Or…“Now for something completely different…”
09/2020
Back in the day, the British sketch comedy show “Monty Python” would transition from one sketch to another with a ridiculous image and the words “And now for something completely different.” That seemed appropriate as Dan and I strapped on panniers and prepared to tackle the gravel roads and two tracks of the Superior National Forest in far northern Minnesota.
This was going to be something completely different. In recent years a whole movement known as “bikepacking” has become popular. Typically a mountain bike is fitted with camping gear strapped on and around the frame to enable self-sufficient off road capability. You may notice that the picture below does not look like the picture to the left. That’s because I do not have bikepacking gear, yet we were going to follow a bikepacking route Thus, this trip was going to be a completely different beast. I do have a very capable road bike, set up for road touring with racks, panniers, etc. I do have some offroad capable tires though, so Dan’s idea seemed perfect. What could possibly go wrong?
Dan had uncovered an adventurous bikepack route over many of the Forest Service roads near the Boundary Waters Canoe area. Given our home base in Flagstaff, normally I wouldn’t have considered jetting off to do a trip near the Canadian border. Because of a few other things going on, the timing worked out well to join him. I had about four days to book a cheap flight, box up the bike, sort and pack gear/food, and make my way to Minneapolis, and then with Dan to a motel a short distance from the trailhead.
Almost immediately it appeared as though we were going to have a challenging day. While the overnight rain had ended, and the forecast was for clear skies, 20-30mph winds remained. Then the climbing started. Then the rain returned. The wind, hills (2,000′ worth) and rain would stay with us the entire day. That in itself would have been enough fun, but then miles of road ‘improvements’ left a nice, soft layer of dirt and gravel for us to slog through. One might think that when faced with this level of ‘stupid fun’, the prudent course of action would be to retreat to the nearest brew pub. Of course we’ve seldom been accused of being prudent.
Never mind the wind. Never mind the rain. Never mind the muddy roads. Never mind the flat tire just as another torrent of rain arrived. We were there to have fun!! And we were going to have FUN whether we liked it or not. Actually we did have fun. We had the right gear. We were warm enough. We had chosen to be there. At some point in those situations, you have to just laugh at the ridiculous nature of the whole thing. Granted, that moment came almost immediately, but by days end, the rain had stopped. The sun made a brief appearance. We found a lovely, isolated place to camp next to a lake. It was all good! Plus, our patience and suffering was duly rewarded over the next three days as we enjoyed tailwinds, sunshine, perfect fall weather and mostly good roads. The only real challenge came on day two where the suggested routed took us down a remote two track. The recent rains left behind miles mud puddles interspersed with rocky two track that made us question our choice of routes.
In the end, the north country treated us well. It had been a long spell since either of us had done any bike touring. This trip provided an opportunity to refresh some rusty bike touring skills, and reminded us why we originally fell in love with bike touring. We were able to put some new gear through a shakedown cruise. It was satisfying to learn that the bikes and gear performed flawlessly. It was comforting to know that we could easily handle some pretty rugged terrain should it become necessary. The scenery, the company, the joy of being able to cover significant distance each day at a reasonable pace had us both desiring and planning for bigger and better things.
Sounds like a really fun trip!