My Comprehensive John Muir Trail Food And Resupply Guide

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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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