JMT Through hike. Bear Canister capasity 5 day max.

[John B]

Going to hike JMT North to south in August. Last re-supply is Muir Ranch, from there its about 10 days to Mt Whitney. Since bear canisters hold maybe a max of 5 days worth of food what are hikers doing with the extra food that won’t fit into bear canister. NPS requires that we all carry canisters, but are people counter balancing extra food, or are there many fewer bears in the southern part of the JMT. Help what to do.

[Jeff Hester]

Get a bigger bear canister, or pack different food. When we hiked the JMT, we use the old-school Garcia bear canisters and were able to squeeze 9 days of food in them.

It may help to know that you can carry your food that you will consume the remainder of the first day outside of the bear canister (it will be consumed before you go to sleep).

What kind of bear canister do you have, and what kind of food are you planning?

[John B]

Thanks Jeff I have the Bear Vault 500 biggest I could find. I had a short 4 day shake down trip to the Lost Coast last month and could only get 5 days worth of food into it.
I repackaged all I could to reduce weight and bulk. Carrying Instant oatmeal, granola bars, packaged tuna, pasta , instant potatoes,jerky,gorp mix,and a few smalls like salt & spices. Going to have to get creative in packaging and packing.

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