John Muir Trail Packing List

This is my final packing list for the John Muir Trail.

I decided to go without a stove for 3 reasons:

• I would only be using it for freeze dried dinners and these take up too much space in the canister
• At the end of a long day, I’d be too lazy to cook, even something so convenient like freeze dried dinners
• It saves weight

This is my planned diet for each day. It doesn’t mean that I ate exactly 4 ounces of dried fruit or 2 ounces of cheese everyday, but it ended up averaging about that.

The table below describes the food I brought to begin the trail, and the food I sent and picked up at each resupply point. The weight for each item is in ounces. The totals at the bottom is in pounds.

Blog reader Scott Farnsworth asked me in the comments below the following questions:

1. Did any of the items you listed perform poorly? They all look top of the line but would be curious if anything in particular disappointed you.

The Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 tent had condensation problems on cold nights. Sometimes the moisture would drop on my face from the top of the tent in the middle of the night. I’m not sure if this is something that could be avoided with other similar tents. But in general, I have been happy with the tent.

I wish I had taken a down vest or jacket, like the Montbell one I have right now. The Mountain Hardwear fleece wasn’t warm enough for me. I do love the fleece though, I’ve had it for 8 years now and have used it extensively on and off the trail and it still looks like new.

2. I think your sleeping bag is rated to 30 deg (correct if wrong); was it warm enough?

On some nights where the temperature was around 32°F or slightly below, no, it wasn’t warm enough. I had to sleep with my fleece and pants on. But this is a person-specific problem. Some people sleep colder than others. As I mentioned above, I suggest bringing a down jacket. For the Sierras in the summer, instead of buying a lower temperature rated sleeping bag, it would be better to buy a 30°F (lighter) one and wear the down jacket to sleep on colder nights.

3. Did you take anything you wish you hadn’t (hiking poles, guide book or other)?

No. I was very happy with everything I took with me. The hiking poles were essential, as well as the guide book. An argument could be made about not bringing the water filter, but back then I wasn’t comfortable drinking water that could contain visible particles in them (after treating it with tablets).

4. Did you not take something that you wish you had (trowel, journal etc)?

Didn’t really feel the need to have a trowel. The hiking poles did a fine job of digging holes in the ground, although they do take longer than a trowel to get it done. I did bring a journal and wrote in it everyday. Food-wise, I wish I had taken more sweet stuff, especially trail mix.

I do wish I had worn the Dirty Girl gaiters though. There’s a lot of small rocks on the trail that get into your shoes and socks, and you have to stop often to remove them. Gaiters would have eliminated the problem.

5. Did the capilene t-shirts block mosquitoes and did you ever wish you had short sleeves?

They do make a bit of a difference when it comes to mosquitoes, but they won’t block them off completely. I did not wish I had short sleeves. They long sleeves really help to block the sun, which can be pretty punishing in the middle of the day. It’s nice to not having to apply sunblock on your arms. They also have a tight fit and wick sweat away, so you almost don’t notice the long sleeve on your arms. Also, you could always just roll up the sleeves if you wanted to.

6. It looks like you carried less than a full bottle of jungle juice? was that enough or did you replenish at the resupply points?

I only encountered mosquitoes on 3 or 4 spots, and usually only used a few drops of Jungle Juice on my wrist and neck each time. I did send extra to my resupply points, but didn’t end up needing it. You definitely do not need the full bottle. I’d say that 1 ounce should be enough for the whole trail in early September, more earlier in the summer when there are more mosquitoes.