See My Full John Muir Trail Guide
Putting together a daily meal plan for the John Muir Trail was one of the greater challenges for me in my preparation for the trail. I had done quite a few multi-day trips before, but this was my first sustained backpacking trip that would require me to ship resupply packages ahead. This meant no perishable foods. I’ll start by mentioning that foods and meals that are great for hiking and backpacking, tend not to be so great for living. Non perishable foods are packed with empty calories, refined sugar, preservatives, and salt. If you’re like me, and avoid these kinds of foods in your daily life, make sure to train your body to consume them on the trail. I took a month of mixing these foods into my diet before hitting the trail. I felt like Morgan Spurlock in Supersize Me. At first, I was loving the tasty packaged treats, but by the end of the JMT, I was dying for some fresh vegetables and real foods. I made the mistake of thinking I could eat the same foods everyday. Looking back, I wish I would have thrown in a little more variety.My main focus in selecting food items for the John Muir Trail was calorie replacement, carbohydrates for energy, and protein for muscle repair. I cobbled together a meal plan that offered all of these, while still trying to remain relatively light weight. Below, you’ll find my comprehensive meal plan, as well as my thoughts on what I would keep and things I will change when I walk the JMT again.
I. My JMT Food And Resupply Itinerary
II. My Daily Meal Plan And Meal Composition
III. My Cooking Setup And Bear Canister
IV. Resupply Logistics And Mailing Address Information
I. My JMT Food And Resupply Itinerary
This is my 11 day food itinerary, starting in Yosemite Valley and finishing at Whitney Portal. On Day 1, Julia and I fastpacked to Tuolumne Meadows. This allowed us to pack light with just breakfast and snacks. We ate dinner at the Tuolumne Meadows Grill. We also resupplied at the Tuolumne Meadows Post Office for the next stretch. On Days 2 and 3, we hiked from Tuolumne Meadows to Deer Creek, with a resupply and lunch stop at Red’s Meadow. I had two big burgers. From Days 4 to 6, we hiked from Deer Creek to Colby Meadow, with a resupply at Muir Trail Ranch. The stretch from MTR to Whitney Portal is a long one, so I cut back my intake a little bit to save weight. From Days 7 to 11, we hiked from Colby Meadow to Whitney Portal, and ate a celebratory lunch at the Whitney Portal Grill.
11 Day Itinerary | Calories | Weight |
Fastpack from Yosemite Valley | 1.19 lbs | |
1 Yosemite to Tuolumne Meadows | 2060 | 19.00 oz |
Resupply And Dinner Tuolumne Meadows | 5.36 lbs | |
2 Tuolumne to Thousand Island Lake | 4830 | 50.75 oz |
3 Thousand Island Lake to Deer Creek | 3070 | 34.98 oz |
Resupply And Lunch Red’s Meadow | 9.52 lbs | |
4 Deer Creek to Silver Pass Lake | 4830 | 50.75 oz |
5 Silver Pass Lake to Marie Lake | 4830 | 50.75 oz |
6 Marie Lake to Colby Meadow | 4830 | 50.75 oz |
Resupply Muir Trail Ranch | 11.16 lbs | |
7 Colby Meadow to Grouse Meadow | 4000 | 39.55 oz |
8 Grouse Meadow to Marjorie Lake | 4000 | 39.55 oz |
9 Marjorie Lake to Kearsarge Pass | 4000 | 39.55 oz |
10 Kearsarge Pass to Guitar Lake | 4000 | 39.55 oz |
11 Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal | 2490 | 20.30 oz |
II. My Daily Meal Plan And Meal Composition
This is what my daily meal plan and meal times looked like on a full day with max intake. Being able to eat dinner at Tuolumne Meadows and lunch at Red’s Meadow saved a lot of weight. Be sure to schedule those stops into your itinerary. I also cut back on the second half of the John Muir Trail to cut weight. I did so by removing a packet of tuna at dinner, and a bag of Starburst minis for my afternoon snack.
