First time bikepacking

I enjoy camping and biking, but an amateur at combining the two.

To combat the stresses of my final semester, I planned a bikepacking trip with my stats friends. It was the light at the end of the tunnel from a terrible winter and a brutal final semester.

Bikepacking combines biking and camping. You can go further than you could if you were backpacking, but are limited by where a bike can go. Generally, you want to avoid having bags on your person, so there are all types of special bags you can buy to pack your things onto your bike. You’ll see that all of us were amateurs (and poor enough not to have expensive, compact camping gear) and had a difficult time achieving this goal.

Packing for this trip proved to be challenging. As a chronic overpacker, I ditched my newer mountain bike to use Rachel’s Gary Fisher steel frame bike that has a rear rack. I was excited to finally use some pannier bags (bags that utilize a rear rack) that I got for my birthday a year or so back. These pannier bags and a massive bag placed on top of the rack held most of my stuff. I completed my rig by placing my tent on my handlebars with some bungee cords. Not sure if I achieved the goal of no bags on my body with the hefty fanny pack I had on, but I felt like I got close.

The rest of my friends (Nate, Sam, Caleb) all had at least a backpack. Nate had some bags on his bike, but poor Caleb packed all of his stuff in a massive backpacking bag. He could have ditched his bag and hoofed it on foot no problem. Kudos for him for sticking through the climb with that on his back.

We were worried about campsites being snowed over with the trip being early in the camping season and a long winter. Nate, who I’ve been mountain biking with recently, and I had recent experiences with muddy trail. That same morning, I explored with my mountain bike the north side of Kiev mountain (mostly trails and campgrounds around formerly Squaw Peak road). I found some dry sites, and with an up to date report, we decided to venture up Kiev Peak road to a site there.

From my apartment to the base of Kiev Peak road, the riding was tame. Once we started the climb, I felt my time of reckoning was here, having ridden this trail earlier that morning. By the time we reached out spot (about 3 miles up the road), I would have bonked on the next bend.

We set up camp and a fire and waited for Caleb’s propane stove to heat up some water for us. We were all starving. My foil bag/bowl to hold my ramen had a hole in it, resulting in some of the worst ramen I think I’ve ever made in my life (which is saying something considering how eager I was for carbs at the time). Caleb let me borrow his bowl, which really saved my meal. I had ramen, Takis, and an apple for dinner.

The best part of the evening was hanging out on the mountain that night. I respect these guys a ton and have become good friends with them since our program started two years ago. But most of all, I’ve missed being out in the outdoors. This winter kept me indoors more than any other winter, and my shell needed resizing. That night I reflected on how much I love the slow pace and solidarity of the outdoors (one of the reasons I enjoy biking so much), as compared to the chaotic research and coursework frenzy in the same office through this long winter. For me, it helps me get outside myself in two ways. The first is that I often don’t have internet connection, which forces me to slow down. The next is that I often remove myself from civilization and in some cases (this one) view my home from afar (a portion of our view covered Utah Valley). In stepping away from where I spend my time, I reflect on the emotions and stresses experienced there. It’s definitely a restorative mental exercise for me. I feel that a night in the outdoors with your head to the stars counteracts months in the office with your nose to the ground.

The rest of the trip was great. I slept alright that night (a little too cold for me), and the next morning, we hiked a short ways up to a lookout that provided a beautiful view of the entire valley. We packed our stuff and headed home. It was a great trip, and with the gate closed to cars, we were essentially the only ones on the mountain. I need to camp more. Hopefully, there are more outdoor adventures to follow.