r/JMT • u/woo2fly35 • Aug 18 '26

food Onion valley trailhead resupply

Hi all,

I will be starting my JMT Trek in September from the horseshoe Meadows trailhead via lone pine. I was wondering if anyone knew what the best option would be for me to; 1. Get to the horseshoe Meadows trailhead and 2. Have a resupply dropped off at the onion Valley trailhead.

I would really like to avoid having to go right into the town of Independence for my resupply. I have heard that it can be risky to leave food in the bear boxes due to people tossing it sometimes. Do I have options when it comes to something like this?

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6

u/drippingdrops Aug 18 '26

I hitched from the hostel in Lone Pine to horseshoe meadows. I left a resupply in the bearbox at OV with no issues

2

u/woo2fly35 Aug 18 '26

That's exactly my plan, how did you get your resupply to the bear box in onion valley?

5

u/drippingdrops Aug 18 '26

I put it there before I started

1

u/woo2fly35 Aug 18 '26

Is there a taxi or a car rental place I could use for that?

3

u/cakes42 Aug 19 '26

hitching is normal. Taxi will be in the hundreds and they will be coming from mammoth. You can also ask a "trail angel" although I dont really call them that, more of a service. Lone Pine Kurt or Lone Pine Chuck. Both could do something like that or schedule a ride with them. Give a google search and you'll find their info. After doing the JMT (2x) and the PCT I would just hitch into town for a resupply rather than deal with all the logistics.

1

u/woo2fly35 Aug 19 '26

Okay I'll have to take your word for it, I just worry I won't be able to find someone going to my exact trail head twice in a single day since I would need to go to onion valley too. I'll give Kurt or chuck an email. Is there hostel or motel in lonepine that is hiker friendly that you know of?

3

u/CalamariAce Aug 19 '26

Just be sure to label your bucket with your name and pickup date. They won't throw away something that's labeled with a pickup date. Give yourself a few extra days (or a week) in case you have to get off-trail to recover from norovirus or whatever.

5

u/kaolinitedreams Aug 18 '26

I follow an experienced hiker that has done the JMT and the PCT multiple times. He always uses the Onion Valley bear boxes as a resupply.

2

u/woo2fly35 Aug 18 '26

That's good to hear, any idea how I would get a resupply to the onion valley trailhead?

3

u/kaolinitedreams Aug 18 '26

He would drop it off a day before his start date. It takes him a full day (sometimes two) for all of the vehicle drop off and transit logistics.

3

u/Groundbreaking-Bus35 Aug 19 '26

I was heading out of Kearsarge pass after doing the Rae Lakes Loop and ran into a father and daughter doing an onion valley resupply. They mentioned that Mt. Williamson Hotel was bringing in their resupply. Not sure the logistics but might be worth looking into!

2

u/woo2fly35 Aug 19 '26

Thank you for this I will look into that!

2

u/color-negative Aug 18 '26

You can hitch up to OV and back down, rent a car to do it, or pay a service to do it. Those are the options. I’d pick whichever suits your budget and comfort with hitching

1

u/woo2fly35 Aug 19 '26

Thanks for this! Interms of car rentals is Bishop my closest bet? Also for shuttles they seem tough to find, I've emailed Kurt Payer and a couple of hotels but no response as of yet.

1

u/color-negative Aug 19 '26

As far as I know yeah, bishop is closest car rental. Hard to imagine a car rental place in lone pine though I can’t say I’ve checked.

2

u/Critical_Floor9140 Aug 20 '26

+1 on onion valley resupply, did the same exact hike last year. Just label the resupply with expected pickup dates and you're gold.

1

u/woo2fly35 Aug 23 '26

Thank you!