CWES - Sourdough Sufferfest Mind/Body Challenge

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.

About the Mind/Body Challenge

UltraPedestrian continues our unique challenge called the UltraPedestrian Mind/Body Challenge. The Route is an out and back from the Diablo Street/Sourdough Trail head off Highway 20 in the North Cascades to Hannegan Pass Trail Head and back. Here's the catch: you must summit Sourdough Mountain twice, on both the out and the back. So the complete route is Sourdough Lookout Trail, Pierce Mountain Way, Ross Dam Trail, Big Beaver Trail, Bush Creek Trail, Chilliwack River Trail, Hannegan Pass Trail, to the Hannegan Pass Campground, tag the shed, turn around and head back. The entire route adds up to 100+ miles. That's the Body part. Here's the Mind part: Gary Snyder spent two summers as a fire lookout in the North Cascades on Crater Mountain in 1952 and Sourdough Mountain in 1953. Before that Snyder had spent considerable time in Japan studying Zen Buddhism. His experiences were semi-fictionalized as the character of Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums (1958). Snyder’s experiences contributed to his works: RipRap, Cold Mountain Poems, The Back Country, Myths and Texts, Six Sections from Mountains and Rivers Without End, and the essays Buddhist Anarchism and Ancient Forests of the Far West. To complete the UltraPedestrian Mind/Body Challenge you must read or listen to one or more of the works attributed to this period in Snyder’s career, and in your trip report tie in your experience on the trail to one of the books. This can be done in any way you see fit, through words, pictures, video, song, whatever expression you choose. Anyone who completes the route, reading, and writing assignment will receive a one of a kind finisher's patch. Only 100 patches have been made.

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.