This isn't a website telling you what we bought...
We simply purchased what we thought suited us and our pocket. Most stuff came from REI or Amazon (not that we like Amazon but the convenience was very hard to ignore in our time frame).
We aren’t recommending anything (except SherpaMax), all the stuff we bought worked for us.
Native Americans lived in this country for generations without titanium sporks etc etc etc
Having no friends who walk/hike we did not know if it was the right equipment, but we didn’t perish on the trail because of any equipment failures.
We did make sure that our boots were worn in and we pitched the new tent before we started. All the rest of what we brought was field tested on the JMT...
But we will never eat dehydrated food or Cliff bars again………..Ever
Food is a big deal...
And I think Dad (who agrees) messed up. Dad planned for 3 meals a day when 2 would have been optimum.
We rarely ate breakfast, BigSis and LilSis lived off snack bars and water. Mum and Dad had a couple of cups of coffee and maybe a snack bar occasionally, its amazing how much we lost our appetite.
Buying the dehydrated meals in bulk and vacuum sealing them yourself saved us approximately 30-40%. Which is a considerable saving when you think of lunch and dinner for 4 people over three weeks as well as emergency extras.
With hindsight, savoury snacks at lunch would have been better for towards the end of the hike. At the beginning our bodies were sucking in as many calories as possible/filling our stomachs. Even after a week or so, our stomachs seemed to have shrunk and our bodies became used to the physical exertions. At the beginning it took an adult portion to fill us up (LilSis would demolish an adult portion) whereas towards the second half of our hike we would need only three portions between the four of us, at the most. And our rations were split in two person servings.
However Mum and Dad's appetite for a hot cup of coffee in the morning never wavered, thank goodness for single serving sachets.
Again, towards the second half of the hike we all could have personally polished off a bag of jerky for lunch and then a meal in the evening. And we all have a sweet tooth but didn't have any sugar cravings at all, but could have demolished a salt lick.
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Muir Trail Ranch...
The food was out of this world and plentiful.
Now the naysayers of this world will say that anything home cooked after dehydrated meals would be amazing (well the food at Reds Meadow sucked, however Dad's 40 oz can of Tecate was awesome). The meals provided at Muir Trail Ranch were simply delicious. No-one questioned how they got that amount of fresh produce delivered and we were happy not knowing. Fresh bread in the mornings and subtle salad dressings we remember distinctly.
Tools are only as good as the user....
Would a Papa Hubba tent work for you ?
Or how about an Osprey Ariel 65 back pack ?
What was used by Native Americans and then the settlers who came after, both of whom lived in what we now call the wilderness, served them well for generations. Almost everything we can buy today I assume, is far superior to what our predecessors had back in the day.
There is a bewildering amount on offer, and I suspect all equally as good as each other.
So there is no need to list what we had, each piece of equipment far exceeded our usage...
But the GPS Messenger sure made us feel safer......
