[pct-l] fuel canisters for JMT. How many?

[m.karon at attbi.com (Marshall Karon)]

Missing the section between Crabtree and Kearsage: Well, you are missing the
highest pass on the PCT, and a spectacular one at that. June 9th seems much
too early to be there, to me, but good luck. I expect post holing will be
the rule and you will not do too many miles per day in some sections.

Regarding how long the fuel lasts, well that depends on how many meals/days
you plan to be out. If it is cold, you may want to also cook breakfast, have
hot drinks, and a hot meal. And that will take more fuel. I conserved fuel
by putting in less water than the meals called for (but enough to absorb all
the water) and then added extra cold water to cool things down and soak.
Worked fine.

When I did the trail (in late June/July), I used a small canister (110g) to
cook one meal per day. That lasted 7 days. So, if you double what I did, you
would need 1 large canister for 7 days. You might want to get some small
canisters and take a large and small. Also, I suspect that heating 2 cups of
water does not take double the fuel as heating one cup, so I think two
people cooking together might use a bit less fuel.

So, I think what you were thinking about is over doing it, unless you plan
to spend several days in one place. At 15 miles/day @ 7 days/large canister:
   Horseshoe to Whitney Portal - 40 miles - 3 days - 1 small canister
   Kearsage to VVR - 95 miles - 7 days - 1 large canister
   VVR to Tuolumne - 60 miles - 4 days - 1 large canister
   Tuolumne to Happy Isles - 22 miles - 2 days - 1 small canister

To play safe, I would probably add a small canister as backup. If I were
really concerned, I would add 2 small canisters.

Marshall Karon
Portland, OR
m.karon@attbi.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Nathan Goldfarb" <natgold@ufl.edu>
To: " pct-l" <" pct-l"@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2003 4:09 PM
Subject: [pct-l] fuel canisters for JMT. How many?


> Hi Fellow walkers-
>
> I'm very glad the board is up and running again!  Thanks.
>
> I have a fuel question for our JMT hike which starts at Horseshoe
> Meadows on June 9!!! So soon YIIIPPPPIEEE.
>
> I'm using a Gigapower and have the big fuel canisters (220g).  How many
> should I carry at once?  I cook the standard Lipton dinners, raman
> noodles, etc.  and boil water for 1 or  2 cups of tea or hot choc. per
day.
>
> I've broken the trip into the following:
>
> Horseshoe Meadows to Whitney Portal  ~35 - 40 miles----  1 canister?
> <we're skipping Crabtree to Kearsarge Pass (25 miles) b/c we have to
> walk our friend out to Whitney portal. He can't do the whole trip so he
> is stopping there.  And, I can't let him walk out alone.  He will take
> us by car to Independence to the Kearsarge Pass trailhead.  Skipping
> Forrester Pass might be good this time of year, anyway.  Any comments on
> this part of the trail we are missing?  I figure we'd make up for it by
> seeing something not on the JMT like the Onion Valley/Kearsarge Trail
> and the Cottonwood Pass trail where we start.>  Who ever said you have
> to be a purist?
>
> Kearsarge Pass Trail to JMT to VVR ~ 95 miles---- 2 canisters?
> VVR to Tuolumne ~ 60 miles----2 canisters to get from VVR to Happy
Isles????
> Tuolumne to Happy Isles ~ 22 mi
>
> Oh, my wife is on the trip too.  So we will double the above numbers of
> canisters each carrying our own ;)  She always accuses me of dishing off
> weight on her. ha ha ha. Not true really, IMO.  For some reason she
> still goes backpacking with me.
>
> Thanks for the help,
> Nate
>
> _______________________________________________
> pct-l mailing list
> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l