not a elk or sheep hunt, but could have been

The 2020 Bob Marshall Wilderness Open. This is my sixth straight year of giving it a shot and very happy to report I was able to finish. A put a full year of training under my belt to try and stack the odds in my favor as much as possible. We averaged around 30 miles per day and climbed ~ 16,000', almost a third of the route under snow (and the majority of those on snowshoes).

Few pics





















[img]https://imgur.com/I0LzID9.jpg[/img]

[img]https://imgur.com/MECEUuF.jpg[/img]

[img]https://imgur.com/RP7tV1G.jpg[/img]

STUD!!!


Congratulations!!!

Congrats warden!

Pasting the last 3 pictures, because I want to see them:

You're an animal! Well done!

Great job. Well done...

How much weight did you lose?

thanks guys! thanks cwh2 for posting the rest of the pics

in the neighborhood of 8 lbs, that's with consuming a little more than 3000 calories per day; great weight loss program would recommend it highly to everyone!

I believe that makes you a certified badass!

Awesome pics, thanks for sharing

That’s awesome. Congrats.

Nice job, great pictures, wish I could do that.


How many days did it take to cross?

thanks fellas!


We were shooting for under 72 hours, but the snow was the deepest I've experienced in six years of doing it- so it slowed us down considerably. I'd estimate we were in significant snow for 30-35 miles- either on snowshoes or postholing if we thought it was short lived. We arrived at Glenn Ck on the N Fork of the Sun River on Monday night (Saturday morning start) at about 8:30 PM. We were pretty well spent and had to decide to trudge the additional 14 miles to the finish (likely after midnight as our pace had really slowed) and camp at Gibson dam (no way we could have drove home that night) and make the under 72 hour goal OR camp where we were at, enjoy an hour of daylight in a beautiful spot, eat a relaxing supper, get a big fire going to dry our gear AND be able to make it to the Buckhorn Bar in Augusta for burger and beers for lunch.

Well that was the easiest decision we had ever made

Did you go completely around the Chinese Wall? Took that route about 30 years ago. Definitely burnt some calories.

No we dropped down Moose Ck to the NF of the Sun River, so roughly a third of it. Last summer we did a trip that started at the very north end (Larch Hill Pass) and went all the way to the south end (White River Pass) ON TOP of the wall That was an arduous trip as well as we had to exit the Wall several times due to being clipped out, drop down a bunch and then climb back on.

I have a trip planned this summer to go through the Chinese Wall via a little know notch called Trick Pass and then continue through the middle of Prairie Reef as well, through a saddle we discovered scouting this winter.

great country to be sure!

Wow. Congrats for finishing 'ward. That looks like a trip where you pick your traveling companions very carefully.

Thank you Sir! God yes, the wrong person(s) could be disastrous. It definitely helps to have like minded companions and better yet if they've done it before- my guys check both those boxes

Big respect!! Congrats and well done!

Congrats!

Thanks guys!

Wow,

You sir are officially one tough hombre.

Much respect from here too.

That is a truly big deal. Congrats. What stove and food combo works for that type of effort?


mike r

thanks guys!

have a little MSR pocket rocket (deluxe) w/ a small titanium pot and a single, small fuel canister- I've futzed with lighter stoves- alcohol, Esbit, wood twig, etc, but the stove is still pretty light, lights w/ a click and it boils water very fast

breakfast is Starbucks instant mocha (150 calories) and a Erin Baker's breakfast cookie (350 calories)

snacks are Clif nut butter bars (220 calories), these are kept in belt pocket and ate on the move- try to eat a 1/2 bar every hour (forces me to be drinking regularly too)- typically will eat 4-5 bars/day

lunch on day one was a giant burrito from a local restaurant- it was actually big enough I got two meals out of it, then P&J sandwich or butthole sandwiches (peanut butter/bacon/honey on a bagel) (400-500 calories) w/ a Snickers bar- (280)

suppers I tried out Peak Refuel meals- they say two servings, but it's really just one bigger one- about 800 calories; we try and eat supper around 6-7 PM (we typically hike into the dark)- it's a much needed break from hiking and gives us a chance to air our feet out a little, a good calorie dump and keeps us from cooking near our camp

nothing worse than setting up camp at 11, having to fix supper, eat and then go right to bed

so ballpark 3000-ish calories/day; that does a pretty good job fueling me throughout the day- definitely at a deficit, but this has worked well for me and keeps my food right at 1.5 lbs/day

Very impressive. I see your workout routine was well worth it. I've never heard of this challenge though. Is it a sanctioned/sponsored event, or just some just a bunch of bada$$es showing the mountains who's boss?

