Captain JASON MAGNESS put together a superb documentary on the ups and downs their team experienced at our week long expedition Adventure Race, a MUST SEE …
The top teams transported themselves over 500mi of rugged north Idaho and Montana. Here’s a vastly simplified map of the route.
Mostly on foot, mountain bike and paddle, Dave added dozens of other challenges. Personally I liked “build a raft” and “light a fire” (without matches).
It’s hard on the body. My friends took significant damage moving constantly for 6 days.
Andy TuckerJeni McNeal
… but talk about a life altering experience. Expedition Adventure Racing makes Ironman look trivial.
Though I’m personally not a fan of Twitter, it was our best mode of communication during this race. Multiple people logged in to our account to update from the mountains by mobile phone.
The SPOT devices were almost more trouble than they were worth, working semi-reasonably perhaps 30% of the time. Multiple points of failure: human error, SPOT failure, battery failure, weather interference. The satellite network is unreliable too, it seems.
The one time we really needed SPOT to work, it didn’t. The team needed to climb to elevation to use a mobile phone to call 911 for air evacuation after a bike fall.
My $9.50 Trakfone was far more reliable in the wild than SPOT.
Here’s my favourite photo from the week, nighttime navigation – Team Bones.
A few clips from my 3 day double traverse. (Trip report to come.)
Fish wanting to jump into your fry pan, the weirdest waterfall you’ll ever encounter and FRIENDLY MOUNTAIN GOATS. … They’ve habituated to humans, craving the salt in our urine. One followed me for an hour.
One of the best hikes in Washington State out of Leavenworth.
… Don’t let this hike’s bad reputation dissuade you from reaping its good views. Sure, it’s one of the snakiest trails in the Icicle Valley-save it for a cool day. And yeah, it’s one of the steepest trails in the valley-hottest too-best to save it for a cool day. And total vertical feet-oh boy, you’ll gain plenty-so save it for a cool day when the serpents are sedate.
Are you getting the picture?
But the views are amazing: from the Chiwaukum to the Entiat to the Stuart ranges and beyond-savor the panorama on any day! …
With warnings like this, I decided to start late in the afternoon on a hot August day. Temperature turned out to be no problem.
I parked my vehicle at the Icicle Ridge trailhead on (the paved) Icicle Creek Road (Forest Road 76) and cycled from there to the 4th of July trailhead, perhaps 7mi further into the mountains.
I saw no snakes.
Steepness was not really a problem, either.
Sections of the two trails were overgrown in places, though. 4th of July is a nice grade.
Once intersection with the Ridge, it’s plenty pretty. Often wide open with big views. Lots of flowers, even in August.
It was a pleasure working my way back down the ridge towards Leavenworth.
I underguestimated my slowness this day, finishing in the dark (PHOTO) without headlamp. Oops.
No shout out for the busy, grumpy (and even misinformed) staff at the Leavenworth Ranger station. Only one, a younger female, I found helpful and pleasant.
This week I’m volunteering at Dave Adlard’s NEW Adventure Race.
Over 6 days, co-ed teams of 4 will undertake a 500 – 700 km expedition over some of the most beautiful, epic and challenging terrain on Earth in a unique format!
Racers will use map, compass and their own wits and skills to navigate their way over an unmarked route by mountain biking, rafting, paddling, trekking, orienteering, trail running, using fixed ropes, and maybe a few other surprises through the wild panhandle of northern Idaho.
Our goal is to provide racers with an ultimate racing experience that harkens back to the original spirit of “the Raid,” where racers must problem solve, route find and persevere over a true, unmarked wilderness expedition course that will challenge them to their limits, while providing them with a life-altering experience they will never forget! …
Here’s a cute INTRO video edited by AR Dave Russell.
Race director Dave Adlard threw the racers a bone after the short prologue. In a surprise move, they were directed with their bikes onto the gondola at the base of a very large climb. After bagging 3 CP’s in the ski area, they rode back roads about 30 miles to the start of the trek that will take them thru the night into Montana and a 300′ rappel.
Just finished a week hiking and biking out of Leavenworth, Washington. (Trip reports to come.)
… Alpine Lakes Wilderness … is one of the most popular outdoor recreational areas in the State of Washington.
Although this area has the wilderness designation and no motorized vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, or even bicycles can operate … there is heavy foot traffic and camping throughout. … managing the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area to preserve its integrity is very challenging. …
This being my first visit, there are a couple of lessons learned:
• Mosquitoes and no-see-ums are terrible anywhere near alpine lakes. Doh!
I’d hoped it was just this summer, buggy in August due to the long, late Spring. But one regular hiker in the area told me it’s always this bad.
• The Enchantments truly are the most popular destination, with fierce competition for camping permits.
The (grumpy) Rangers in Leavenworth leave pre-booked permits outside in a rustic wooden box. At least one was stolen this past weekend, the actual group that had booked and paid for it required to wait around a few hours before getting a replacement. (Parks needs to find a way to prevent this problem.)
One solution, I feel, is simply to open up more camping permits for the Enchantments. Is that high region really much more vulnerable to human damage than anywhere else in the Cascade Range? … Or have they created an artificial shortage.
I saw plenty of campsites, plenty of toilets up there.
besthike.com 