: : : : Backpacker services : : : :
Since the Muir Trail Ranch is located at the halfway mark along the John Muir Trail, it’s the ideal place for resupplying during your hike. Since the early 1950s, we have been providing the same reliable service to backpackers: Send your resupply cache and we’ll guard it with our lives (well, almost). We know how important it is to have a reliable cache service, so we take extra care.River flows through narrow gorge.

Also, if you forget to pack some essentials like matches, batteries or the like, we have a small store where you can buy necessities. You can also buy postcards of the area, or maybe even a souvenir T-shirt or cap.

If you’re coming in to pick up a food cache, we can pick up letters sent to you in care of the ranch so your friends can keep in touch with you during your hike. If you have mail to send out, we can do it for you.

For the latest weather, here’s a link to recent satellite images of the area. We are located in the center of the image, which is very near real time, so check it out during daylight hours, Pacific time or it will just be black as night. For a local forecast, here are two Weather Channel links, one for nearby Mono Hot Springs weather and one for Bishop weather, on the other side of the mountain from us. Between the two, you can interpret as best you can what’s going to happen Thunderhead in Paiute Canyonwhere you are.

 As usual, mail your food caches early and be assured they’ll be waiting for you when you arrive. You might want to use the tracking service offered by the Post Office. It’s inexpensive, and you can check on the delivery status of your package via the Internet or from any phone using a toll-free 800 number.

Many of you enjoyed the service that we inaugurated in early September of ’98 – the Short Stay. We offer a night’s stay in a cabin, use of the magnificent enclosed hot spring baths, a dinner made of REAL FOOD cooked by someone other than yourself, a hearty breakfast and a sack lunch for the trail. One hiker wrote to us after completing his JMT hike, saying that “the last seven days were the BEST” after having recharged at the ranch. We offer Short Stays starting in June and then sometimes in August and September. We may be able to offer overnight stays at other times also. Contact us to see what dates are available, since they change as the season progresses.



moon phases