Cooking gear
Stream Crossing
Craig and I hiked the JMT in late August, and most of the streams were low. We were able to rock hop most, but a couple of them required “wet” crossings. Craig, who was wearing more traditional boots, dutifully stopped at stream’s edge, unlaced his boots, took off his socks, and put his boots back on to make the crossing. I was wearing light non-Gore-Tex trail runners, and just walked right on through the stream. On the other side, I took off my shoes and socks, put on dry socks, shook the shoes out a bit and put them on again. After a few minutes of walking my shoes were entirely dry. On the other hand, Craig’s boots were waterlogged and uncomfortable for over an hour. On subsequent hikes, he used trail runners, and liked them much better.
If you hike earlier in the year, be aware that some stream crossings are risky, particularly in the afternoon when snow-melt at higher elevations has them running full and strong. Be very careful when crossing streams.
Again, you have many choices, but the key considerations are weight, convenience and reliability. Minimize weight by using a single pot to cook with and eat from. Most thru-hikers just boil a cup or two of water, add their lentils or whatever, and call it dinner. Eat right out of the cook-pot, and then swirl some water around it when you’re done. Either drink it, or use it to wash the pot. For utensils you’ll only need a spoon or spork, and your pocket knife.
Canister stoves work well, and some are very light-weight. Homemade alcohol stoves are also popular with thru-hikers, and are even lighter. The lightest option is to use Esbit solid fuel tablets. MSR-style white gas stoves, are a bit too heavy and complicated for thru-hiking. Check this site for a huge list of links on lightweight backpacking stoves, and how to make, buy and evaluate them. If you opt for a canister stove, like the Snow Peak Giga-power or MSR Pocket Rocket, be sure to test your total canister burn time and typical meal burn time. That way you’ll know what to expect on the trail. Figure on a 50% extra margin of error, and you should have enough fuel to last between re-supplies.
If you opt for a homemade alcohol stove, be sure to test your stove and stand outdoors. Figure out how much alcohol you’ll need for a typical meal, and how your stove works in windy conditions. Remember, at high altitude, water boils at a lower temperature, but it usually takes longer to get to that point, and windy conditions seriously hamper stove efficiency. Most alcohol stoves are made out of cans; they’re sturdy enough, but don’t step on one, or it’s a goner!
Clothing:
Clothing needs on the JMT are fairly simple. Often temperatures during the day will be warm, so your shirt, shorts and hat should be light, designed for comfort and well ventilated. Synthetic fabrics are best; they dry quickly and are durable. Cotton is cool, but dries very slowly, you should not use it. You’ll need two pair of wool or synthetic socks. Switch socks during the day to give the damp pair a chance to air out and dry. Your feet will thank you. I like mid-weight wool socks, but other hikers like synthetics. You’ll need a hat, or cap. I prefer a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. You’ll also need a light, but warm, outer jacket or vest for cooler night temperatures. Prolite has some nice choices on their site, but you can get by much more cheaply by shopping at Walmart or Sears during the fall when they have insulated underwear on sale. The insulated “tops” are cheap, light and warm. It’s also a good idea to have a “wind-shirt” or shell, outer layer, and a synthetic “base” layer. These items are light and have multiple uses. For instance, you can use your base layer synthetics as “pajamas,” so your sleeping bag will stay cleaner and more comfortable. Your light jacket can be combined with a light-weight sleeping bag on colder nights. Save weight by combining your clothing creatively and not duplicating items except for socks, of course. Check with the forums to get an idea of what others take on summer trips in the Sierras. Remember though, it can get cold and snow even in the summer, so don’t get too sparse!
BikerDave has an extensively linked ultra-light site with lots of comparative information about clothing and other items. The Southwest Ultralight site also has lots of good links.
Thru-hikers have very different opinions about rain-gear for the Sierras. Craig and I took Wild Things jackets made of “Epic” material. These jackets shed light rain, and make great light-weight wind shells, but as we found out, they are not designed to stand up to heavy rain and wind. Still, I’d recommend them as a good shell/utility layer. Serious thru-hikers generally do not carry Gore-Tex raingear. It’s comparatively heavy, and is not “breathable” enough to dissipate body moisture generated by hard hiking. Some use sil-nylon ponchos that cover yourself and your pack. Extreme ultra-lighters also use these as shelters.
Footwear:
Your feet to need to carry you over 200 plus rugged miles of trail. Some hikers feel that serious hiking boots are required, while others opt for light-weight trail-runners. Many experienced thru-hikers go the light-weight route. Whatever you decide, use your footwear on a couple of test hikes—real ones where you put in heavy miles with a full pack. You’ve heard it before, but never take new or unfamiliar footwear on a serious hike. Altrec has a big selection of trail-runners. New Balance trail shoes are popular among many hikers, and unlike most brands, they come in varying widths.
I used Solomon trail runners—a now discontinued model, and liked them fairly well. They were well-ventilated, and had excellent traction. This type of shoe also dries quickly, and makes stream-fording a breeze. Gore-Tex shoes or boots have a big disadvantage. When they get wet, and they will, they take a long time to dry out. This can be very hard on your feet. See the sidebar!
Will you need camp shoes? Probably not, although some hikers take light sandals for this purpose. Frankly, by the time you stop for camp, your feet will be very tired, and a change of footgear can be nice. It’s just too much extra weight for most though.
The Ten Essentials