3rd annual BPL Spring Run Adventure

Watchman – yes
west to east – yes
start Lee pass – yes
finish east entrance – yes
bailout mile 36.7 Grotto – yes (cars not allowed here, shuttle bus to campsite)

potential water drops per Skurka's mapset
mile 14.1 road crossing
mile 22.5 picnic area (a short distance from trail not sure how far)
mile 36.7 water fountains
natural water sources in some places, bring a filter or other method

Grotto bailout – again no cars allowed, shuttle only

Still working on :
1. paid shuttle or BPL volunteers to get us to start
2. how many vehicles to leave at finish and how they relate to timing of finishers.

Thanks for the clarification, Art. It's just about all congealed for me now :)

It would be nice if we have a couple of non-running folks that we can sweet talk into driving us to the start (à la our conspicious van tour to the J Tree jumping off point) that way any jackets, uneaten snacks, etc… can just go back to camp with the drivers, and other than a little gas money and beer bribery it would be relatively inexpensive.

I may bring my Dad along with me, he can probably help out with the driving. I'm not sure how many other non-runners will be there but it seems like we should be able to pull something together.

By the way, last time I talked with David Wage (we just got back from a snow trip) he mentioned that he was probably in the "unlikely" category now. I will definitely be there, barring any emergencies that keep me away.

So, I'm hoping to get some perspective from you more experienced guys on what I might want to bring as far as a vest/pack goes…

Last year after J Tree I picked up an Ultimate Direction SJ vest since Mike's AK looked pretty sweet. I like the bottles up front but it didn't offer much more room than my Nathan HPL 020 with a bladder in back. Since I expect to use both bottles and the bladder at Zion I'm wondering if I might be a little tight on space for food and/or extra clothes?

I'll probably run in tights and a light tee shirt.

That would leave me carrying a pair of shorts, windshirt, and extra socks. Also a small first aid kit, headlamp, a Sony RX100 camera, compact water filter, and maybe my phone (is there cell service at the Grotto or anywhere along the road?). That leaves food & fuel.

Is there any chance we'll be able to make a food drop near the Lava Point area? If so, that could lighten the load considerably.

I'm left wondering if I should think about taking a running pack with a little more room. I could upgrade to the PB, not sure if that's overkill. Any input here is appreciated. I'm sort of dreading the weight. I can say at J Tree my Nathan was *stuffed* and that was with a food cache.

Jacob – the day before the run I'd like to scope out the 2 potential water drops and possibly drop some water.
but if we can get a water volunteer, that would be better as we would not have to drive back up to pick up the bottles on Sunday.
if we had a volunteer, they could hold some food for you.
I'd be nervous about a simple food drop.
however, my personal rule is to carry all food/fuel from start to finish and not rely on external support. the food is essential for me and I don't want to take a chance.
half the food is only an extra lb. at most.
I also always tend to bring a bit more clothing when going FKT style which adds another lb.

the pack John V. and I use for stuff like this is the Black Diamond Bbee. simple, light weight, big enough, rides fairly well at slow speeds.

for the Grand Canyon RRR my starting pack weight was 5.8 lb.
(not including water which was 2 hand helds)

food – 2.7
clothing – 1.85 (included full shell)
pack & misl. – 1.25

for Zion it will be similar

Jacob- I really my AK pack, but w/ cooler temps possible (vs Joshua Tree) I'll be carrying a larger pack and more clothing.

I'll most likely be using my MH Fluid 6 http://www.mountainhardwear.com/fluid-6-OU4516.html, nice little running pack w/ adequate room for a few insulating layers (and other bits if one had to tough a night out)

In addition I'll probably go w/ a single handheld for my Perpetuem

Mike

Art/Mike I ended up grabbing the new PB. I think it's going to work good for me, despite being a little heavy.

Looks like I'm coming out by myself. My Dad didn't feel up to it and it sounds like David Wage is probably not going to be able to make it (although that's not 100%).

If I fly into Vegas, is it possible I can carpool with any of you? If that sounds do-able I can work my flight around either a Thursday or Friday arrival and pick one that gets me there at a decent time.

I'd like to check out the PB pack, you're bringing it ?

