Shenandoah Packraft Video

So I rolled some GoPro footage while doing the Shenandoah packraft last weekend.  I'll have to figure out a better mount on my PFD next time.  It was a pain and needed constant adjusting.  Fun to put together, nonetheless!

Packrafting the Shenandoah

While I have done day hikes with my packraft, this was my first official backpacking-packraft trip.  It was also a first for DCUL!

Trip Report - Shenandoah, 27 miles of hiking and paddling.

This trip, seemingly simple on paper, took quite a bit of planning! Sorting out a route, agonizing over water levels, and finding packrafts took some doing. No one on the east coast rents out packrafts, but after some hunting I found some places that would ship them to us at a fairly reasonable cost. Matt at Back Country Packrafts was very helpful in getting that sorted out. We had some last minute dropouts due to life happening, so miraculously, we had too many packrafts!

Glad it was finally time to tackle this new challenge, Hua, Sudip and I left my place Saturday morning to meet Nick and Melissa at the Vienna metro stop. There, we ran into Kylie and Karan. We tried to recruit them - but they were dedicated to their trail magic mission and couldn't be swayed to use our two extra rafts.

We made it to the the Bentonville boat-launch parking right next to the shiny new 613 bridge within 5 minutes of Dave. Excellent timing! We had a multi-generational gathering of Subarus between us with our three silver Foresters. With the team assembled, we set out on the blue blazed Tuscarora Trail with our packraft laden packs. Climbing to the Massauntten Trail with an extra 20 lbs of rafts and water in 90 degree with 100% humidity? Who's idea was this anyway?

We were quickly soaked, but achieved the ridgeline in good time. A large group of teenagers we had passed at the trailhead caught up to us as we took a regroup-break, bound for Milford gap and a canoe put in. They seemed to have a vastly inadequate water supply to Dave and I.

After the break, we set out south following the familiar oranges blazes of the MT. We took another break for a late lunch 4 miles later at Milford Gap. The wondrous power of Permethrin was discussed as we watched ticks die on our pants. I was a little concerned when Sudip didn't show up here, but figured he had stopped for a break himself. Rather than sitting around getting thirsty, we trudged on.

Another 4 miles on, we reached the Habron Gap trail. I waited at the intersection while the others descended a few hundred feet to a roomy site with a fire ring but no water. Just minutes later, I got a text from Sudip; he had a severe headache and was going to take a break. I was a bit worried, but he had plenty of water and rest was the right course of action. I told him to text again when he got moving or if the headache got worse, then headed for camp myself.

It was only four o'clock. Pretty early to camp for DCUL! And pretty good time considering the heat and weight of our packs. Especially since we had killed a couple of hours in downtime on the ridge. We were all pretty spent despite the low miles.

Having burned through the 4-5 liters we had each carried in, Dave, Melissa and Nick walked downhill to fetch water after making camp. A few minutes later, a small black bear wandered into camp looking for berries. I gave him quite a start when I stood up to try and get a camera phone shot. He bounded up the slope in a panic. If you can believe it, that was the first Black Bear I’ve seen in the wild! Shortly after, Hua declared it was "too hot for fire!" and retired for a nap. That should give everyone who knows her an idea of the conditions.

No message from Sudip yet. I was getting worried and decided to backtrack. It was awfully hot. The conditions were right for heat exhaustion. Not long after I got a text that he was a mile from Habron Gap and his headache was worse.

We ran into each other exactly a mile back, I went into WFA mode. I decided electrolytes and pain killers were the thing. A couple of Mountain Berry Shot Bloks (these things are a miracle of nature) and a tylenol were deployed, then we kept going at a slow pace. Back at camp, the team had returned after a successful water hunt and slogging the 1.5 miles or so back up the mountain. I was immensely grateful!

Eventually temps dropped enough to make a fire tolerable, Nick and I got a one going so we could roast some dinner. Supid’s symptoms abated, thankfully. After some fireside chatting while Hua slept, a light rain started. It was just about backpacker midnight anyway so we all retired to our shelters. As I tried to fall asleep, some creature (I guessed a pissed off turkey) starting screaming.

The night didn’t cool off much. I couldn’t stand to have my underquilt touch me, and barely used my silk bag liner, as thin as it was. Dave, also hammocking, barely used his quilts at all. Melissa and Sudip complained of sticking to their pads!

We were up at sunrise, quickly broke camp and descended to tank up and snack at the water source near the bottom. Then cruised through the last half mile to the boat launch at Fosters Landing. We spent maybe 30 minutes getting our boats inflated, and packs strapped on. Then off we went!

