&down Whitney two weeks ago had the same effect - despite all the stuff I brought with me, all I consumed all day was one energy bar, and two liters of Gatorade (there's 500+ calories right there, of course!). The next three days, my appetite continued to be very surpressed. Kinda nice, really.

So I'm figuring going for minimal food starting out on this trip. My metabolism just ain't all that fast. If we do get uncontrollably hungry, there's places to cut out and fix that.

But in the meantime, there's 15 extra pounds on my butt that I wouldn't mind parting with.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the info! And if we happen to be up there and starting or finishing around the same time, it would be great to hook up for rides. Currently, we're aiming for around a 7/20-22 start from WP, if everything comes together.

: )
Kara

Kara,

Mom and I will be driving up the afternoon/evening of 7/25 and returning either 7/30 or 7/31.... so it doesn't look like the dates are going to mesh.. but let me know if you're plans get changed or if you ever need a local hiking partner. Granted.. Cuyamaca isn't any Whitney.. but I'm always looking for someone to romp locally with!!!

~Chris