Sunfish Pond - dont let a boy do a man's job

[lowviz]

I'm going with a bottom profile map (done from the surface) so I don't waste my limited gas. Fun winter project.

Looking for a good folding, or inflatable boat. This is my current favorite, but it is stupidly expensive: https://alpackarafts.com/product/yukon-yak/. Five pounds, 8" diameter by 2' when rolled up.

Anybody able to suggest a cheaper alternative. The bottom has to be durable, there are a lot of rocks and tree limbs just below the surface.

---------- Post added November 27th, 2015 at 04:10 PM ----------

@knotsmart:

Just found this: https://vimeo.com/112640615. That should help put things into perspective. We are talking about a calm little pond at the top of a mountain.

Now, as one who has rafted the Cheat, New, and Gauley in a ducky, that is one badass little watercraft in the vid! I was once in a standard raft (Allegheny Wildwaters, IIRC, Beckley, W. Va.) that was the only craft able to make headway and hang against a rock to watch all the others navigate the one class VI rapid on the Gauley. Female guide.

We are talking about a pond and a hike here...

 

[knotsmart]

believe me, I get it. I admire your sense of adventure. ive hiked to sunfish pond several times. not in a lot of years. all I can say is. its gonna be a treacherous hike with all your gear. bless you.. youre a better man then I..

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

youre a better man then I..

Negative - where there is a will - there is more than one way... You just have to want it enough...

 

[lowviz]

Precisely!

We all follow our own star. Fun when you meet someone going in the same direction.

 

[lowviz]

Mapping the pond's bottom requires a shoreline plot.

Took points off of Google Earth (and then had to convert them to decimal degrees) so I could feed the data to a slick, cheap (free) plotter: GPS Visualizer.

-all we have to do now is to fill in the middle.

View attachment Sunfish Pond.txt

 

[KDAD]

That's a neat mapper. Turns it into a real fun project. Gives it a strong sense of purpose now more than just making it to the top and diving in.

 

[tridacna]

The neat thing is that when you make it up there, there is zero chance of being caught. It is beyond the realm of reality for any ranger to imagine anyone diving in that desolate pond. I'm sure that you're going to GoPro the entire event. Right?

 

[lowviz]

That's a neat mapper. Turns it into a real fun project. Gives it a strong sense of purpose ...

Indeed.

It was really nice to see that the points I took from Google Earth mapped almost precisely onto the National Atlas. See map below. Now BRD and I can REALLY argue the relative merits of the two possible approaches.

... I'm sure that you're going to GoPro the entire event. Right?

Yep. The fundamental rule of adventure applies everywhere.

"Without pictures, it never happened."

 

[lowviz]

I emailed GPS Visualizer to see if a grid overlay was an option. It isn't, so here is my best guess as to where to do depth measurements so that we don't miss anything interesting. See attachment. (Go to Track Options, click the advanced [+], and then change Drawing Mode from Lines to Dots.)

I can't help thinking that doing this profile in enough detail to make a proper topographic map would be a great senior project for some geo or hydrology student.

Now working on getting a proper packraft. It continues...

View attachment Grid Sunfish Pond.txt

 

[lowviz]

Update:
Garmin GPSmap 64st. Check.
Alpacka Yukon Yak raft. Check.
Alpacka collapsible oar. Check.
Kayak emergency flotation vest. Check.
Emergency marine radio. Check.
Goodies, water, camera, and stuff. Check.
REI custom selected and fitted backpack for all the above. Check.

Tomorrow is a dry run to see if I can pack everything up 1,300 feet and float my a$$ all around Sunfish Pond and return. Nothing more. BRD and I are following serious plans to depth survey the site, this is step one. BRD was already below the surface by monkey diving. This begins the depth profiling phase by proving easy access to the surface. We will both dive Sunfish Pond once we find the interesting spots...