Fx199 said:Quoted message said:Subject: Bicycle backpacking??
From: Bill Baka [email hidden]
Date: 8/9/2004 6:46 PM US Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <[email hidden]>
Does anyone else around here do what I do?
I ride with a school kids style backpack filled with water, food
and other odds and ends and go into the mountains until I run out
of rideable road or trail. I then hike with the bike until it
gets rideable again and repeat as needed until I get to
a spot where I have to abandon the bike and navigate rocks
and things on foot. Sometimes this gets me to a spot where
I could ride the bike again but since it is a ways back I now
just hike, secure in the knowledge that bears don't steal bikes.
I get to some amazing places like this that there is almost no
other way you could get there except maybe a hiking trip with
the use of a car to get to base camp.
The day usually come out at about 70-80 miles on the bike, and
maybe 3 or 4 hours of hiking, sometimes keeping me away from
home over 9 hours. Fun but alone time too, since I can't find
anyone to do this with, actually their loss.
I have found waterfalls, swimming holes, caves, and more, even
disturbed some large wildlife (Sorry Mr. bear, sir.) which in
retrospect I hope was only a deer.
Anybody???
Bill Baka
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No, but that sounds like a lot of fun....
Whereabouts are these mountains?
Northern California, about 40 miles north of Sacramento. I live on
the west side of Beale AFB, which is a huge amount of real estate,
and I have to put in about 15 miles to get to the paved hills
north of the base, then another 10 climbing to anything like a
trail. On the south side, which is where I was talking about, I
go about 15 miles flat, 10 miles getting hilly on pavement, then
another 10 miles of gravel and climbing, THEN I get to the good
stuff. The waterfall is actually called (3 guesses)Beale falls,
and is in the Spenceville wildlife area. The only person I have
ever seen back there was a 20 something female type with a
USAF cap on and she had driven a car as far as possible. I have
seen bicycle prints but they may have been mine, since very few
people seem to be ambitious enough or even know about this
nature hideaway. The closest thing on a map is called Waldo junction
and it is only a spot on the map as I have ridden all oround the area
and there is not even the remains of a building. I take advantage
of the waterfall to fill my water jug with real tasty mountain water.
I carry a 1 gallon Orange Juice plastic jug sometimes with juice,
sometimes water, but when I refill at the waterfall it comes home with me.
I can swim there, or just sit and enjoy before the ride back,
my personal get away spot.
Now I am just gloating, sorry.
Bill Baka
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