Welcome to the Backpacker Resupply Service at Muir Trail Ranch! We hope the following information answers every question you can think of. We have been doing this since the early 1950s, and think we have been asked every possible question. Here you will find every possible answer.

For the 2010 season we plan to open on Saturday, June 19. This date depends on the snowpack, which we can’t predict yet. Contact us in May for a confirmed date. We will continue to be available for you to pick up your packages until Sunday, September 19, 2010. After that date, any unclaimed packages will be disposed of.

From the north, it is 0.9 miles, 1.4 km; an elevation drop of 600 feet, 183 meters.

From the south, it is 1.5 miles, 2.4 km; an elevation drop of a mere 160 feet, 49 meters.

Put your stuff in a plastic bucket with a tight-fitting lid (5-gallon is most popular, other sizes OK). Why? In the first place, we’re located in the wilderness. We take packages across a lake, sometimes during rainstorms. A cardboard box won’t survive the trip. Buckets are waterproof, reusable and recyclable. Your cache may be hauled in to the ranch on horseback, but likely on a rugged truck that crawls over rocks. In the second place, it’s almost impossible to keep meadow mice out of anything that isn’t just about armor-plated. Plastic keeps them out. As for marauding bears, our stout storage building keeps them at bay. You can get free buckets and lids at a restaurant; they’re used for mayonnaise and such. Home improvement stores have them for sale also. (The bucket can be any color.)
Tape the lid and handle down, too. To make things totally pro, order a free set of labels (see below).

Common carriers don’t allow flammable fluids in packages that travel by air. We strongly suggest you use the US Postal Service. They don’t allow flammables. At the ranch we have white gas and denatured alcohol for sale by the ounce. We carry Camping GAZ screw-on and punch-type iso propane canisters. We also carry Primus brand screw-on iso propane canisters. They are compatible with the following backpacking stoves: GAZ Turbo 270, Jetboil, Primus, Snow Peak and the following MSR stoves—WindPro, Super Fly, Pocket Rocket, and Reactor. They are in stock at all times; you do not need to reserve one. Our prices are reasonable.

The best way is by US Mail. We have found them to be extremely reliable in getting hikers’ buckets to us. We strongly recommend that you use Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. That way you can call a toll-free number or use the Internet to see if your package has arrived at the post office. (You may receive a message saying that delivery was attempted but not successful. Don’t worry. Until we pick up your package, that qualifies as an unsuccessful delivery attempt. If it is at the post office, we’ll pick it up within a week.)
You can also drive to Florence Lake and leave the bucket at the store. Also, you can hike in to the ranch with your bucket, but we don’t recommend that unless you need some hiking practice!

Please send your bucket so it will arrive at the post office about two weeks ahead of your expected pick-up date. When you mail your resupply the post office clerk can give you an estimate of the delivery date.

We will pick up your resupply bucket at the Lakeshore (Huntington Lake) post office and deliver it to the Muir Trail Ranch and hold it for you for $50 per bucket. It should weigh at most 25 pounds (11.3 kg). For additional weight, we charge $2.00 per pound ($4.40 per kg). For options other than mailing the bucket to us, contact us by email for rates.

There are several ways: You can use VISA, MasterCard, American Express or Discover by going to our credit card payment page. Or you can mail a check or money order payable to Muir Trail Ranch when you mail your bucket. Don’t put your payment in the bucket. Outside the United States if it is difficult to obtain a check or money order denominated in US currency, you may use a credit card or cash when you arrive at the ranch.
If you mail payment, send it to:

MTR Resupply
PO Box 176
Lakeshore, CA 93634

We are open seven days a week from 8 AM to 5 PM, holidays included. In fact, even non-holidays and all other days included. We never get a break!

Two weeks (14 days). Unlike some other resupply providers, we do not charge by the day past your estimated date. At the end of our season, we will usually have your resupply buckets available at the ranch well into September, after which they will be shipped out for disposal. We can’t keep your bucket over the winter. We will try to contact you to determine your plans, so please make sure you let us know how to contact you (email is best).

If you have a misfortune, there are several options. You can give your food cache to someone else. Simply give them your claim check* (sign it on the back). You can contact us to have your bucket returned to you. It’s free if you sent it by Priority Mail—no charge at all! Or you can be a nascent philanthropist and donate its contents to our starving hiker bin.

If we have received payment for our service, and your bucket was sent via Priority Mail, we will send the bucket to your United States return address at no charge. Really!
Otherwise, contact us to arrange for a return.

Put your trash in your empty bucket and we’ll send it out with our trash. If you have an old dead fish you caught but didn’t eat, please don’t include it! We ship the buckets to a recycling center after we empty them. (We ask that you separate your trash into recyclables and “other” when leaving it with us.)

Yes. the cost will be determined by the weight and nature of the shipment. There is a $10 handling charge plus postage for a Priority Mail flat rate box. If you are sending out too much for that box, there is a handling charge of $20 plus postage. Inquire while at the ranch.

We rent computer time to hikers, and our satellite connection to the Internet works just about 100% of the time. You will be able to access your email account. No big downloads or uploads, though. We have limited bandwidth and if we go over our allotment, we get punished by suffering 24 hours of dial-up speed!

Yes, tell your correspondents that your address is:

[Your name]
c/o Muir Trail Ranch
PO Box 176
Lakeshore, CA 93634

We have postcards and stamps for sale. Your mail will be sent out the next time there is a trip to Florence Lake.

Nope. The phone number you call for the ranch is at our off-season location in the foothills north of Fresno. It is for reservations and information only. If you need to receive or send a message, email is best. Sometimes you can get a cell phone connection from the high peaks of the Sierra.

No problem. Most of the season we have 24-hour power, 120 volts AC, just like your house has. Bring your charger for your camera, phone, iPod, whatever. No charge for a charge.

You can send all the info regarding your resupply bucket for entry in our database ahead of time. It will make picking up your resupply quick and easy, and make our job easier too. Everybody wins! Email us your name, street address, city, state/province and Zip/postal code. Include your expected pickup date and the Email address we can use to contact you. We will return a PDF file of labels that you can print and use on your bucket (just attach them with clear packaging tape), along with a claim check. You will be pre-entered in our database so when you arrive you can get your stuff pronto!

The main reason for pre-registering is in reaction to what happened on July 22, 2008. We got 150 buckets that day! It was a very long day lasting into the night entering all those buckets in the database, and the possibility of making mistakes in entry was great. This solution will make handling your packages more accurate. Go here for a preview of the label sheet.

Have a memorable, delightful trip!

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