Daily Overview
Meals | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Weight |
6:00 Breakfast | 480 | 96g | 16g | 4.42 oz |
9:00 Snack | 630 | 80g | 22g | 6.05 oz |
12:00 Snack | 950 | 191g | 14g | 8.53 oz |
15:00 Snack | 810 | 118g | 30g | 7.24 oz |
17:00 Snack | 450 | 100g | 0g | 5.35 oz |
19:00 Dinner | 1510 | 140g | 66g | 19.16 oz |
Totals: | 4,830 | 725g | 148g | 50.75 oz |
Daily Food Item Breakdown
6:00 Breakfast Items | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Weight |
4xQuaker Instant Oats Packets | 480 | 96g | 16g | 5.13 oz |
2xStarbucks VIA Coffee | 0 | 0g | 0g | .29 oz |
Totals: | 480 | 96g | 16g | 4.42 oz |
My breakfast on the JMT was pretty similar to my breakfast at home. I just had to swap my plain Old Fashioned Quaker Oats for Quaker Instant Oats (reduced sugar). This breakfast works really well for me in terms of energy and digestion. I never get an GI problems or nausea with oatmeal before a hike. I ate my instant oats with cold water. This allowed me to save a lot of time and energy each morning. The one thing I would change for my next thru-hike is to empty all four instant oats packets into a sandwich bag. I’ve done this on trips since the JMT, and it helps to reduce weight. I’m also able to pour water right into the bag, which means I don’t have to clean a bowl. My morning coffee routine was on the JMT was pretty similar to home as well, with kickstart of two cups. I drank my coffee cold, just like my oats. The Starbucks VIA packets mix very well with cold water and taste pretty good. Getting 2 cups of caffeine ingested early each day really helps with my energy and digestion regularity.
9:00 Snack Items | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Weight |
Probar Meal Bar Proberry Blast | 360 | 51g | 8g | 3.14 oz |
Jack Links Beef Jerky | 50 | 3g | 8g | .87 oz |
3xSlimJim Original Snack Size | 120 | 3g | 6g | .87 oz |
VFuel Endurance Gel | 100 | 23g | 0g | 1.17 oz |
Totals: | 630 | 80g | 22g | 6.05 oz |
On most days, Julia and I would take a break at around 9:00. I usually wasn’t too hungry after eating so much oatmeal for breakfast, so I’d start with a ProBar and eat the beef jerky while hiking. ProBars are a godsend on the JMT. It’s easy to get tired of the nonperishable processed and sugary foods you’ll bring along on the JMT. ProBars are one of the food items I never got sick of. I think it has to do with the whole ingredients and lack of overall garbage in them. The only problem is that they are very pricey, at around $3 a bar. The Jack Links and SlimJim beef jerkies were perfect for sodium replacement and protein. My final snack item was a VFuel Endurance Gel. I love VFuel gels for trail running and hiking, as they give me sustained energy without any stomach issues. Much like my breakfast, there isn’t anything I would change about my morning snack session.
12:00 Snack Items | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Weight |
Poptarts Strawberry (2 Pastries) | 400 | 74g | 4g | 3.98 oz |
Cliffbar Blueberry Crisp | 250 | 44g | 10g | 2.37 oz |
Tailwind Packet w/Water | 200 | 50g | 0g | 1.01 oz |
VFuel Endurance Gel | 100 | 23g | 0g | 1.17 oz |
Totals: | 950 | 191g | 14g | 8.53 oz |
I didn’t actually eat a full lunch while hiking the JMT. This ended up working out for me, but next time I might try to combine my 12:00 food stop with the 15:00 food stop for one break around 13:30. This break is when I had my first Tailwind water mix. Tailwind Endurance Fuel mixes easily with water and provides calories, electrolytes, and hydration.
15:00 Snack Items | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Weight |
2xFruit Strip Stretch Island | 100 | 22g | 0g | 1.12 oz |
Nature Valley Protein Bar | 160 | 14g | 10g | 1.45 oz |
ProBar Bite Cherry Cashew | 190 | 28g | 6g | 1.66 oz |
Tailwind Packet w/Water | 200 | 50g | 0g | 1.01 oz |
Wrapped Dry Salami | 160 | 4g | 14g | 2.00 oz |
Totals: | 810 | 118g | 30g | 7.24 oz |
Hiking the JMT in 11 days requires some high mileage hikes that go late into the afternoon. This 3:00 PM stop was critical to keeping my energy up for what was usually the final stretch of hiking to our campsite for the night.
