Proposed bushwhacking classification.

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My wife would probably say that an "experience" starts at Class 5. As in, "I don't want an experience on this hike." She started using this dictum after two Class 5 sojourns within months of each other. One involved a fair amount of bleeding. The other? Crawling for a goodly/ungodly distance through skunk habitat. :confused: :rolleyes: :eek: :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
So far my worst ones were Sentinel from the "Evil Knob" to the summit, ST 3 from Averyville - the final segment from the marsh to the summit. Also, above the drainage en route to Wright slide (on the Wright side) it was so thick we needed headlamps in broad daylight.
 
a #5 for me would have to be from the top of Kilburn Slide to the summit of Kilburn. Then at a close second ST2 from Ward Brook Trail. It was probobly pretty nice 100 feet to the left.
 
It took N. Torres and me over 6 hours to bw from Mullen to N. Brother, a distance of less than 2 miles. We encountered every kind of scrap and crap vegetation that exists in BSP. However, Narcisso insists that the ridge from OJI to Barren is worse.
 
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Ned Kipperson said:
I'd like to hear of what bushwacks that were done over class 5. Sounds like a doozy!! Or hyperbole! Proud

A whack in Baxter State Park between the Nesowahedunk Stream and the tote road. This was after the blowdown in the late 70s or early 80s. Horrendous. Feet didn't touch the gorund. Couldn't see anything. Ripped to shreds. Never, ever again. Period.
 
The mental element makes classifying whacks difficult. Some are beastly, but mostly because your state of mind makes them worse than they really are.

Sometimes you breeze through nasty stuff with a smile on your face because the weather is perfect, the company sublime, and the views unexpected and spectacular. A 3 to some is a 5 to others and visa versa.

I don't rate them. I hike them.
 
There is one easier classification, a series of herd paths saparated by the luck of the draw which, as others have pointed out, may vary considerably on the basis of the season, or a mere matter of 30 yards.

It makes interesting discussion but I would find a bushwhack classification system useless.

First, if I'm looking for a description of a bushwhack a classification system doesn't tell me much other than one person's experience on one of, theoretically, an infinite number of routes. I prefer a much more qualitative description of the trip.

Second, unlike paddling or rock climbing where the classification is based upon relatively defined routes and the classification system is helpful in keeping participants within their limits, bushwhacking requires two things, navigation skills and the will to put up with it or perhaps the perspective to enjoy it. Without those requirements, don't attempt it because a "1" can turn into a "5" at slightest the wrong turn.

Finally, can't we leave the rat race out of at least one aspect of hiking? Do it for shear pleasure, not for bravado. Keep score by your scratches, achievements and disappointments, and willingness to go back.
 
Stan said:
Finally, can't we leave the rat race out of at least one aspect of hiking?
Actually, when I posted this thread it was done with a tongue-in-cheek mind set. Just for fun.

:D

This summer when whacking from Elk Pass to the base of Nippletop slide I was with someone who was bushwackinfg for their very first time. It was quite thick at the beginning, a lot thicker and more difficult than I remembered it. After a tough 100 foot section I informed my companion that on a scale of 5 we had just come through a 4 and that most of the route would be between 2 and 3. Was she ever relieved!

My main bushwhacking partner and I have a lot of fun rating sections of whacks and trying to give overall ratings for the entire trip.

I agree 100% that such a system has little to no practical value.


Here's a nifty little example. I mentioned above that the last section of Sawtooth 3 was real tough. What I didn't say was that we were cross-sloping and that there was still a fair bit of ice on the ground so once in a while our downhill foot would slide suddenly and slam into a tree. That got to hurting the little bone on the outside of my foot somewhat. Pretty tricky to include that in a rating system.
 
my own bushwack rating system with photos

for what it's worth, i started my own bushwack rating system on my website,

starts here:
HTML:
http://www.kstewart.net/Hiking/NE100/ElephantME06/ElephantME06-Pages/Image2.html
or link is on this page, left side, middle:

HTML:
http://www.kstewart.net/Hiking/index.html

:p

and you'll discover the source of my avatar... ;)
 
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