2016 Bob Marshall Wilderness Open

[David Chenault]

Kevin, with enough notice I'm sure assistance could be found to get you to the start on time. Great Falls, Kalispell, and Missoula are all options. I know flying to Montana is both expensive and a pain.

[Don Valich]

I have no idea what that comment was supposed to mean, and reference to the devil is very uncouth and inappropriate. Participants know that no outside assistance is allowed – at least I assume they know? They should know. They need to know that – so reference to free beverages at Bunker was of course tongue-in-cheek. If something so trivial like that "shocks" you, then you haven't been around long enough, and that makes me question your judgement. I did not continue reading what you had to say about participants lying, because honesty goes without question. Since no one wins in an open, why should they lie? If they feel they gain something by this, then the purpose of having the open is not being conveyed clear enough, i.e., to challenge your own abilities and skills. To learn from your own mistakes – and, of course, not to lie about them.

Having a sense of humor is important for staying cool and collective under pressure in life and death situations. Unfortunately I am too often guilty of not having a sense of humor at all, and being too serious. I am very serious when it comes to life and death situations, which I often face in heavy bear country. The open is 10 months away. I am sorry for 'trying' to portray a jovial, more friendly, side to me in my intro, which really does not exist.

[Seth Cunningham]

Dave, thanks for the effort you put into organizing this. I am super excited that the discussion is already started! After reading trip reports from the last few years, I am making it a priority to be there this year. Depending on how my training goes this winter, I may either go full 'race' mode or take it easy on the 5-6 day plan. Either way, I am looking forward to the motivation to up my game this year.

[David Chenault]

I hope to see you next May Seth.

The factor which always seems to take everyone by surprise, myself included, is how much joint and connective tissue fatigue accumulates over the few days on course. The snow, mud, rough trails, and deadfall gymnastics take their toll. It might be tough to find hiking conditions which mimic that locally, but doing plenty of miles on that stuff with a pack is probably the best training investment possible (second to plenty of miles on the feet). Ankles and knees just cannot get too strong.

[Nick Aschenwald]

My ankles were definitely my weak point. This year my feet and ankles are going to be in much better shape. I also got some horrific shin splints on the last day. Any tips on how to train to prevent that?

[Seth Cunningham]

Good advice that I plan to take to heart. From my own experience as a mountain biker/part time roadie, my joints and connective tissue are always the limiting factor on backpacking trips. I have a decent engine and the ability to put my head down and suffer for hours; I just don't have the base miles on my feet that the ultra runners and thru hiker types have.

My training approach is three-pronged. First, I have already started substituting a portion of my cycling volume for trail running to get the time on my feet. I also plan to have my physical therapist girlfriend design a strength training regime to stress-proof my ankles, knees, and hips. Finally, I hope to get out at least once a month all winter for hard weekend backpacking trips. I am interested to hear other peoples thoughts on what they have done in past years or what they wish they would have done. Getting enough time on my feet is probably my biggest worry right now.

[David Chenault]

I haven't had shin splints since high school cross country (when my coach told me ignore them and that led to a stress fracture). In your case Nick I'd assume that horridly rough and hard descent down to Swift pushed already stressed muscles and tendons just a little too far. More stable joints should give your muscles a break which should sort that out nicely.

[Derek Larson]

Does anyone have beta on:

Straight Creek- From south of Benchmark to the South Fork of the Sun River.

North Fork of the Blackfoot River- From Tobacco Valley/Carmichael Cabin to North Fork Falls (Too much wood? Seems to be a lot of fire damage around there). Dave, I saw your blog about packrafting the river, but haven't found any info about this section.

Woods Creek from Wood Lake to Benchmark- Looks "tiny" but I bet it's doable at the end of May, no?

Danaher Creek- From Camp Creek onward.

Edit: …and the Swan River from Lion Creek to Cedar Creek Campground (very little elevation drop over the 8 miles it seems).

Too early to ask these questions?

[Chase Medina]

Ummmm….I don't like this answer, could someone find me a new one please?? I guess I should've done my homework before purchasing a $6k full carbon fat bike back back in June. I've pedaled hundreds of miles on this rig only to read this post and about fall out of my chair, heartbroken… It's great to hear this event is being held again this year, thanks Dave. Good to hear from you all again. It was a life changing experience being a part of this last year and I'm honored to have met you all and see the Bob in all its wonder and glory. I've put hundreds and hundreds of miles on this bike since June in preparation for next year's BMWO. I've ordered frame bag templates, found a sewing machine, and was about to place an order for some Cuban Tech before discovering this post. BTW, thanks for checking into this Derek. I'm almost wishing I had never seen this and showed up next May 28th in ignorance. I've been living, eating, dreaming a successful fat bike traverse of the Bob…tragic. Oh well, maybe It'll come in handy when I decide to do the CDT someday. Check out the setup anyway:

[Mike M]

Very nice!