17:00 PreDinner Snack Item | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Weight |
Starburst Minis | 450 | 100g | 0g | 5.35 oz |
Totals: | 450 | 100g | 0g | 5.35 oz |
I list the Starburst Minis as my 5:00 PM snack, but I would actually snack on this bag of Starburst throughout the day and finish what I had left while setting up camp.
19:00 Dinner Items | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Weight |
MountainHouse Chili Mac | 230 | 31g | 12g | 4.74 oz |
2xStarkist Tuna w/Olive Oil | 380 | 1g | 36g | 5.85 oz |
2xFlour Tortillas | 240 | 36g | 6g | 3.30 oz |
Peanut Butter M&Ms | 660 | 72g | 12g | 5.27 oz |
Totals: | 1510 | 140g | 66g | 19.16 oz |
This was easily my favorite meal of the day, and the only meal that Julia and I ate hot. I mixed the tuna into my MountainHouse meals while they rehydrated. It’s not the most delicious addition, but adds some much needed protein. The flour tortillas were great for dipping, and the M&Ms were a more than adequate dessert. I opted for the MountainHouse ProPak meals to save on space in my bear canister. They’re a little more expensive than the standard MountainHouse packets, but it was worth it in this case.

III. My Cooking Setup And Bear Canister
I brought the BV500 bear canister on the John Muir Trail, you can read my review here. For water, I used a combination of Smartwater bottles, and the Sawyer Mini. It’s a slow a slow filtering process that requires a little effort, but the Sawyer Mini is nice and light. I used the MSR Pocket Rocket for cooking, and brought along a foil wind screen. I carried a 100g fuel canister.
Bear Canister, Water, And Cooking | Weight |
BV500 Bear Canister | 41 oz |
Sawyer Mini Filter | 2 oz |
1L Smartwater Bottles X3 | 5.4 oz |
MSR Pocket Rocket | 3 oz |
Snow Peak Cookset | 8 oz |
MSR Fuel Canister | 3.5 oz |
Totals: | 3.93 lbs |

IV. Resupply Logistics And Mailing Address Information
To get started with your resupply mailings, you can go to home depot and grab some 5 gallon paint buckets or some boxes for the shorter sections. Make sure to tape the lids down, and use a marker or tape on the sides to make your package clearly identifiable. I used a leopard print duct tape. It looked ridiculous, but made my buckets very easy to describe for retrieval. You also need to add your name and an estimated pickup date on your package.
Tuolumne Meadows Mile 24:
- Add your name to the package
- Address: c/o General Delivery, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389
- Add your estimated arrival time
- No Money required
Make sure to arrive by 5:00PM to pick up your package and to eat the Tuolumne Meadows Grill. The Tuolumne Meadows store has a nice variety of food items as well and a microwave. Julia and I made our way to the Store after the Grill closed, and were able to heat up some frozen pizza!

Red’s Meadow Mile 60:
Reference this PDF for Red’s Meadow.
- Add your name to the package
- Mail by USPS only
- Address:Red’s Meadow Resort, P.O. Box 395, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
- Add your estimated arrival time
- Mail PDF with $40.00
- Send 14 days before arrival
Packages can be picked up at the Red’s Meadow Store from 7AM to 7PM. There is the Mule House Cafe right next door, which has a lot of great food on the menu.

Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) Mile 88:
Reference the VVR website for more
- Add your name to the package
- Mail by UPS only
- Address: Vermilion Valley Resort, c/o Rancheria Garage, 62311 Huntington Lake Road, Lakeshore, Ca. 93634
- Add your estimated arrival time
- $25.00 June to September
- Send 14 Days before arrival
VVR is a little bit off trail, which is the reason I did not plan on using it. The other reason is that it’s in between Red’s and MTR, making it a bit unnecessary. This resupply is located on Lake Edison and requires a boat shuttle or a 4.5 mile hike. Much like Red’s and Tuolumne, food can be purchased at their store, and hot food can be had at their restaurant.
Muir Trail Ranch Mile 108:
Reference the MTR resupply website for more and view their Info Page
Muir Trail Ranch is a nice resupply option that is only a short detour off trail, and the final “on trail” resupply option. MTR has a very small store and only offers food to those staying the night.