The water flow was slow, but actually a little faster than I feared it might be. We bounced through easy rapids, and paddled hard across the still sections of flat water. Occasionally the bottom of our Alpackas scrapped over the bottom, and every once in a while one of us would pick a bad line and end up stuck atop a rock while navigating the faster moving water. We always bounced our way off though! The maneuvers became easier as we made our way downstream.

The heat wasn’t so bad here on the river, and we made decent time. It just took more paddling then we would have liked. We passed countless people in canoes, kayaks, and a few larger rafts. In the slower portions were throngs of people, and of course clusters of tubes full of sunburned drunks. But fortunately most sections were quiet so we could enjoy the scenery.

Our one heart pounding challenge came around half way when we came upon the one and only Class II rapid of the route. Dave, Nick and I were discussing the merits of scouting when Melissa who was slightly ahead of us charged right through!

I switched on my GoPro and followed. I cleared the first, seemingly trickiest part with no problem. But on the back half, I slide into a funnel. Here I realized where the evolution of the newer Alpacka’s tails had come from - my stern got pushed up, and with no back stability I flipped right over. Somehow I held onto my raft and paddle as I drifted by an ongoing Swift-Water rescue class, much to their amusement. The rest of the team made it through like champs. We eddied out for a few minutes to make sure everyone was in one piece, and to dump water from our boats.

More flat water, interspersed with small rapids. We tried to stick to the faster current when the river divided around small islands. We snacked and drank during the slow bits. The last couple of challenges were some drops of 1-2 feet. Dave, Melissa, Nick and I thought we had done well after clearing the final one, when we looked back to see Hua run through it sideways-on - eliciting cheers from a family swimming nearby. As we rounded the next bend, I turned around to watch Sudip clear this last hurdle with ease. We had just a few more river-bends to navigate to our take-out point.

I think we were all grateful when the beautiful 613 bridge came into view! Our arms and shoulders were spent, and hands were getting pruny. Some sunburn had set in. We weaved our way through a throng of swimmers and other paddlers landing their boats, and were glad to disembark and stretch our legs. It was 2:15pm - 17 miles in 6 hours! Not bad at all I thought.

At this point things got interesting. Sudip somehow went into stealth mode and slipped by the boat launch in the narrow window as we carried our boats up the ramp. When 3pm rolled around, and the drunken-tubers we had passed an hour ago started rolling in, I was worried, and perplexed. Dave suggested he might have passed us. I didn’t think it was possible, so hopped in my car to scour upriver with Hua. After my first run turned up nothing, Dave headed downriver to check the other takeouts. Melissa and Hua stayed on station at the bridge. I headed back south with Nick to check upriver again.

After turning up nothing, we got back to the bridge slightly after 4pm. Still no Sudip. Dave had turned up nothing, but was on station further down at another take-out to make sure we couldn’t miss him. I was grasping at straws and still wasn’t convinced he had gotten by us. I interrogated paddlers as they landed their boats. No one had seen a solo paddler. But I didn’t put a lot of stock in any of the intel I received. They all seemed perplexed by our packraft descriptions. I told myself at 4:15 I would call search and rescue. 5 minutes before my deadline Melissa luckily checked Meetup, and sure enough Sudip had posted a comment! He was indeed downriver, at the Shenandoah canoe launch. I hastily piled everyone into the cars, and we raced there.

We located the launch - but Sudip was nowhere in sight. I was stumped, and not sure how to proceed at this point. By some chance, a woman stopped and asked us if we were looking for a guy with a packraft. “YES!”, we exclaimed. Turns out his phone was dead, and he had borrowed hers to post on Meetup. She told us, he had gotten back on the river and headed to the next take-out, another 7 miles away. Astounded, we got back in the cars and drove there.

Dave was already on station here, having kept a watchful eye on the river for over an hour. Confident we were at last ahead of him, I cut everyone else loose at 5. Hua stayed with me. We questioned more paddlers as they arrived, and gave a family a jump start while we waited. No one remember seeing a packraft...but I had zero faith in any eye-witness testimony at this point.

Around 6:30, Hua cried “I see him!”. Hallelujah! She waded out into the water to wave him over, yelling, “You paddled 27 miles!”. Sudip came ashore, looking utterly spent. I put a bottle of water in his hand, then we bundled up his gear, and hit the road.

Thanks to everyone for participating in The Search for Sudip (screen play in the works). This was a ton of fun! It was a pleasure sharing the river with you all. The heat was a challenge, and we had to work a lot harder on the river paddling then was entirely pleasant. But I hope it was a good learning experience, and leads to future packraft trips!

I also put together a video, which you can see here.

