Trip Photos

Ridewith GPS Link

Strava Day 1 | Strava Day 2

First Bikepacking trip ever, and it was terrific. I'm definitely a mountain biker, first and foremost-- but I have a lot of miles backpacking in my past. I ride a trail bike, a 150/140mm Carbon Propain Hugene coming in around 31 pounds. It's pretty nice because the suspension linkage leaves most of the triangle empty, leaving room for a small bag. I was able to borrow a handlebar pack, seatpack, and frame bag from a friend/trip member who had spares.

I lucked out, and a cool married couple invited me on along on their trip which they had planned out perfectly, and I was able to invite another adventure compatriot. The weather couldn't have been better, in the 80s and below, and no smoke from wildfires.

We started in downtown Sisters and biked to Camp Sherman for hamburgers. While there, I picked up a bunch of postcards and mailed them via the post office to my friends and family. Also! The little post office had a lending library -- I had forgotten my kindle and was stoked to pick up a copy of "A River Runs Through It" to read at camp that evening.

From there, we made a short jaunt over the Head of the Metolius and onto a local fish hatchery. I didn't take any photos, but damn! So many fish in a small place. One of my friends on the trip had visited a fish hatchery in Durango, Colorado, frequently as a field trip in grade school, so she wasn't as keen on it as we were. She also mentioned that fish hatcheries are likely a bigger problem than a solution.

We then pedaled, and pedaled and pedaled through beautiful landscapes, in the sun, and not, in the sand, and not. It was a lovely ride with 44 total miles and 2.2k of climbing. In the late-ish afternoon arrived at Jack Creek Campground and set up camp. We took no photos here, but we all had a little bird bath in the river, made dinner, played hearts for a few hours, and then settled into our tents and read ourselves to sleep.

The following day it was cold! We started our ride out of camp on a national forest road. A few of us felt a little worse for wear, but after about 400 feet of climbing, everyone felt fabulous again. The ride was flanked by great views, birds, and some very handsy manzanita trees. We stopped at the Boat House on Suttle Lake and ate our fill of very expensive food and fruit juice, and got into the last 20 miles of the ride.

Honestly, the last 20 were kind of my favorite ride, we had a great single-track section just after leaving the lake, and I just loved that I was able to merge backpacking with my mountain bike. Also, these friends were new friends, and I felt like we all did super well as adventure compatriots. The discussions were interesting and fun, and our skill levels aligned well. Everyone was dialed and had a handle on their gear and riding technique.

We arrived at the car mid-afternoon Sunday, already talking about the next trip. I can't wait.