Since I think this is also doubling as the Powell gathering thread (because it's at the end of the Grand Slam), I'll just post what I'm planning (subject to whims of universe). I won't be doing the "upper" Grand Slam, but I am planning on going to Powell. I'd like to spend somewhere between two and four weeks. That may depend somewhat on if there are other Brats to meet up with. I was solo last year and after a couple of weeks was feeling a bit soloed-out, although other than that could easily have stayed longer (then I tried to whack my finger off so that settled that and I had to pull out anyway).
My hope/thought is that many of us know the basic ropes on Powell (many, myself included, thanks to Chris and Rana Verde), and so why don't we just carry on and meet up at the planned place and time as usual (Oak Bay, Saturday night potluck, Sept 19th, is I believe the date/time). I imagine there will be plenty of C-Brats who have been on Powell before so that if there are any new folks there who want some guidance it will all work out. In past years it seemed that the potluck on Saturday was the main thing, and after that some folks would do the "guided tour" with Chris and others would split off to do other things, with perhaps additional meet-ups down the line (although it's good to pre-plan a little bit as VHF is very spotty).
So in summary, I plan to do Powell, and likely for longer than a week. So far my one planned date is the Oak Bay Saturday night potluck, September 19.
(Note that many people arrive early at Oak Bay, and some stay later as it is a great place to hang out and relax or do other things (kayaking, etc.)