You can check out the trip over at dculbackpacking.com

Maine Hut to Hut 2015!

This Valentine's Day weekend we returned to Maine for another hut to hut x-country ski adventure.  You can check out the write up here:

http://www.meetup.com/DC-UL-Backpacking/messages/boards/thread/48742939/

Adirondack High Peaks - Winter edition!

Adirondack High Peaks - January 2015 - Algonquin, Marcy, Skylight with DCUL Backpacking.

GQ put this trip together, but sadly had to fly out of town for work. B.A. and I stepped in to take care of his light work. We met Beastmode at the Dorsey Marc station then started the long slog north. After the required traffic snafu’s and a navigational faux pax we rolled into the Cascade Inn after midnight. The Look had already arrived and moved in. Temps were below zero!

We grabbed a few hours sleep, packed our gear, and headed out for the trailhead close to 7am Saturday morning. Are we drove around the Loj overnight parking looking for U-turn’s team’s rental van, they rolled by in front of us! So much for our 6am starts!

We suited up, strapped on our packs and snowshoes, and headed off into the minus 17 degree morning. Now, who would appear at this moment? None other than Blue Blazes! She snapped some pics of us before heading off to bag some peaks herself.

After signing in at the trailhead, we headed off towards Marcy Dam with U-Turn, Shuttle, Prius, and Superman. Despite the negative temps, the weather was clear with little wind. We cruised along, quite toasty in our layers and shells.

We trekked directly across the frozen lake, and then Team 1 split off and followed the blue trail markers to Feldspar where they would make camp. We took the yellow markers towards Avalanche Pass and Lake Colden. We were soon sweating and had to shed layers as we climbed. The trail was well packed and pretty easy snowshoeing, but we labored with our massive winter loads.

After clearing Avalanche pass (which was littered with very cool frozen water flows and rock formations), we charged directly across Avalanche lake. The ice was firm - covered with several inches of snow, with some drifts that were knee deep. We heard a few pops as we cruised through the awesome scenery. In between Avalanche and Colden lakes, we ran into a Forestry Ranger. He gave us some summit intel for Algonquin - wind speeds of 40 mph!

We blazed a trail across lake Colden and claimed the familiar shelter at Beaver Point. Happily, we emptied all our heavy gear into the lean-to and had lunch. Around 12:30pm we headed west to bag Algonquin. It was stiff climbing. Karan struggled with the snowshoes I had loaned him, which really weren’t meant for this terrain. I huffed and struggled with the ascent - with nothing to blame it on but Christmas cookies. After snagging my ice axe in branches for the 20th time, I took it off my pack and stowed my poles. I also switched to Hillsounds as I was tired of tangling my snowshoes in the scrambly path. Eventually I caught up to John, Joffrey and Karan just below treeline. Time to layer up!

The climb to the peak was exhilarating. Our crampons dug into the iced over slab well, and we made quick time to the summit. The wind was indeed blasting - 30 mph certainly with gusts up to maybe 50 mph. We had a short shouted celebration at the top, got some photos and videos - then headed back down into the face of the wind.

With daylight running out, we decided against going after Iroquois which would have guaranteed finishing hours after dark. At a stream crossing, we chopping through the ice to access some unfrozen water and tanked up. We made it back to our lean-to just has full darkness set in. The next few hours was spent boiling water and making dinner - then we turned in to get a solid 12 hours of sleep!

The next morning we took our time having breakfast and getting ready for the day. We hit the trail around 9 am. We crossed Colden Dam, then starting the climb up to Lake Tear. It took around 3 hours, and we were all soaked with sweat and had to strip down. It was already above 20 degrees! T-shirt weather! We had second breakfast at Four Corners, ditched our snowshoes, and started the ascent to Marcy in our crampons.



Karan and John set a blistering pace up the ice covered rock - despite the gusting winds I was sweating through my base layers. The summit was reached in no time at all - where the wind was just short of blowing us off the table-top peak. The clouds swirled around us, and we occasionally had clear windows at the surrounding peaks and valleys. We took shelter for a few minutes in the lee of the summit. With another incredible climb of Marcy done, we snapped photos, about-faced and cruised back down.

After returning to Four Corners, we knocked out Skylight to the south in short order. The summit was totally socked in. With no views to enjoy, Beastmode and The Look banged out some summit push-ups, then we descended. We cruised back down towards the lakes, and ran into some familiar fellows at the turn to Feldspar! Matt and Kevin reported Jen’s injury, and that she and Michael were off the trail. We imagined they were enjoying a hot tub and football in Lake Placid.

