Fastpacking the Rogue River Trail, May 2017, 2 days, 40 miles

[Bri W]

This is my list for the Rogue River Trail in May. Last Fall I had planned to do this SUL over 3-4 days, but then Oregon got hit by rain storms. If the weather has the potential to be rainy, I will forego the SOL Escape Bivy Lite and bring my Zpacks Pocket Tarp, 6 ti stakes, and Borah Gear Cuben Bivy, adding ~4.35 oz to the total weight. If the nighttime lows are expected to be below 35(o)F, I’m bringing my XTherm small instead of the GG pads, adding ~2.3 oz.

I’ll be cutting excess straps off of the Salomon pack once I have it dialed in.

Cold food only (bars, avocado, oatmeal, Clif Energy Food Pouches (pizza and beets!), ProBar Slam bars, maybe some Soylent, Nuun caffeinated electrolyte tablets etc. I’m still working out my food, so for now it’s an estimate.

Our goal is to run as much of the trip as we can. We hope to get it done in 2 days, but we might have a third day open in case we can’t reach this goal. We also want to avoid running in the dark. This area supposedly has the highest concentration of bears in Oregon, so to avoid bringing bear canisters, our goal is to run to the first campsite with a bear bin…which is a marathon in. Oh, boy…training with weight in the pack starts this week!

I have done 2 SUL 2-3 night trips, and 1 near-SUL. My biggest problem on these trips has been lack of nighttime warmth (Actually, this is my problem all of the time, except for during winter, oddly enough). So I’m bringing a custom cuben 10(o)F quilt and the SOL Escape Bivy Lite. Seems like overkill for fastpacking, but sleep is an integral part of recovery! And speaking of recovery, I might add some recovery compression leg sleeves for sleep. We’ll see…

Thoughts? Advice? Warnings? Encouragement? Wisdom? Did I miss anything? This is my first fastpacking trip, so I’d especially love to hear from those who’ve run most of their 1-2 nighters. And from those who have hiked this trail! And from those who are just more experienced in general!! :)

 

 

[Andrew Brown]

I think swapping out the SOL Escape bivy in favor of a tarp and bivy setup would be a very good idea if rain is likely.  I once owned an SOL Escape Bivy Lite, but I never used it as a stand-alone shelter.  It worked well enough to keep me dry when being used in conjunction with a tarp, but I would be wary about being able to sleep through a rainy night with only this bivy.  I don’t think I would be able to really hunker down in it so as to keep my face out of the rain.  I’m a relatively small guy, and I felt as though the bivy was almost too short.  It’s also relatively slim, so you may end up compressing some of the loft of your 10*F quilt—especially if you use an XTherm mat.

Additionally, I don’t really think this bivy provides much extra warmth compared most non-reflective UL bivy bags that I’ve tried.  I attempted to extend the usable temperature range of a 40*F synthetic sleeping bag with this bivy on one trip and ended up pretty cold with night temps in the mid 30s.

[Bri W]

@asb87 thanks for your response! I tried responding but it didn’t save for some reason, so I’ll try again! :)

Regarding the Escape Lite, how tall/skinny are you? I was banking on my 5’5″, 128 lbs  stature to fit in this bivy, bc I heard it was narrow! Did you have any condensation issues with it?

Other more expensive options I’ve looked into include the Montbell Breeze U.L. bivy or the Terra Nova Moonlit bivi, both of which are about 1-2 oz heavier than the SOL.

Also, I forgot to mention this, but if So Oregon happens to get hit by a heat wave that week, I’ll bring my Nunatak 30° Arc Half Quilt and Hoodie instead of the 10° cuben quilt, which will save a couple of oz. as well. Only time will tell!

 

[Jerry Adams]

I did 18 miles of the east end in February out and back.  Trail was in pretty good shape.  In May it could be warm or it could be rainy.

[Bri W]

@retiredjerry at which campsite(s) did you sleep? Any suggestions?

[Jerry Adams]

https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/rogue_river_trail_color_2011.pdf

Quail Creek is the campsite about halfway between ends – 21 miles from west end, 19 miles from east end, I’ve walked by it but I forget

I kind of like Meadow Creek and Brushy Bar

http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Rogue_River_Hike has some info

 

[Andrew Brown]

@bwrightback I’m about 5’6”-5’7” and about 135 lbs.  I think there might be enough volume in the bivy for your needs. However, with a 10*F quilt, XTherm, and a body–even a relatively small one–I suspect you are going to come close to filling up the bivy.  I tested out this bivy with a full length XLite and a 20*F top bag while wearing a down jacket and fleece bottoms.  There just wasn’t enough room for me inside without compressing some of the down in the bag.  It was particularly tight in the leg and foot-box area of the bivy.

I only experienced condensation on two occasions.  Both times I was sleeping next to a fire. I probably overheated.

[Bri W]

@asb87 good to know! That might change things. I’ll look into the other two bivy options then.

[Greg F]

Can you get good recovery sleeping on the nightlight after running a full day?  Outside of that it looks good.

[Bri W]

@gregf that’s a good point. I figured I’d be so tired that as long as I have something under my hips (and 10mg Flexeril in my system), I’ll sleep like a rock. But if I’m uncomfortably sore, sleeping ON a rock doesn’t sound appealing.

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