Touring - Ultralight Bikepacking Trip - Lots O' Pics

Four of us headed up into the mountains north of Los Angeles for a weekend of bikepacking. This was a first for all of us I think, I know it was for me. The route was a mix of technical steep up hill, fireroad climbs, ice covered fireroad climb and descent, and gnar gnar singletrack descents. Temps were in the upper 30's low 40s at night and 70s in the day. Two in the group used BoB trailers and 2 of us used frame bags some made my Jeff at Carousel Design Works (http://carouseldesignworks.com/). Jeff's products are amazingly well constructed and you hardly notice they are on the bike when riding any type of trail (well I noticed the 15 pounds of gear on a 1x9 hardtail on steep climbs for sure). The seat pack holds an amazing about of gear and the construction is top notch, a total work of art. The best part about it was we camped maybe 2 miles as the crow flies from one of the biggest cities in the world and you would have never known it. We were concerned about bears, looked at starts, and never heard anything other than the stream running behind camp. Enjoy all the photos!

Climbing up some singletrack
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Ice covered road near the top of the fireroad climb. Riding on ice like that was one of the coolest biking experiences I've had to date. It was effortless and totally silent. However if you torqued it a bit too hard or got the slightest bit off balance you were going down. Two of us went down pretty hard.
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Mmmm Sushi!!!!!!!!!!
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A little downhill fun on the way to camp
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Awesome downed tree the trails goes right through.
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Killer campsite
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My ultralight Six Moon Designs Westgate Cape
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Great stream behind camp with a nice waterfall.
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Sitting around the (alcohol burning) campfire. My cook kit consisted of a cat food alcohol stove, 22oz. Heineken can pot, aluminum flashing windscreen, and some insulation. It worked pretty well but I need a design that holds more fuel per burn.
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Bionicon Edison and Bob trailer, ready for the ride out...
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Kind of hard to tell but the trailer is in the air!
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Final pic of my rig all loaded up.
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Bathroom scale weight is 42 pounds. That includes bike, gear, and loaded Wingnut. Does not include water or fuel.

Stats for the ride
Day 1: 16.4 Miles, 3,920 Feet Total Ascent, 3,000 Feet Total Descent
Day 2: 17.9 Miles, 3,485 Feet Total Ascent, 4,320 Feet Total Descent

Wow - that is some nice single-track, and camping at the same time makes it perfect in my book. Looks like you guys were setup pretty well. Nice rig you have there, too - I like the 1x9 concept. I assume you were in the Angeles NF? That is beautiful terrain, and plenty of water this time of year. I know they have several campgrounds back in there - did you need a permit for stove use?

Nice photos! 'Til recently, that was the only sort of "touring" I had done. Brings back great memories and having seen your photos, makes me want to do it again. Nice terrain you guys had to ride through, no doubt some tough climbs in there. We used to play at getting to the top of a climb with the least dabs and heckle one another for any (non serious) falls. Good post. The kind I like to see.

I assume you were in the Angeles NF? did you need a permit for stove use?

Yes Angeles National Forest. All front side as most north facing slops and higher elevations still have snow. No permit for the stoves. Not sure if you need them or not. I have been backpacking in the Angeles since the late 80's as a Boy Scout and I can't remember ever getting a permit. We have never been asked for onr by a ranger. Just our Adventure Pass parking thing.

Your shelter is the Gatewood Cape named after Grandma Emma Gatewood who hiked the Appalachian Trail using a plastic shower curtain as a shelter;
http://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7BD25B4747-42A3-4302-8D48-EF35C0B0D9F1%7D/GATEWOOD.jpg
Oldest female thru-hiker. Emma Gatewood, better known as “Grandma Gatewood,” mother of 11 children and grandmother of 23, was 67 when she first hiked the Trail in 1955. She completed her second thru-hike in 1957 at age 69 and became the first person to complete the Trail three times when she finished a section hike in 1964.

Wow that is a cool factoid I was unaware of. Thanks!

Bike camping porn! YES!!! :D

Nice trip and pictures -- thanks for sharing them.

Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing. I'm planning a spring break bikecamping experience in Henry Coe State Park by Morgan Hill. I'm looking for tips. I've never bikecamped off pavement before. What is your group's general opinion of Bob trailers vs. panniers? (I've got a Bob and that's what I'm thinking about bringing.) Anything else I should know? I have a 10-year-old Rockhopper with XC fork I'm planning on riding.

Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing. I'm planning a spring break bikecamping experience in Henry Coe State Park by Morgan Hill. I'm looking for tips. I've never bikecamped off pavement before. What is your group's general opinion of Bob trailers vs. panniers? (I've got a Bob and that's what I'm thinking about bringing.) Anything else I should know? I have a 10-year-old Rockhopper with XC fork I'm planning on riding.

My biggest tip is to keep it light. Go as light as possible and don't bring anything more than you need. I have ridden with both a BoB and now frame packs, but not panniers. I highly prefer the frame packs to the trailer. The trailer is 18 pounds of gear before you add anything else. My pack system weighed less than 3 pounds. A rather inexpensive way to go would be to get light rack, Delta makes are pretty nice looking one designed for disc brake bikes, and use a large stuff sack to hold most of your gear. Plenty of companies make larger rack bags. Stay away from side panniers if you ride narrow singletrack. There is no way I could have ridden the trails we did with side panniers. The more technical the trail the more weight you want on your back and not on the bike so you can flick the bike around. So keep thinks like stove, pots, food, fuel, water, pump in your pack. Keep thinks like sleeping bag, and cloths on your bike.

very interesting, that looks like a wonderful plan of action there. Last tour I went on if you can consider it light was with my little brother. He was carrying a full hikers backpack and I had a backpack and a trunk. Needless to say it was a nice experience. I will have to give light weight touring a go. Were you all on hard tails?

I plan on taking a tour come spring, so I wonder about the details.

I'm looking forward to doing some of this soon. Awesome pics!

Thanks for the pictures, really great enjoyed them loads. Always wanted to do an off road tour, guess you need equipment like your though, as in bikes. ummmm fuel for thought, just what one needs in these winter days.

Thank you for the pictures, that looks like it was a great time.

Were you all on hard tails?

No I was the only one on a hardtail. 2 29ers (1 hardtail 1 fs), 2 FS 26ers.

on the full suspension u sing the bob? How did that go?

on the full suspension u sing the bob? How did that go?

Wasn't me on this trip but I used to use a BoB with my Yeti 575 with 5.75" of travel. It worked well, very well on singletrack. Very fun experience.

Hey Brian, it's Mike.

Hey dude. Welcome. Looking forward to the Solvang Double!

Next time you do something like this post it to the SoCal Forum...'k?:)

Hey great shots - that looks like a beautiful run. I seriously envy you.