I did so much research while I was planning my John Muir Trail thru-hike. All the articles, blogs and forums I scoured talked about the things one must bring, how to pack it all, what to eat and how fast (or slow) to hike. Not one of them mentioned how much it really costs to take such an epic trip. So the accountant in me decided to try to put a reasonable cost on the hiking the JMT.

If you are going to put all the required effort into training and planning for this amazing hike, you ought to also put some thought into budgeting for it as well, as hiking through the woods is not as cheap as one might hope.

For this examination of costs related to hiking the JMT, I am assuming a 3 week hike (21 days), as that is the commonly reported average and is in line with what my plan was for my 2018 hike.

The main costs associated with a long thru-hike like the John Muir Trail can be broken down into 4 categories: Gear, Consumables, Permits and Transportation.

Lets assume you already have all the necessary gear to hike the JMT. If you don't, the costs of purchasing the necessary equipment can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand depending on your needs and wants. As this figure is so dependent on what a person already has and the amount and quality of gear they deem appropriate for their own hike, I will pass on putting an average number on this category of costs.

I will try to put a reasonable cost on the other three categories using my personal costs as a rough estimate. I will assume I am a somewhat average representation of the typical 21 day JMT hiker. This budget does not take into account one's opportunity costs related to hiking in the woods for 3 weeks versus working at your job, nor any other indirect costs. So for now I will repress my Economist mind and stick to the direct cash costs.

Consumables

Consumables are mostly the food and fuel you are going to use during your JMT hike.

Food

My food costs ended up being about $23 per day. I ate a prepackaged freeze-dried meal for most breakfasts ($7) and dinners ($8). Costs for these meals could probably be cut nearly in half if you made your own compact meals out of individual ingredients. I wanted something that I knew was going to be tasty and highly caloric, so I stuck with the Backpacker's Pantry and Mountain House meals. Being out by myself for 3 weeks, I did not want to torpedo my trip with some ill-advised homemade concoctions to save a few bucks a day.

For lunch I ate a tortilla, cheese, summer sausage and mustard wrap just about every day. This came out to about $3 per day. Lastly, I peppered my hike with the following mix of snacks each and every day: 1/2 cup of almonds, a Lara Bar, a pouch of Pop Tarts, a Clif Bar and 1/2 cup of Peanut M&Ms. These five snacks averaged out to about $5 per day as I bought them in bulk from Amazon.

Food costs will be higher if you eat at Red's Meadow or VVR, which you will most likely want to do as the foods are delicious and a social meal or two is welcomed after a few long days in the wild. You should factor in an extra $10-$25 per resort day depending on how fancy your meals get and how many beers you plan to drink.

This means your total food costs will come out to about $500 per person! ($23 per day times 21 days is $483 plus a bit extra for luxury items at your resupply stops or your post hike celebration meal)

Total so far: $500-ish

Fuel

Over 21 days you will need roughly two 100g fuel canisters (about $5 each) if you have a Jetboil type set up (I use the MiniMo and LOVE it!) and are only boiling water for two backpacker meals per day. If you are making many hot drinks, boiling water to purify it or making additional heated meals, then you should bring an extra canister. Total fuel costs should run $10-$20 per person depending on where you buy the cans and if you use 2 or 3 throughout the trip.

• I would plan on 3 small canisters as it would really be a bummer to run out of fuel and not have a hot meal or favorite hot drink after a long day of hiking!

Total so far: $515-ish

Permits / Food Shipments

Permits

Everyone complains about the permits for the JMT, but they are vital to protecting and managing the trail as the number of hikers has skyrocketed that last few years.

I got a permit out of Yosemite National Park, from Tuolumne Meadows SOBO. The Permit only costs $5 if you get a first come first serve permit from the ranger station (and it includes a free poop kit for Whitney!). If you apply for a permit through the Lottery System, it will set you back an extra $5.

If you are getting a permit from Whitney Portal NOBO it costs $10 to enter the lottery plus $15 if you win.

If you get a permit from another trailhead it should cost $5, inline with the Yosemite permit.

In addition to the actual permit, you will most likely need to stay one night in a Yosemite backpackers camp on either the front or backend of your trip, which I will just put in this section: $6 for one night in the Yosemite backpacker's camp

Total Permit Costs = $11-$31

Total so far: $525-ish

Food Resupply

I decided to include food resupply costs in the permit category because of all the darn paper-work involved.

