2022 Bob Open

Yeah it’s true, Rattlesnake might put more people up over white river pass or even down the spotted bear. Too bad Monture is full of wood.

Also I believe that the AMWC maintains the same start and finish for 3 year cycles. So there’s some precedent, whatever that’s worth.

“tights” generally have a high percentage of spandex (or similar) which makes drying times long, if you can find tights that have 10% or less- then those would be worthwhile looking at

I look for pants that have lower percentage of spandex and are little on the durable side (off trail & blowdown can reek havoc on pants)

I really should refrain from talking out my rear… can barely still read the tag, they are 14% so going to get them wet and go for a hike when it warms up above freezing to see how they work.

With an increase of roughly 12% over the previous longest straight line mile BMO (2018 85 miles) just surviving this years will be an accomplishment. My guess on the finish would require an average of 49-50 miles on foot per day with little to no opportunity for using a boat “ouch”.  The positive is little to no roads as promised by Dave “I solemnly swear there will be much less possibility of road walking”

Actually my guess is closer to the BMW boundary than  any of the others suggested.

Hmm, I hadn’t considered the possibility of 2 straight lines with a “checkpoint” in between, pretty different aesthetically from the simple A to B but it certainly opens up possibilities. Care to share your guess, Tom? I’m not seeing how even with a checkpoint and a finish near the wilderness boundary you could construct a course where boating one of the NF Sun, Spotted Bear, or MF flathead wouldn’t make sense given the start point.

What is the most weight someone has had on a pair of MSR Shifts? I’ve seen the raves of these in BMWO conditions, but at 6’3” and 185 lbs + 30-35lb pack I can’t help but wonder if I’ll need the Evo at the compromise of an extra 17 oz of weight. I’m sure it would work fine in the mornings when the snow is still firm, but I’m trying to anticipate worst-case scenarios like slushy afternoon snow.

TIA

I weigh the same (185) and use Shifts.  There are times when 30+ inch snowshoes wouldn’t do you much good.  The Shifts as they spend more time on your back than on your feet are imo the best compromise for the job.

We just got back from a 6 day, 90-ish mile trip across the Bob and Shifts wouldn’t have been a good choice for this trip :)

Great write-up Mike. I have the utmost respect for you guys pulling off a trip like this. Last March I attempted a short loop in the Scapegoat and was thoroughly humbled when my snowshoes (without tails because ‘I wouldn’t need them’) continually broke through the crust and was sinking knee to hip deep. I got to the point where I left them on my pack because it was easier to pull my leg out of my post holes without the shoes on. I pushed on longer than I should have and ended up going cross country to shorten my loop and bailed after 1 night. That was the most miserable trip I’ve done, but I learned more lessons on that one hike than any other backpacking/hunting trip 😄

As an out-of-towner myself, I’m planning to attend this year. But if the finish ends up presenting too much of a challenge or it’s too logistically complex, I’ve got a back up trip planned a little closer to home.

I’m semi out of town (within a day’s drive), so the unknown finish has minimal effect on me. However, I tricked a partner into joining me this year, and he is far out of town. Logistics were a bit more tricky for him and he opted to err on the side of caution and use some extra vacation days to make missing his return flight less likely.  Not knowing if the drive from the finish to the airport would be 15 min or 4 hours definitely added a degree of difficulty. The part I miss the most is all the discussions on BPL, in the past when everyone knew the end point.

The loop back is interesting but I really like the options! Curious to see what people will choose…