G-WeBconnect

Boys with Ultra Sole
Doin' the Wakely:
Fast Packing the Course in Two Days
(5/6-5/7/06)

Boys with Ultra Sole
Fast John and "g"
take a pose on Day-2
at Beaver Pond.
(Mile-22)
Click on Pix
to Enlarge

The odd thing about training for an ultra is what a runner will actually endure to get to the start line. Fast John and "g" had been ready to jam out a training run on the Wakely course for a couple of months. Initially, they planed two, 10-mile out and back training runs on two different weekends - one from each end of the course. Unfortunately, this would leave the middle 12 of the 32 mile trail still a mystery to the Boys with Ultra Sole.

The solution: Run the course in one weekend as a fast-packing, over night camping trip. (Huh?)

There were some kinks to be bugged out for a trip like this. Running 32 miles with a backpack... along absolutely remote backcountry trails, somewhere in the western end of Adirondack Park... required some tricky gear planning and maneuvering. Packs for running must be ultra-light in construction, big/small enough to carry the safety essentials for potentially diverse, early-spring/late-winter weather, and can't interfere with the mechanics of running. From the moment their cockamanie plan was hatched, until they stepped out of Fast John's car at the trail head at Piseco, NY, here's what the Boys with Ultra Sole debated, conversed and obsessed about:

G-WeB Links
G-WeBconnect
What's New:2/10
LaBellishments
Runners Make
Better Backpackers
TIPBusters
Chef DeBoot Blister
Rain Bucket

1) The trip was scheduled for the first weekend in May. The Great Northeast could treat the Boys to a smorgasbord of precipitation. Anything from 80-degree temperatures to ice and snow... all in the same day!

2) Packing light and compact was complicated by the need for a cold weather sleeping bag (~ 2-lbs.), versatile all-temperature clothing, water bottles (2-lbs per quart), and a pack (about 1600 in3; ~ 2 lbs) only big enough to carry the bare necessities.

3) Anticipating a lonely run along a remote part of the Northville-Lake Placid Trail just about guaranteed an empty lean-to at mile-16. No tent meant saving precious pack space and weight (3-4 lbs.)

4) Should they pack their Gore-Tex bivy sacks for emergency shelter
(1-lb/10-oz)?

5) Should they carry a water filter (14-oz) or a self-purifying water bottle (7.4-oz empty/holds 28-oz. of H2O)

6) What would they eat during the run? Carb-gels, Gatorade, food...

7) Would they cook dinner or eat power bars (Fast John's preference)? Cooking required an ultra light Pocket Rocket stove (4-oz.), a small fuel canister (8-oz), cookware and dehydrated food (~ 2-lbs).

8) Clothing: Threads must be minimal, lightweight and not bulky. They must include combinations of moisture wicking, fast drying, breathable, waterproof and warming properties. 0-degree temperatures were very possible!

9) Footwear: Running shoes... trail shoes...? What about wet feet and blisters? A second pair of shoes?

10) Could the Boys with Fast-packing Panache actually run for two days carrying 12-16 lbs?

 


Pile-o-gear strikes again!
Oh, dear... what to pack...

 

 


Wakely Dam:
"g" drops off his car at the
Wakely Dam parking
area - the end point for their
weekend training run and
the race in July!

 

 


Piseco Trail head:
Nothin' but gear-talk on
the 1-hr. drive south to
the trail head.

 


Fast John:
"What weather?"


Fast John Adjusts:
After 10 minutes on the
trail, mist transitioned into
4 hours of pelting rain.

 


"g":
Livin' the dream!


Aside from "the hill"
at 2.25 miles, a
little blow-down here
and there, and a few
mud holes to traverse,
the first 10 miles was rather enjoyable.

 

Day-1: The rain pounded the Boys with Ultra Sole unmercifully!
And, yet... they smiled, adjusted their Gore-Tex clothing
and kept their soggy pitter-patter of a pace traveling north.
Back
Next:
Boys with Ultra Sole
Doin' the Wakely:
Fast Packing the Course in Two Days
(Continued; Day-1)
 

  
G-WeBconnect
Explore the Art of Backpacking