I think the most common JMT thru-hike plans involve at least 3 resupplies: Tuolumne Meadows, Red's Meadow and Muir Trail Ranch. Many people stop at VVR also, because it is awesome!, but this is not a necessary resupply from either direction as both Red's Meadows and MTR are both only a couple days away.

If you are hiking on a 21 day-ish pace then there is a 10 or so day gap between Whitney and MTR. This can be a rough haul as that is about 20 pounds of food and all that food does not fit into one normal bear canister. The alternatives are a 2+ day excursion out through Onion Valley to resupply (extra days and a somewhat hard hike) or hire a mule team to bring in supplies (expensive, especially if hiking alone or as a pair ~$500, which means you better be wealthy or have a group to split it with) or have a really good friend or family member hike in supplies through Onion Valley and meet you on the trail. (Good luck finding someone that awesome...)

Costs Assuming 3 Resupplies:

Muir Trail Ranch:

• $80 for them to pickup, haul and store your bucket at the ranch
• $25+ to ship your bucket there. (it cost me about $23 to ship from Southern California)

Total - $105+ for MTR

Red's Meadow:

• $40 for them to pickup, haul and store your bucket at the store
• $20+ to ship your package there. (it cost me about $20 to ship from Southern California)

Total - $60+ for Red's

Tuolumne Meadows:

• $20+ to ship you package there, they hold for free as it is a post office. If you are starting in Yosemite and heading SOBO or shuttling your car, then you can drop off your package there before heading to the valley to save your $20 bucks.

Total basic Food Supply costs: $185 plus

Total Costs So Far: $710-ish

Transportation

The John Muir Trail runs through some of the most pristine, remote and beautiful wilderness in California. The downside to this, is that the trail is not particularly close to where most people who hike the JMT live. That means you have to travel quite a distance get to the trail head and then find a way to get back after you are done!

Since I live in California, I was able to drive to Yosemite with the plan of leaving my car there, hiking south and taking public transportation back to Yosemite when I finished. No matter where you are coming from or which direction you are hiking the trail, you will need to at least get from the ending trail head back to where you started.

The drive from Santa Barbara to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite is about 740 miles round trip. Fuel cost per mile of driving is roughly 12 cents for my 2014 Mazda 6, with gas prices around $3.50 in California. So this means it cost me about $90 to drive to and from the trail. Some people may drive significantly more or less or drive a terribly inefficient vehicle, but I think this figure is a decent baseline. (The real cost of driving a car you own is estimated at about 60 cents per mile which would put the cost around $450, but those are mostly indirect costs so they are not included for this calculation.)

Now to get between the trail heads I highly recommend public transportation. If you take a mix of YARTS and Eastern Sierra Transit one way between Whitney and Yosemite in either direction it will cost you about $25.

Obviously travel costs on top of this can vary a ton depending on where you live, but just remember to set aside at least $25 at the end of your trip so that you can get back to your starting trailhead if you need to! Also if you end up having to bail part way through, as I have done twice now, you will need some additional cash to pay for whatever van, bus, train or other ride you need to get back to your car, the airport or your home from whatever middle of nowhere escape point you picked. This will definitely cost more that $25! I carried $100 in various cash bills with me while hiking, along with a credit card, to pay for random necessary cash expenses, like bus rides and campsites.

Total estimated travel costs: about $115 ($90 driving plus $25 public transport)

Rough Estimate Conclusion

The cost of hiking the John Muir Trail will vary immensely depending on so many personal factors. This article is not meant to be a definitive guide to your JMT budget, but is meant to put the idea of budgeting for the JMT into your head and have it be one part of your planning.

Assuming you are hiking alone, live pretty close to the trail, have all the gear you need and want to eat pretty well; you can expect to shell out at least $825 to hike the JMT. In all honesty you should probably expect to spend closer to $1,200+ including additional travel costs (many people have to fly to California first), extra food prep items, and the various additional equipment you will need for the JMT versus your regular weekend backpacking trips (like a bear canister, new boots, a water purification system or a poop-hole shovel!).

While all this money talk might seem a bit discouraging as $825 to over $1,200 is quite a chunk of change to save up for a long hike, remember that the JMT is totally worth it! The memories I made on the trail during both my attempts were truly priceless!

(enduring a random thunder / hail / rain storm)

Plus the views!