John V. and I are heading up for a late Thursday night arrival.
We will be driving thru Vegas.
current estimate is to pass thru Vegas around 7pm +- an hour or so.

Art, I will be bringing it; it's the pack I'm going to use for the run.

Would it be cool if I can hitch a ride with you guys? Your evening arrival in Vegas would give me a good window to work with.

Jacob – absolute best case we get to Vegas at 6pm, so if you could land by 5pm, wait at the curb, we wouldn't even have to stop the car.
we'd have to exchange ph numbers between now and then to fine tune it as we arrive.

So my flights are booked now. (woohoo!!)

I'm planning to bring all my stuff in my ZPacks pack as a carry on. I'm hearing "maybe" microspikes would be a good idea. I have them and can bring them, anyone know if I'll get static from the TSA people over bring them on board? Other things of question…

– Black Diamond Z-Poles (I might use these in the later part of the run)
– Canister stove (without fuel)
– Water bottles (empty, should be ok as far as I know)
– Anything else that I didn't think of which might not make it through the security check?

Generally, you're not going to get trekking poles on board, so be prepared with a bag you can check that will fit them.

Canister stove without a fuel canister should be no problem (I just flew with one both ways on my recent trip). Empty bottles won't be a problem.

Matches must be the strike on a flint kind, not the strike with your fingernail to light kind (does that make sense?).

Supposedly you can either take a lighter or matches, not both, but I just did take both on my recent flights. Had both of them in the bag with my small fluid vials and never got a second look.

Not sure of the microspikes. Could be an issue.

I'm sure not planning on bringing micro spikes so we better not need them.
Hear that Mike ? no ice allowed.
that would significantly toughen the route and slow it down.

high point is 7,500 ft and its mostly below 7,000 ft.
we won't hit 6,500 ft till 13 miles in so any lingering snow should not be ice.

of course this is someone from SoCal talking.

Mike, don't bring your Montana ice and snow, please …

Doug / Art,

Thanks for the feedback on gear/travel.

I really want to leave the microspikes at home, if possible. The poles were a last minute thought. I'm envisioning them coming in handy while crawling up the big climb in the last stretch.

Maybe I'll see if Eugene wouldn't mind me mailing him a box with these things in case needed, rather than try to check any baggage on the plane.

Everyone have their food/fuel figured out? I think I've just about got it done. ~4200 calories for 14 hours of trail time is what I'm planning for.

I haven't had a chance to call the NP Service to check on trail conditions- their website is useless in that regard (no detail), but it would be nice to know if the route was ice free- a little snow won't be a problem, ice along some of the rock trail would be

my fueling plan will be a couple of cliff blocks/hour (70 cals), ~ 70 cals/hour from Perpetuem (I've halved it- one scoop vs two, and it seems to be much better on my stomach), 1/2 Hammer bar/hour (110 cals)- so about 250 cals/hour. I'm going to throw a couple of P&J's in for good measure, maybe a banana or two

I'll carry enough for 14 hours w/ a few extra bars to spare just in case, maybe a few gels for just in case (I haven't had the best luck w/ gels)

water- I'm going to go w/ a 2 liter bladder and a single 20 oz handheld- I'll bring my steripen and some micropur tabs as backup

First, let me suggest we focus our comments in this thread for next 3 weeks. We seem to have 2 threads going right now, but the training thread, well we don't really need to discuss much training at this point.

14 hours
funny that's my estimate also. there's apparently going to be a bunch of us finishing this thing together, haha.
In actuality I'm not sure how long its going to take having not been on most of the route. 14 hours seems reasonable, but it should have been reasonable for the 47 mile Bright Angel version of the RRR and it took me and John 16 hrs +
So I'm thinking 13 hrs absolute best case with as slow as 16 hrs possible.

Water
I'd like to try and work on a water drop (or crew volunteer) at miles 14 and 22.5. So maybe a quick drive up there on Friday. But yes, we should have water purification devices also.

Food
Jacob and Mike you seem to have your nutrition worked out.

Ice on Trail
David is supposed to be going there this week, maybe he will give us a first hand report when he returns. I did Angels Landing in winter with intermittent ice, just had to take it slow on the ice.