BTW - is that picture of the grizz track actually 2 going opposite ways? It's a neat picture either way.

Thanks for posting and the pics.....hiking at its finest💪

thanks guys!

^ nope- very unofficial; the organizer is guy who did a couple of Alaska Wilderness Classics and wanted to bring something similar to the lower 48, but with the worry/liability/time/etc of a sanctioned race; his first words are "this is not race", he sets the starting and finishing points a couple of months in advance each year; so yeah pretty much just of bunch of bada$$'s

yeah there is another front track going in the opposite direction; definitely still a big bear

What a ball buster of a trek.

Lot of respect here for your training and accomplishments. And your mates also.

Good details on your meals Ward, thanks for the info and the laugh.

What'd you have for lunch?? A butthole sandwich of course.

congrats you dam well did a hell of a trek . my FLA flat ass can not make to the trail head

thanks guys!

probably could come up with a better name for the sandwich

That looks awesome!

Outstanding.

Thanks Gents- much appreciated!

This was my 6th straight year doing it, had two years where I didn't finish- 2018 was a record stream flow year and we couldn't ford the Middle Fork of the Flathead, we had to bail out east to the Teton River- traveled 100 miles, but couldn't get to the finish; but only two folks finished that year (out of about 20). 2016 we couldn't get across at the headwaters of the South Fork of the Flathead, took a long detour to the Big Prairie pack bridge only to find out we couldn't ford Gordon Ck (more like Gordon River!!!!!). We were forced to exit at Upper Holland Lake and tried to link forest service roads to the finish (Lake Inez that year), but there was a couple of chunks of private land we didn't want to cross- so another roughly 100 mile outing w/o a finish. But now four finishes under my belt

I won't lie, I'm a little long in the tooth, so not sure how many I have left, but hopefully a couple!

What's your age?

I could have started collecting social security last December

So 62. Not what I’d call “long in the tooth”, but I’m only a couple years behind you so perhaps my bias is showing.

yeah definitely not over the hill to be sure, but definitely not a young buck anymore either

"Old" is a relative term. Sixty-two isn't ready for the retirement home, but it does seem a little long in the tooth to rip off back-to-back-to back 30-mile days in that terrain with snow no less.

Ward, you need to start acting your age

that's exactly what my wife says!

What does Elvis say?

The last couple of years my wife has camped with me at the start on Friday; last year when we took off as a group Elvis fell right in line- my wife had to run and grab him and she said he made the most pitiful noises as I was heading down the trail without him, ditto this year. If it was up to him, he'd be going

Impressive stuff. Tip of the hat to you and your compadres.

danke

Just a couple of thoughts:

First of all, next time I have a 6 point bull elk on the ground and need help packing it out you will receive a text from my Garmin inReach device!!!

The Bob Marshall Wilderness ("The Bob") has been on my list for a long time to do as a summer backpack trip. I have read so many articles and it just seems like a magical place with parts that are still quite remote.

With regard to your age let me give you some encouragement: Cycling is one of my passions. I love to ride, and the other day I was on one of my favorite routes and I was excited because my Strava app was showing that I was making record time (for me). Out of nowhere, this bike goes flying past me going WAY FASTER than I could pedal. It was a 75 year old totally grey bearded BEAST of a man. He waved as he whizzed past and gave me some silly little stupid smile that made me mad.

I got home at the end of the ride and walked through front door and my wife asked,"How did you do?" and I told her I had broken my personal record for best time and she said you don't seem too happy about it. I told her, "In the middle of my best ride time ever I got SMOKED by a 75 year old man." It still hurts when I think about it. Age is no barrier.

yeah it's a place I would definitely keep on your list of places to go; there are areas (mainstem waterway trails mostly) that get some traffic during the summer, but there are lots of places that see hardly a soul

that my friend is both funny AND encouraging!

Awesome looks like a great time.