What to wear on the Black Canyon portage?

[AQS]

Any suggestions from experience on the best thing to wear to deal with the ivy while dealing with the heat as well?

thanks,
-Sean

[tdm]

Try these, or if you have a buddy in the environmental field buy him a beer!


http://www2.dupont.com/Personal_Prot...entgoogle.html

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...=cr&lpage=none

tdm

[MikeG]

We tried tyvek suits but ended up covered in oozing sores anyway. I think all of our boats and gear were contaminated so we just got it from that. Make sure you rinse off thoroughly in the river each time you can and wash your gear with soap. Enjoy- its a beautiful place

[Bryan Houle]

hey Sean, thanks again for organizing that slide show presentation.

here's my two cents on the BC:

if you're allergic, you WILL get poison ivy. there's just way too much of it. key is to try to minimize it. and i agree with Mike G, remember to wash your gear & boat too.

first a description of the portage: it starts river right and goes for awhile. we opted to camp at the end of this part but on my next run, i'd like to go to the "beach camp" for better camping, which is located at the end of the entire portage. after the river right part, ferry across to the left, portage some more, then ferry back to the river right. beach camp is just a little ways downstream. start early on day 1 so you can make it this far without running out of light.

the reason for going all the way to beach camp is that you can do a thorough bath with soap and water knowing that most of your exposure is done with. there is one last portage on day 2 on the left but it's not too bad. i don't remember the ivy being too bad on that part.

Have fun!

[hobie]

Can't wait Sean, going to be a good trip. I will call tommorow and we can figure out a time to get on the road Monday.

hobie

[tdub]

Sean,
You could try using a coating of dish soap over exposed parts, then rinse after the portage. Never tried it, but heard it works.

[BKC]

I have also heard a good layer of dish soap is very effective also for this run.

[shanebenedict]

Forget the Tyvek suit. Its already a hot enought portage as it is.
We just did the trip and had great success with the dish soap coating. We did use biodegradable. Put it where you are going to be exposed to the ivy. I made the mistake of covering everything and had some small reaction to the soap on my neck. Dish Soap is a little harsh, duh.

Also don't expose your gear and the gear you do expose. WASH IT immediately at camp. I think our one person that got it got it off their gear after the the portage on the next day rubbing around in ivy covered gear.

We were able to avoid a huge majority of the ivy by just paying attention. Make sure you know what it looks like. Its an awesome trip and I came away with one little bump of ivy.

[Fuzzy]

Speedo and trash bags w/ duck tape

[bowen]

I've always wanted to wear a "portage suit" complete with shirt, tie, cumberbun, cufflinks, etc....this way you impress the ivy and it wont jack you as bad

...just use the dish soap method and don't forget socks.

...walk around the ivy, not through it when possible (sounds simple, but its key)...

enjoy the run, its amazing