Today was one of those days that makes you respect Gene Kranz. Gene Kranz was the mission controller for much of the Apollo program and famously was one of the men who worked tirelessly to bring home Apollo 13 after its near deadly disaster on its way to the moon. This man stood on earth, looking over all available datapoints and problem solved, planned, and adapted. As plans for this summer’s National Park adventures have shifted and changed, today was a coming together of a lot of datapoints and an answering of a lot of questions. Additionally it was opening the doors to the unknowns that we still have to work on.
“There is no such thing as good enough. You, your team, and your equipment must be the best. That is how you will win victories.”―
These are the men who have to have my back on the trip to Alaska. And in return I have to have theirs. Only one of them will be with me as we backpack across Shenandoah. In June, Andrew Seningen, on the right, and I will be backpacking for 5 days through Shenandoah wilderness. It will be one of the first real field tests of a lot of variables for Alaska, but also carries with it threats all its own. So let’s look at the factors we planned for and the unknowns that still exist.
First- there is the equipment itself. To that end, we have now spent hours looking over our equipment, testing a new Jetboil stove, setting up our USMC surplus tent, setting up and using our MSR water filter, and looking at the capacity and function of our bear canister. The equipment we bought was dependable, but also sparked new questions. How much fuel would we burn per day? How do we track it? How to we break the tent weight down between the two of us? Who is carrying what? How do we keep things packed away safely? Is our equipment the best?
Second- logistics and coordination. We have to depend on Nick to drop us off and Falker to pick us up. We have to coordinate a drop site and a pick up location without the ability to communicate after departure. We have had to plan the route through wilderness we have never been to before using maps and compass while being hundreds of miles away. We had to apply for backcountry permits based on the speed at which we think we can cover the ground, with packs we have not fully assessed the weight of yet. The amount of unknowns in that alone can be daunting.
Finally there is the team itself. This is the place where there can be very little room for unknowns and the largest place for them to exist. For Alaska it will be all three of us. For Shenandoah, it will be two of us. As a logistics guy, human elements are the hardest to account for. In more human terms, trust is not something I hand out to many. In this case, I am happy to say that trust in this team is growing every day. We may not be the best wilderness team now, but we will be. My brother has had my trust for a long time and Seningen has earned it handily. Hopefully they feel the same.
Nothing is easy from here on out. We have been training, planning, and working toward a goal. We have been learning to function as a team. We have been learning new skills, working with new equipment, and tackling new challenges. I am both overwhelmed by the steepness of the climb and comforted by the fact that I am not alone. Gentlemen, if you actually stop by the blog to read this, thanks for having my back in this. I promise I have yours too. On to Shenandoah, our first big step toward Alaska. Into the unknown we go.
UnBEARable Adventures 
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