Angels Landing
someone mentioned a possible Friday warm up hike to Angels Landing. I might be up for that if we took it slow. Been there before and it is great.

Do we know how we're getting to the start in the morning? Non-running driver volunteer/Drunken Hairy Cheerleader… I'm guessing?

^ that would be my best guess- worse case we can drive a vehicle (or two if needed) and pick them up later

As of yesterday, when my 9-year-old and I were hiking in Zion up to Angel's Landing (5,790 feet above sea level), there was no snow, no ice, and no trace of snow or ice anywhere we hiked nor any of the backcountry visible from on top. It was usually 35F lows and 70F high until some clouds came in keeping the night warmer (46F) and the day cooler (64F). 48F and blowing 20 mph, gusting to 30 mph was brisk in t-shirt and shorts even with the workout of climbing up the chained portion, but we weren't up there very long. For any long run in the more wind-exposed stretches, one would want at least wind pants and a puffy or fleece torso layer. Most people had twice that much on.

The Virgin River flow through the Zion Narrows was pretty low – about 55-60 cfs – but cold, maybe 42F. I did okay in fleece socks in trail shoes, but neoprene booties would have been nicer.

Happy Trails, guys!

Thanks David,

very helpful.

David, thanks much for the report on trail conditions. I thought I replied here a week ago, but maybe I was daydreaming. I picked up a light down vest based on your recommendation… a piece of gear I've actually never owned.

So we're getting pretty close now. Sounds like the running pack is dwindling in number. On one hand, that mainly sux :( but on the other the company will be appreciated in camp before and after the run. Hoping this means we'll have our morning "shuttle" covered.

I read there's a general store near Watchman. Anyone know if it should be open and has a little bit of food? I'm not really sure what I'm doing for lunch and dinner prior to the run and might lean on the store a little if it's legit… 'specially for beerz. Who's bringing an icechest?!? << most important logistical detail of the trip.

Jacob- the campground is very close to the small town of Springdale, there must be a store there some place.

Thanks to all of you who helped make this happen; I had a great time and the only thing I would have changed is somehow re-aligning the planets so everyone who originally wanted to attend could have made it.

It was good seeing most of the Spring Run crew from last year and hanging out with you guys again. We really should get together more often, esp those of us here in California. If nothing else it’s an excuse to go south or north for the occasional trip.

Mike, thanks for spearheading this and getting things moving. I hope that heel mends quickly for you so you can get back on the trail this Spring.

John and Art, even though I’m pretty sure we cheated death a few times in the Yaris, many thanks for the transport to and from the airport and helping with my other logistics.

I still need to catch up with Adan and Craig, but I’m betting those two had a crazy fun time down in the cayons.

Zion was so inspiring. I may go back this fall or late summer with my family. In fact I may run it again while I’m there! Now that I’ve established my PFKT I’d like to see how much I can smash it by, really though I don’t need much of an excuse to redo that scenery!

Here’s my trip report and photos…

http://hikeitlikeit.com/2014/traversing-zion/

PEACE OUT!

Dude your images are so good. I will try and gather up a few of mine very soon and post them up, but they wont compare to yours. Youre making me want to toss my phone and buy an actual fotography machine.

I had such a good time on this trip. Zion is one of the most strikingly beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. And all these guys are alot of fun to chill with. I wish my fitness could have been there to do a big run with you guys, but I also feel very lucky to see those canyons the way I did.

Sorry we missed Mike and Eugene and others. These events will always be sketchy commitments, with travel, cost, family and all the other things. As you know, I almost didnt make it myself, but I'm very glad I did.

I hope we meet on the trail again soon buddy.

Great trip report and photos Jacob.

Maybe add this report to the Trip Reports forum also, so those researching the run can more easily find your report.

hmmm … what should we do next ?

It was a fun weekend guys, though we had entirely different adventures.

What's next?
Personally, I don't see much trail-based ultra stuff in my near future.

But I'm already hatching ideas to return to Utah for a multiday backpacking/canyoneering trip late spring/early summer.

Rappels, swims, chimneys, climbs, throwing packs across pools and down slots…it all tickled my fancy pretty good. A new canyon rope is in the mail….

I'll post a few canyon pics on this thread later.