[Derek Larson]

Chase, I was reluctant to post information about bike restrictions in The Bob after looking into it, because I knew there where a few who were considering that as a transportation option and I wasn't sure if there were some who were willing to "bend the rules" a bit. Nice bike! Derek

[Mike M]

my training stays pretty consistent throughout the year- even winter I manage to get in a fair bit of miles (via microspikes or running snowshoes); but recently I've started to add hill repeats once a week. all of my runs/hikes, even shorter ones generally get decent elevation gains, but this is a more focused, higher effort on very steep terrain (~ 1000' in 3/4 mile) I've been doing three loops (roughly 6.6 miles) in just under a hour and half; the next day is a scheduled rest day as there is no doubt that you did something hard based on the soreness of you legs :) I've been thinking about bumping it to four loops, we'll see- three seems to do the trick pretty good

[Sam Haraldson]

Beautiful bike, Chase. I hope your post was in jest regarding you not knowing you couldn't ride it in the Bob since bikes haven't been allowed in Wilderness area since the mid eighties. Take a look at the "Arrowhead 135", "JayP's Backyard Fat Pursuit", or a handful of other similar events that are bike specific and would be great for your build.

[Derek Larson]

Does anyone have any knowledge of what potential 2016 BMWO routes/trails that were affected by the fires this year?

[David Chenault]

The east side trail along the S Fork between Black Bear and the Meadow Creek TH was apparently almost obliterated in many places, but given it's importance will certainly be back in place (and likely cleared) by late May. Some trails off Bunker Creek might have elevated deadfall, also. A few of the smaller fires (e.g. the one that burned in the Lena Lake and upper Gordon Creek area) could conceivably exacerbate deadfall problems, but on the whole folks traveling through the heart of the Bear and Trail complexes seems unlikely.

[Derek Larson]

Dave, Thanks for the update. By the way, don't change the route, 'cause I just jumped on Delta.com and saw that paying with Skymiles was really cheap for a flight from San Antonio to Great Falls on May 25th, and a flight out of Kalispell on June 1st. Derek

[David Chenault]

Definitely not changing things. A big motivator for route selection every year has been going places I haven't been, and the northern Scapegoat is one of the big blanks remaining on my personal map of the Bob. Last year was a classic and my favorite or second favorite trip across the Bob (of 10 or so). But we can't have ribeye for dinner every day. And Chase, I can think of totally legal bike routes which fit the guidelines. Putting desirability aside, the no bikes in Wilderness rule does preserve a lot of the diversity of the Bob Open. If bikes were legal route choice dynamics would change drastically.

[Chase Medina]

Hey Dave, Good to know there's legal route options this year, that's been the only thing stopping me from breaking out the maps since start/finish points were announced. Well then, Chase Medina may be returning again next year except this time as habituated grizzly bear "Meals-on-wheels" ;) I've been in full on Bikepacking mode lately. The Slasa Beargrease Carbon fat bike (XX1 build-25 lbs. 6oz.) killed it on a 3-day trip I did a few weeks back in NW Oregon. Averaged 7.5 mph, 50 mi per day, and climbed 16,000'. Carried 10 pounds on my back ("big three" plus sleeping pad, stove/fuel, and clothes), and 12.5 pounds strapped to the bike (7 lbs of food in the frame bag, and 5 lbs of misc. gadget in the handlebar bag-repair kit, water treatment, tools, pump, GPS, map, etc.). That was my first bikepacking trip and wow, what an efficient means of wilderness locomotion. I learned allot. Such as; hike-a-biking 10-15-20 mile steep uphill sections was physically, very efficient and very low impact on the joints with such a light load on the back. The GPS metrics showed hike-a-biking the uphills didn't actually slow my average speed much at all really. Spinning the granny gear up hills is slow and strenuous. I may and up removing the cassette/ derailer and going single-speed to shave half a pound…been considering it heavily. Very true Dave, agreed. Biking all wilderness areas would drastically change the dynamics of travel and maybe the restrictions are a good thing for the open. I'm hoping I can find a decent, scenic road-route with semi-frequent viewpoints and interesting landmarks that doesn't involve me riding through dense forests and socked in burns for miles on end. Looking forward to looking at my route options tonight. Thanks, Dave.

[Adrian Swanson]

I've put this on my calendar. I decided last Spring that I would participate in 2016. At this point I have no idea how to plan, but I'm sure working through the maps will get me headed in the right direction. There is still plenty of time before May.

[Sam Haraldson]

Google Earth and the Cairn Cartographics Maps = good place to start.

[David Chenault]

The Cairn maps are a good resource, especially for the accurate trail and river mileages. Reports from the previous Bob Opens are pretty much the only source of on-the-ground conditions for the Bob that time of year you are likely to find.

[Adrian Swanson]

The maps are on their way. Now I need to free up some time to re-read trail reports and take a close look at the maps.

[Sam Haraldson]

Although I have never participarted in the BMWO but I sure have thoroughly enjoyed hours and hours of time over the winters studying maps and imagining routes.

[Mike M]

Sam- you need to change that for 2016 :) Mike

[David Chenault]

"Sam- you need to change that for 2016 :)" +1

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