Does anyone do mountain-bike (back) packing?



J

James

Guest
I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the days
when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along the
trail).

My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs? Other restrictions I may not
have considered?

Any thoughtful input appreciated.

James
 
"James" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
> time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
> here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the days
> when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along the
> trail).
>
> My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
> pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
> wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs?

Depends on what you mean by wilderness. No official US Federal Wilderness
Area allows mtn bikes. That still leaves plenty of USFS and BLM land and
trails to bikepack on.

Greg
 
James wrote:
> I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
> time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
> here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the days
> when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along the
> trail).
>
> My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
> pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
> wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs? Other restrictions I may not
> have considered?
>
> Any thoughtful input appreciated.
>
> James

You'll need a BOB trailer.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
There's a roadless area just north of McCall, Idaho, along the Secesh
River that's open to motorcycles and mountain bikes. If you want to
take it easy, though, I suggest that you stick to the road -- the paved
Warren Wagon road from McCall, Idaho to Burgdorf junction is paved but
without a lot of traffic. There are a few lakes along the way and lots
of places to camp -- especially for a bicyclist.

You might consider mountain biking to Loon Lake Northeast of McCall.
There's one fairly easy way to the lake and a couple of very difficult
ones.

And now for something completely different. Have you thought about
white water rafting? Go on a wilderness river trip. I've only been on
one long river trip myself -- a late season storm brought the Selway
river up outside of the permit season and I went with a small tribe of
5 people in two rafts. We brought plenty of gear and no freeze-dried
food and lived large. Let the river do all of the work!
 
G.T. wrote:
> "James" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
>> time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
>> here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the
>> days when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along
>> the trail).
>>
>> My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
>> pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
>> wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs?
>
> Depends on what you mean by wilderness. No official US Federal
> Wilderness Area allows mtn bikes. That still leaves plenty of USFS
> and BLM land and trails to bikepack on.
>
> Greg

GT is right, no bikes in any USFS Wilderness Areas, or National Park &
Monument backcountry either. You could ride to the border of a wilderness
area, stash the bikes and then hike in. Or, you can ride in some Nat
Recreation areas like Sawtooth.

Who's got links to Pete Jone's and Per's BOB trips all over the place?

I see you are in the inland NW. There are lots of great trails that might
give you what you want in our region.

1¢
 
On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 19:29:26 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

> There's a roadless area just north of McCall, Idaho, along the Secesh
> River that's open to motorcycles and mountain bikes.

Ask Penny about "roadless" and "along the Secesh".

gabrielle
 
Per small change:
>GT is right, no bikes in any USFS Wilderness Areas, or National Park &
>Monument backcountry either. You could ride to the border of a wilderness
>area, stash the bikes and then hike in. Or, you can ride in some Nat
>Recreation areas like Sawtooth.
>
>Who's got links to Pete Jone's and Per's BOB trips all over the place?

Which begs a question that's been on my mind for years: has anybody done
backpacking with a specialized rickshaw?

Not quite as loony as it might sound at first. I'm thinking a 21st century
upgrade of the traditional American Indian travois - where one just trails a
couple of saplings with a platform/hammock between them.

The OP mentioned knees not tolerating hiking with a load. Maybe it would be
doable with no load - i.e. putting the load on some sort of bicycle-wheel
contraption with short poles coming out of it that attach to a waist harness.
--
PeteCresswell
 
James wrote:
> I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
> time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
> here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the days
> when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along the
> trail).
>
> My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
> pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
> wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs? Other restrictions I may not
> have considered?
>
> Any thoughtful input appreciated.
>
> James

To be overly literal, if you're planning on lugging more than 10lbs,
don't use a backpack. I tried with around 25-30lbs in a mid-size pack
once and launched myself into the scrub trying to muscle a downhill 90
degree left.

/s
 
Aside from the legal access issues, there is a pretty definite limit in
terrain that you can handle with any serious weight on your back. I say
that generically, and I'm sure YMMV, but this has been my personal
experience as an aging weekend warrior.

We often ride an old rails-to-trails path on Oregon that follows a popular
salmon/steelhead river. The local fishermen have worked out that they can
get further up and away from their competition by hiking or biking in. Some
of them are pretty inventive on what/how they pack stuff in. We've seen
guys on bikes with huge packs, sun chairs, float tubes, the works hanging
off of them. Mind you most of them are riding beaters and they aren't
seriously camping. They need to make it 3-4 miles on a civilized trail,
then descend a couple of hundred feet down to the riverbank.

