Hot Sisters Day 12 – To Oakridge!

Last night’s camping was warm — silly warm. I fell asleep on top of my sleeping bag, with shorts and no socks on, and didn’t wake up slightly chilled until there were millions of stars in the sky and it was the middle of the night.

Still, we slept well. It’s been nice to have …. [Continue reading]

Hot Sisters Day 11 – Hot Umpqua

So close, yet so far. “Come on trail, take us down there!” “No, not hike-a-bike up!”

All we wanted was access to the emerald green river we have been following for 50-some-odd miles. We were roasting, having just ridden through a burn area and with temperatures in the mid 90’s. But…. the trail …. [Continue reading]

Hot Sisters Day 10 – Dread and Terror

Mmmm… today we started the North Umpqua Trail, which is really one of the best in Oregon.

But first, we left campo deluxeo and rolled the dirt(ish) route back to Lemolo Lake. The timing was perfect — we had 1.5 hours to stuff ourselves at the all-you-can-eat breakfast! It was glorious. And cheap. And the …. [Continue reading]

Day 9 – Ride to the hike

Today was one of those days that combining hiking and riding works out beautifully. We are so comfortable here at campo deluxe-o that we really didn’t want to leave. So we didn’t.

We spied a big mountain with a trail up to it: Mt. Bailey. So after a 3 mile spin to breakfast at …. [Continue reading]

Hot Sisters Day 8 – Crater Lake!

Well, this wasn’t planned, but it’s been on our list since buying a Parks pass and since our PNW road trip back in May/June.

Crater Lake National Park.

We spent the better part of a day up on the rim, and peering over at the deep blue lake never got old, it never …. [Continue reading]

Day 7 – Recovery day, and unplanned side-trip

Lemolo Lake, thank you for the hospitality and the recharge. 

We spent much of the day on the ‘computer’ working off the decent 4G coverage at the lake.  It’s a beautiful setting and very peaceful there.  It’s a small lodge, family-run, with the basics a bikepacker needs.  Food, namely.

We spoke at length with …. [Continue reading]

Hot Sisters Day 6 – A burger to end 3 nights of hunger

Hot springs – 3 Mountains – 3 Lookouts – 1

We made it to Lemolo Lake and the wonderful lodge that is here.  That lodge serves up big burgers with the best bacon on the planet (they tried a half dozen different suppliers).

“This burger finally ends what was 3 days and 3 nights …. [Continue reading]

Day 5 – Is it resupply yet?

We’re running thin on food, but that’s pretty normal for us .  This section is the crux of the route, as far as carrying food goes.  Of course it would have been a lot more manageable without our extra-curricular activities, but then, that’s the point, right?

Fuji view of Waldo

Indeed, the extras were …. [Continue reading]

Day 4 – Boatloads of good trail

We rode a boatload of good trail today. That’s the summary.

It rained hard last night, and we awoke to fog. A few miles up our climb a pickup pulled over and asked us for directions. As they left I asked if they stayed dry last night. “Oh no, we got real soaked.”

We …. [Continue reading]

Day 3 – Springs, peaks and more rain

Hot spring count – 2 Mountains climbed – 1

The tent works. I’m typing this to the sounds of rain drops on the fly, and all of said drops are being directed away from us.

This is at least the 3rd storm today, and it is packing more power and thunder than earlier ones. It …. [Continue reading]

Day 2 – We got wet

Hot spring count – 1 Mountains climbed – 0

Well, after all the talk and excitement about the little tent we are carrying, we find ourselves indoors tonight, and quite happy about it. Last night in the tent was great — no doubt about it. We even slept in some. The morning was fine too, …. [Continue reading]

Day 1 – That feeling of hitting dirt

Tires roll onto soft dirt and pumice. Almost instantly we relax, the trip has finally begun. I think Eszter said it best, “sometimes the first mile is the hardest.” Or, getting to the first mile, rather.

It does seem like we’ve been waiting a long time for this trip, though really it was only delayed …. [Continue reading]

Hot Sisters Hot Spring Loop – Day 0

Day 0. Hot spring count: 0.

We are in Oregon, and (car) camping at hot spring #0. Tomorrow we finally load up the bikes and head out for a good bikepack.

The original plan was to thru-ride the Pacific Northwest Trail, a 1200 mile trail from Glacier NP to Olympia NP. But after seeing the …. [Continue reading]

A trip with no plan

We smiled as we headed northwest, to Washington and Oregon. The skies were clearing as we left behind the rainy desert southwest. We smiled at the irony. We smiled at being on the road, with unknown adventure ahead.

Eszter had been recruited for a stage race in Bellingham. That was the excuse for …. [Continue reading]

Heading north… Utah

With our lives packed into our cars and a little shed that leaks, it was time to head north. Each time I’ve repeated this exercise it makes me wonder why I have so much junk. Junk that I am happy to live without for half the year, and that I won’t even think about during …. [Continue reading]

Wrapping up Tucson for the winter

Hey, I’m into April… almost getting caught up on the blog before the next big adventure.

March was incredibly hectic, and in the back of my mind was the opportunity to go race the Holyland Challenge in Israel. The ministry of tourism had offered to help get me over there, and I was definitely intrigued. …. [Continue reading]

March in the desert

I’m still playing the blog catchup game.

I must reluctantly admit that the focus of March was not getting outside and riding. It was sitting at the computer managing my fledgling world of websites and software. Chiefly, a slew of events on trackleaders.com. Working hard over the winter means I can have summers more …. [Continue reading]

Into 2015

Every year I try to ask TopoFusion how much I’ve ridden, based on whatever GPX I’ve collected. Sometimes it doesn’t happen for a few months into the next year. What can I say? I’ve been collecting data on rides for more than 10 years. It is still fun, but the novelty has worn off. I …. [Continue reading]

Pinacate Fat-biking

We had grand plans for a bikepack around the Sierra Pinacate, a large collection of volcanic peaks and cinder cones just across the border from the Camino Diablo, in Mexico.

Chad had previously received permission to ride park roads and singletrack from a supportive and enthusiastic park superintendent. He couldn’t get a hold of that …. [Continue reading]

Back to December

Many blogs are dead these days, but mine is not one of them. As of… right now.

I think it was mostly a case of over-sharing. The CDT was a long trip, and one we documented well. I took thousands of pictures and wrote tens of thousands of words. And I enjoyed just about every …. [Continue reading]