- Add your name to the package
- Mail by USPS preferred
- Address: Muir Trail Ranch, P.O. Box 176, Lakeshore, CA 93634
- Add your estimated arrival time
- $75.00 up to 25lbs Pay Here
- Send 21 days before arrival

Independence Onion Valley Mile 180:
If the 100 mile back half of the JMT from MTR to Whitney Portal is too far and you plan on hiking slower, you can exit via Kearsarge Pass to Onion Valley. You’ll need to catch a ride down to Independence to make this one happen, but it’s a nice option to help break up that final stretch.
Great info.. I especially liked the detailed re-supply logistics. How was the gas stove at higher elevations? I usually carry liquid-fueled stove in higher elevations if cold temps are expected… just wondering. Great post! Thx.
Thanks, Mike. The gas stove was pretty good at elevation. Not as good as my Jetboil Flash, but we didn’t have any issues getting water boiled above 9000ft. We didn’t have a lot of wind though, so that was a blessing. We did get a few nights right around freezing though.
Hi! I was wondering how many canisters you ended up going through? I have the poket rocket set up also and I’m trying to determine the right amount to carry and put in my resupply. Thanks!
The pocket rocket uses around 7-10g per boil of 2 cups water for a Mountain House meal. This gives the small 100g canister 10-14 burns. We hiked a total of 11 days and carried one each at a time, but swapped out half empty cans at the resupply. Our campsites were wind free and at or under around 10,000. We would also use warmer water that had been riding in our bottles and not cold water straight from a stream or lake.
Amazing info! Thank you!
Thanks!
Wow … Quite a bit of amazing information here! Great post.
Thanks!
“you can go to home depot and grab some 5 gallon paint buckets or some boxes for the shorter sections”
You can mail the big orange Home Depot buckets?
Yes, that’s what most people do.
Hi Drew, here is another resupply option for the Kearsarge Pass-to Onion Valley-to Independence. It’s not cheap but does cost less than a pack train resupply AND they’ll wash your clothes! Check it out: http://mtwilliamsonmotel.com/resupply/
Chris
Great info, Chris! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the heads up on how many days in advance to mail resupplies to the various places. Do you know how international visitors normally handle this? I’m coming from Australia and may only be there a week or less before starting my walk. Do people mail in resupplies from overseas? Seems impractical, but I’m not sure what the alternative is… would be grateful for any advice!
I’ve only read a few accounts on international resupply options. Tuolumne and Red’s Meadow are easy, as you can hand deliver your packages if you have enough time. This would allow you to put a resupply package together in the States or travel with one. As for MTR, I’m not sure what the best option for that would be.
I’m planning on doing the JMT hike this year and am also travelling from Australia. Muir Trail Ranch website had a link to Zero Day Resupply. It’s a website that handles resupplying for you. My intention is to utilise this service for resupplying on the JMT.
For international travelers, check out Zero Day… https://zerodayresupply.com/
One of the bet organize JMT sites on the planet. Well done! Glad to see you train with your pups. I am a veterinarian here in SoCal and train with my border collie (Border Collie on the Mountain!). Great fun. He is in training as my hearing assist dog as well.
Hello there and thank you for having a food and resupply guide that breaks it down by “meals”. One question I have is how much money did you spend on food during the JMT? including shipping the boxes? Curious to plan appropriately financially. Thank you for helping in advance!
Had a rough experience with Sequoia Kings Pack Trains for resupply at Kearsage Pass junction; we were first limited with scheduling when we could pick up the resupply and raced to get there in time only to find that our resupply was not there. The packer was there with another group’s supply but not ours. We received several excuses from Danica (one of the owners who we corresponded directly with to confirm the pick up) after the fact for why our resupply was not there. We also heard several stories of issues with Sequoia Kings Pack Trains. Suggest using Mt Williamson Hotel for resupply to this area. This could have been an incredibly dangerous situation as we would not have had enough food to even hike out, but thanks to the kindness of strangers and the packer hunting down our box, we were able to get to our resupply 2 days later to finish the trail. Be wary of Sequoia Kings Pack Trains or at least have some back up plans in case the resupply does not show up. Happy trails!
Hi Drew, thanks for all the great info! Do you know…what happens to the buckets after resupply? Will the shop/store “dispose” of them for free, or do you have to pay a fee?
From what I remember, they take care of them for you.
Excellent source of information – thank you! Are the meals listed here for one person or two?
Thanks. This is just listed for one person.
This may be a silly question but how did you do the tortillas? I assume you bought them at the resupply points?