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.

Question for you experienced participants: how are running tights at drying after stream crossings? I have not worn them while also wet so I don’t have experience in how they dry. My only relevant experience is wearing spandex under swim shorts in the summer and it seems like they always take a ridiculous amount of time to dry, but in those situations I’m not aggressively hiking to potentially dry them out. Search results seem to favor them overall, but there’s some mixed opinions for sure on their efficacy when wet.

“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)

Thanks Mike! I’ve got some under armour pants that are about 15 years old but still in great shape. I think they use a proprietary spandex-like material so probably will run into drying issues with those.

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.

One thing I have learned is it is hard to keep anything dry , at lease below the waist for any length of time with the amount of creek, stream and river crossings and god forbid rain.

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”

Tom’s idea has got me thinking. There really isn’t anywhere to go in the Bob that doesn’t have floatable water eventually, unless you follow the one ridge that never ends. That would be extreme. I’m going to assume that is wrong because Dave likes boating too much and that end point seems out of character given how far the route would stray from the greater Bob complex

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

Well that’s got me scratching my head unless I’ve been looking at this too literally. I do recall Dave at one time saying it would be fun to have a mid point that everyone has to “touch” before the finish. Only way I can see 95 miles being anywhere close to the boundary would be for there to be more than one straight line  that comprises the 95 straight line miles. Personally,I like that idea better than trudging down the logging roads on these other routes I’m looking at.

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.

I like that checkpoint Idea

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’m also 6′ 3″ 180. I find that my Shifts sink a bit more than a smaller person’s but for a Bob Open I think the snow would have to be really horrendous for me to want to carry the EVOs. Different for a trip earlier in the season. Part of my calculus is that the reduced length also makes shifts easier to maneuver among branches, tree trunks, off-camber slopes, etc- all conditions you’re likely to encounter late in the shoulder season.

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 :)

Dave said he’s moving the Open to March :)

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/one-tough-trip-snowshoe-across-the-bob-marshall-wilderness/

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 😄

In the last few weeks some past out of town participants  have decided to drop out of this years BMO. I was wondering if the unknown finish had anything to do with it and they all said that it wasn’t the main reason but yes it was a big factor.  Thoughts on this?

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.

As an out of towner and aspiring participant, yes for me personally not knowing the finish until 2 weeks out is exciting and challenging but logistically it can become a nightmare for flying and just route planning.  Yes the extra challenge is exciting but adds a whole other level planning for out of towners, that locals don’t have to deal with.

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.

I’m slightly less than 50/50 on making it this year. The timing was going to be challenging regardless and some of the possible routes feel worth it for me to get there for while others don’t quite. Not knowing has thus far prevented me from trying to arrange plans to ensure  that I can come. Not really sure if that counts though, because if I knew four months ago that it was going to be one of the less appealing options then I probably wouldn’t be coming anyway. In any event I still really like the idea of the unknown finish. For me it’s just about my excitement about the route, not the uncertain logistics produced by an unknown finish.

Point taken on the added nuisance to out of towners, which is something I actively want to avoid and will admit I got wrong this time.  So I just posted the finish option(s).

Looping back sounds excellent!! So stoked!!

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