CWES - Ben & Kevin’s Excellent Pasayten Adventure

The Cascadian Wilderness Endurance Series events present an exciting opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts to participate in a multimedia adventure blogging contest. These self-supported/unsupported events are open to trail runners, backpackers, fastpackers, and hikers, and each event features a unique and defined route which participants must complete on foot and in one push. Unlike traditional endurance races, there are no course markings or aid stations along the way, providing participants with the freedom to create their own adventure. It’s all up to you! Participants can choose to tackle the route solo or with a couple friends. There are no cutoffs, so participants can take as much time as they need to complete the route without pressure. This unique event is not just about the physical challenge or exploring wild and beautiful places, but also about the opportunity to capture and share the beauty of the wilderness through captivating multimedia content.

Ben & Kevin’s Excellent Pasayten Adventure

This route explores the beauty of the Pasayten wilderness. It includes nearly 10,000 of elevation gain with one monster climb of almost 4,000 ft in a little over 5 miles. It crosses five passes: Sunny Pass, Horseshoe Pass, Scheelite Pass, Apex Pass, and Cathedral Pass. The route was conceived by Ben and Kevin as a 3 day fast pack adventure for mid September when the larches are turning. On their adventure in 2016, they saw more bears than humans. The complete route is: Boundary Trail Pasayten (533), Chewuch Trail (510), Topaz Mtn Trail (360), Windy Peak Trail (342), Clutch Creek Trail (343).

Rationale

Why should you pay $20 to complete one of the endurance challenges? A small part of the fee will go to cover website maintenance and domain registration, as well as getting patches made and other small goodies/swag. The majority of this fee will be donated to trail maintenance organizations. Why are we even doing this? To get people out into the wonderful wilderness areas that we have here in the Northwest and to build the community of adventurous people! The trip report is just as important as actually finishing the route, and we love it when people come up with creative ways to share their experience. Information isn't always readily available for these areas, and maps can be scarce and not always reliable (especially the Pasayten and Frank Church/Selway Wildernesses.) That can intimidate some that aren't as experienced outdoors-people. The goal is to empower people to get out into these wilderness areas and hopefully to protect them into the future.