Commencement of VeloDirt Bikepacking

"Wilderness and motors are incompatible and the former can best be experienced, understood and enjoyed when the machines are left behind where they belong -- on the superhighways and in the parking lots, on the reservoirs and in the marinas." -Edward Abbey

If my Revelate Designs bags could talk, they would have been very vocal about their time spent stored away, not being used for their intended purpose. School, weather, lack of riding partners and life has created many delays-but the stars finally aligned for Donnie, Nick and I to head out into the Oregon wilderness for some good old fashioned adventure.

Being my first bike-packing expedition outside of some trips around Decorah, the process of assembling my kit was both exciting and stressful. (I will dedicate a different post to what I carried in the future when I solidify some more items) The weather reports indicated that we had little chance of being rained on, but the temperatures were expected to be below freezing. My mind raced between what to pack or not, and I ended up carrying more than I needed, which was fine as this trip was intended to figure our kits out.

It felt nice to be out in the back country. Rolling through farmland on hard packed dirt always reminds me of home. If only Iowa had those mountains in the distance....

Nick in the middle of our ascent up to Barney Reservoir.

Nick and Donnie handled the maps-I was just along for the ride.

Less intimidating than a black bear....

Extra time at camp allowed us to experiment with cooking setups

Prime campsite above the valley

Enjoying the warmth of a fire before settling in for the night. If only I had the ability to capture a photo of the magnificent stargazing experience we had......

We awoke to partially frozen water bottles and sun creeping over the treeline

Following the Trask River back down to sea level

Donnie and Nick getting more road information

This trip was a good indication of what gear worked for us and what didn't. Although we moved at a very conservative pace and took lots of pictures, my body felt great both days on the bike and I had no pain while riding my loaded Fargo. Two days spent outside of the city relishing the scenery and beauty of the Oregon coast range provided me with much of what I needed to balance out life with school and my desire for adventure.

For the official VeloDirt recap see Donnie's post here.