I generally ride with a fairly large pack when we take novice friends up for
a day's ride on this trail. The most I allow for any distance is about 20
lbs, which covers camera gear, lunch(es), extra water, first aid kit, spare
tubes and tools, and apparently everyones layers they peel off during the
ride (my pet peeve). Would I try any serious singletrack with this load?
Probably not. My personal stamina and balance is seriously affected by
having my center of gravity raised and somewhat shifty. Not to mention that
any low bridges on the trail might just cause a nasty dismount.

So for an overnight trip, you might do OK assuming you have a really light
and compact camping gear and your destination is reasonably accessible.
Longer trips will probably be very challenging unless you get some very
creative packing techniques, panniers, bar packs, etc.
Cheers
Gary

> Any thoughtful input appreciated.
>
> James
 
On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 20:55:52 -0800, "small change"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>G.T. wrote:
>> "James" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
>>> time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
>>> here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the
>>> days when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along
>>> the trail).
>>>
>>> My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
>>> pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
>>> wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs?
>>
>> Depends on what you mean by wilderness. No official US Federal
>> Wilderness Area allows mtn bikes. That still leaves plenty of USFS
>> and BLM land and trails to bikepack on.

Damn! I never imagined wilderness areas would have mtb bans.

http://www.imba.com/resources/wilderness/wilderness_toolkit_3.html

Of course, I could take my horses. I'm sure they would have much less
impact on the trail than a couple bikes..... Lets see, I'll need to
take three horses, two to ride & one to pack gear & food/feed. That
will be approximately 3,750lbs on 12 hooves versus 500lbs on 4 wheels.
Much better...... (sarcasm mode off now)

Thanks for the heads-up Greg. I was thinking too logical.....

James

<rest snipped>
 
"(PeteCresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Per small change:
> >GT is right, no bikes in any USFS Wilderness Areas, or National Park &
> >Monument backcountry either. You could ride to the border of a
wilderness
> >area, stash the bikes and then hike in. Or, you can ride in some Nat
> >Recreation areas like Sawtooth.
> >
> >Who's got links to Pete Jone's and Per's BOB trips all over the place?
>
> Which begs a question that's been on my mind for years: has anybody done
> backpacking with a specialized rickshaw?
>
> Not quite as loony as it might sound at first. I'm thinking a 21st
century
> upgrade of the traditional American Indian travois - where one just trails
a
> couple of saplings with a platform/hammock between them.
>
> The OP mentioned knees not tolerating hiking with a load. Maybe it would
be
> doable with no load - i.e. putting the load on some sort of bicycle-wheel
> contraption with short poles coming out of it that attach to a waist
harness.
> --
> PeteCresswell

You mean something like the hiking conversion kit for the Chariot
Carriers?http://www.chariotcarriers.com/html_english/conversion_kits.htm
(click on the hiking link)
 
James wrote:
> I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
> time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
> here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the days
> when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along the
> trail).
>
> My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
> pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
> wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs? Other restrictions I may not
> have considered?
>
> Any thoughtful input appreciated.
>
> James

You may want to search posts from Tracksterman. From his photos and
such, he's probably the best travelled mtb tourer in the group.

/s
 
Thanks for the keywords. I see that the area has been recommended in
this group previously.

Anyone who is interested in traveling in Idaho might read "Discover
Idaho's Centennial Trail" by Steve Stuebner.

Steve is an enthusiastic long-time mountain biker and is well-known by
many Idaho mountain bikers -- I believe that he's currently developing
recreational trails for Tamarack Ski Resort.

Dave
 
James wrote:
> I'm considering using a mtb to get me into wilderness areas (summer
> time) for the purpose of camping/fishing/photography. Does anyone
> here do this? I'm talking overnight to week-long trips (like the days
> when I was young enough to shoulder a 40lb pack & lug it along the
> trail).
>
> My partner & I are still fit, but the knees & such don't like the
> pounding of miles & miles of trail. Does this make sense? Are there
> wilderness areas that don't allow mtbs? Other restrictions I may not
> have considered?
>
> Any thoughtful input appreciated.

Panniers rather than a trailer - if the tracks get rough, trailers are
purgatory. Spread the loads front & rear. Various makes of rack
available if you don't have rack mounts on the frame/forks - I've had
good results with Oldmanmountain -
http://www.oldmanmountain.com/

Keep the weight as light as you can. Useful info here -
http://www.backpackinglight.com/
Specific relevant info here -
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/backpacking_fly_fisherman.html

Pete
 
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