Prius and Superman had gone into full epic mode, banging out a score of peaks that day! After chatting for a few, we finished our walk back to Lake Colden as darkness fell once again. This night was almost balmy, and we all roasted in our heavy winter bags as temps stayed in the 20’s. At one point in the night we were disturbed by snow blowing into our shelter - and did some quick scrambling to keep our gear dry.

In the morning, we retraced our steps back across the lakes - blazing a new path as fresh snow was coming down. The warm weather forced us to strip down to base layers as we crushed the 6 miles back to the Loj where Michael and Jen awaited us with coffee and donuts! After the requisite stop at Noon Mark for breakfast/lunch - we started the long return drive home.

Thanks to both teams for a great weekend! The ADK’s never get old. It's always tough climbing, but we had a strong group with no fear of arctic conditions. Kudos to all!

Four State Challenge

In a fit of madness, I signed up for DCUL's Four State Challenge this last October. For those unfamiliar, this is a challenge some AT thru-hikers undertake.

Essentially, you wake up super early at the Virginia border (or the PA border if you are headed southbound), cross into WV, and then plow through 40 plus miles of the AT through Maryland until you get to the Pennsylvania border at Pen Mar Park. Total mileage, 44ish. In one day.

DCUL'S way of doing is to backpack in to to the Harper's Ferry area, and do it as a section hike. Not a day hike or trail run. We camp out on both ends and have no support. Last year was the first year for this one, but I missed it for another trip. Sadly, I wasn't in the shape I was last year - but I was still optimistic I could finish.

This was a proper challenge, testing mental and physical endurance. I was mentally prepared to blast it out, but had no idea what would happen to my body past 30 miles - uncharted territory.

As is typical, we arrived in the rain, and had a cold, dark, foggy walk to Loudan Heights from Harpers Ferry.  We had 11 crazy backpackers attempted the challenge this year.  Once over the Virginia line, we made camp, then had a celebratory cake for U-turn's birthday.  We all turned in around 9:30ish.  I had a wet night, my new SoloMidXL needed some seem sealing!  I've been to used to Cuben shelters and forgot about properly prepping the sil nylon seams.  I didn't get much sleep, and was up and breaking camp at 2:30 to get on the trail at 3:00am on the dot.

After separating from the pack just after Harper's Ferry, EZBake, Faceplant, Beastmode and I blasted along the canal, and then Dave led us up the first climb in the rolling fog. After taking advantage of a rest stop, the sun was up and I stretched my legs - Kylie and Joffrey quickly caught up. We would hike together, swapping the lead until the very end - walking between a 3.5 and 4 mph pace. We banged out 20 miles by 9am, then took a long brunch break at the Washington Monument. Dave caught us up and continued on. We leaped frogged him again, then crushed the miles to I-70 and the sign-in sheet at Jen's car just before 11:30. We ran into Dave again just after this, he realized he had missed the turn for the parking lot and doubled back. Somewhere around Annapolis rocks we encountered a lethargic copperhead snake attempting to sun himself.

We all still felt pretty good at this point - though it seemed like I was crawling up the hills. I blamed it on crappy sleep, or maybe I wasn't quite over the cold I brought back from Arizona. Nonetheless, we knocked about the next 10 miles to Dave's car in no time - where we had a good laugh at his pain rating sheet! After a final fuel-up break, we pressed on. We still had a fast pace going. Just after Raven Rocks, I had a dizzy spell and stopped for several minutes to regroup. This is the second time in my life I remember having what I assume is a blood sugar crash.  Snickers to the rescue! Kylie and Joffrey pressed on.

The PenMar rocks made me want to scream - I've never felt unsure of my legs when walking over rocks before! They weren't responding normally, and extra concentration was needed. But after that I got my wind back and jogged the rest of the way, reaching the end just a couple minutes after Faceplant and Beastmode. Miles was a sight for sore eyes, and the pizza was everything I hoped it would be.

In the end, I finished just a couple minutes behind Beast Mode and Faceplant, who set a new time to beat at 14 hours 30 minutes.

With the temperature dropping, we retreated to a nearby camping spot.  I was asleep with seconds of my head hitting my pillow.

Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim

In late September, I decided to return the Grand Canyon.  This time, I would dispense with the lengthy shuttle drive, and instead simple do a grand out and back - backpacking from the south rim, to the north, then back again over four days.  Things...didn't quite go as planned.

I was joined by a tough group of backpackers, including Joan!  Her second backpacking trip!

You can check out the full write up over at DCUL Backpacking!  Sorry, it's a long one :)

The Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana

In early September, I led a group into The Bob Marshall Wilderness (just "The Bob" to Montana locals).  You can check out the write up over at DCUL Backpacking.