Ragnar McDowell 2015 – Thursday

We had so much fun running the Ragnar Trail Relay at McDowell Mountain last year, we signed up to do it again in 2015!  It was the weekend of November 6-7, and we had a blast once more.

After learning last year that camping on Thursday night was a good idea, we decided to do that again, to help us ensure a good campsite.  Jake joined us for the adventure, and we greatly appreciated his help, as the logistics of dropping off the gear and driving the car to the parking area make having at least three people a real necessity.  Plus, Jake’s fun, so we’re glad he came along.

Backing up a bit, our morning started with the Ragnar tradition of the making of the GORP:

Cool scoop assist by Toni

In the past, I’ve had just a few big bags of GORP, but since Ragnar McDowell doesn’t give you a chance to wash your hands with actual soap for a few days straight, I figured folks might appreciate individual GORP bags this year.  After all, it’s not so gross when it’s your own dirty hands in your trail mix.

A bunch of little bags, ready to go!

We spent the morning running errands to Wal-Mart, filling the truck with gas, and eating breakfast at Paradise Bakery for one last hot meal before camping started.

Pull up, Chewy!  Pull up!

We picked Jake up at his house around 2:30, repacked the truck with his gear, and headed to Albertsons for cookies, Subway for dinner to pack in, and the gas station for additional ice.

All packed up!

We arrived at McDowell just after the gates opened for camping at 4:00pm, and the line was already getting long.  Some folks line up before the gates open, so getting in right around 4 can be a bit tedious, even though it gives you the reward of having the option of scoring a good campsite.

The line of cars entering McDowell

As we were getting close to the gear drop-off/loading zone, we saw a campsite that looked good, so I hopped out of the truck to secure it.  Each campsite was drawn out with chalklines (probably flour, actually, as its safer for wildlife), but in grabbing one on the end of the stretch, we figured we could probably set up our tent over the actual line, keeping the entire campsite square for chairs, the camp stove, and the like.  I defended the campsite (this sounds ridiculous, but one guy tried to poach it from me, so it was not all fun and games at this point) while Jake brought a few bags of gear to drop in the square, this being the official Ragnar way of marking your territory.

Chris finished parking the truck, we unloaded the gear in the designated area, then I took over the driving and parking duties while the gentlemen ferried gear back to the campsite and started setting up.  I rode the shuttle back to the campsite (a true white Rag van, not the fancy shuttle buses from last year that Murph enjoyed) to find things moving along well, with the canopy and tent already laid out.

A shot of the campsite in progress:

That’s our white canopy in the middle of the shot

and Matt’s flat tent stretched out before it.

Another shot to show the rest of our teammates where we were located.  As you can see in the right of the shot, we’re near the dumpsters and port-o’s, but not too close to either one (the line of spaces directly in front of the port-o’s are the ones that always fill in last.  I wonder why).

Our white canopy on the left of the shot

The three of us banded together to finish setting everything up and eventually, all was done. 

Jake and Chris working together on the canopy decorations
It's so adorable when they coordinate their XTerra shirts.

As night started to fall, we were happy to have most things done, and we tucked into dinner, ready to enjoy our night of camping before the event.

Enjoying the scenery

Four Peaks at sunset

As the sun dropped, so did the temperatures, so we bundled up and started drinking beer.  You know, to keep warm.

Keeping toasty in our sleeping bags

After awhile, Jake came to the brilliant realization that we had an even better tool for keeping warm in our arsenal – our Breaking Rag team hazmat suits!

Keeping warm in so many ways!

I happily copied him, climbing into both my suit AND my sleeping bag.

Cozy!

We had fun hanging out and listening to some stimulating conversation from the site next to us, the main contributor to the discussion being a giant dude who was around 250 pounds, which was quite overweight for his particular frame.  According to him, he’d climbed up Humphreys, the peak in Flagstaff, several times, which we very much doubted.  Other significant insights from this gentleman over the course of the next few days included:

“I don’t even look at girl unless she’s a perfect 10”

“I’m not saying I need to climb Everest, but I could make it to base camp and consider than an achievement.”

Eventually, after a few more beers, we decided enough was enough (thankfully, our portly friend didn’t spend the night at camp on Thursday), and we headed into the tent for the night.

Coming up next: shockingly, none of us get a great night’s sleep, but thankfully, our teammates join us!

Later!

Amy