Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Category: camping

  • Back on the Road – finally

    Okay, it was only 900 miles. But heh, I was back on the motorcycle, out of town, and very happy to be on the road.

    Three day weekend and I literally don’t think I saw a cloud all weekend. I took secondary roads out to Caprock Canyon State Park and was amazed by how dead everything looked after the drought this summer.

    Welcoming Committee at Caprock Canyon State Park

    I got out to the park and was blocked from getting to the camp site by bison on the road. They are part of the herd Charles Goodnight saved when all the original bison were being slaughtered out of existence. I had feared the bison herd would only be seen behind fencing, so I was happy to see them on the road even if they weren’t too enthralled with the sound of my F650 single and started to run as I was passing through them. They are really, really big animals and I had kind of hoped they wouldn’t be too freaked by the engine noise…

    The next morning it was off for a 100 mile run up to Palo Duro State Park to see that canyon too. I have really come to believe if there is a mere breath of wind in west Texas or the panhandle it blows itself up into much higher force because there is absolutely nothing out there to slow it down. Needless to say it was a breezy ride there and back through miles and miles of nothingness.

    Caprock

    If you’re going between Caprock and Palo Duro I would highly suggest 207 – it crosses the canyon and is a fun drop down into it and then ride up out of it with pretty scenery.

    I don’t know if you’re familiar with the story about the caprocks. Before the Indians had horses and more sophisticated weapons they would run bison off the end of one of the caprocks and then gather at the bottom preserving all the meat, tanning the hides, even making utensils out of the bones. No part of the bison was wasted. Which makes me respect the Indians a heck of a lot more than the white hunters who decimated the bison for only their hides.

    I was expecting PD to be much more impressive than Caprock but ended up liking Caprock a lot better. It’s less more heavily visited and a much broader part of the canyon lands. Nicely maintained campgrounds and a lot of wildlife that feel very comfortable around humans.

    Link to slide show: http://motorcycle-journeys.com/images/2011_trips/caprock/index.html

  • Cooking while camping on motorcycle trip – review

    There are several things we took that worked out great.

    Pre-Trip Preparation

    I purchased a food dehydrator – I didn’t spend a lot of money on a dehydrator, but after researching made sure I got one with a fan to circulate the air as the food is drying — it speeds the process and dries the food more evenly. Drying takes a while so this is a project to start well before the start date of the trip, but the dried food was light to pack, rehydrated well, and was a healthy, economical alternative to packaged meals.

    To help with drying food I got information from Backpacking chef.com – Chef Glen has dehydrating instructions, recipes for breakfast, supper, dessert, and bark, and cheerfully answers any questions you may send him by email. We even dried ground beef using Chef Glen’s instructions and we able to use it until the end of our two month camping motorcycle trip. Great information.

    I would recommend Backpack Gourmet by Linda Frederick Yaffe – great instructions, great suggestions, and great recipes for dishes to dry and pack. Each recipe includes how heavy the finished portion will be to pack.

    Cooking on the Trip

    I already liked my Jet Boil for my single use, but we used it a lot on this trip. Boil water in the morning for coffee then put a pan on to make oatmeal. Boil water for tea and then boil pasta dishes for dinner. It does have it’s limitations when a skillet is needed (the skillet can be a little small for preparing a big dish). We ended up breaking out JF’s MSR stove when the skillet was needed to prepare a meal. But overall this is an easy to light (even when it’s windy), easy to use, efficient way to heat things up when camping. I was able to find fuel cartridges along the way so I came home with 2 spares.

    If you like coffee I would recommend the Bodum Travel Coffee Press -> I wasn’t sure these would even make the packing list (I thought JF might laugh at the idea) but we ended up using them once or twice a day at least. They made wonderful coffee in the morning and tea in the evening. After that they were great drinking glasses to mix an electrolyte drink. An indication of how great they worked — JF asked if he could take one when he headed out after the trip.

  • Compression bags – review

    Compression bags – After 12,000 miles my opinion is if you don’t have everything possible in a compression bag, beg, borrow, or whatever to pack what you can compressed. My relatively little 23.5 x 12 x 12 Hydra II bag carried 2 sleeping bags, 2 sleep mats, 2 fleece blankets, 2 pillows, Apollo lantern,  and fuel cans for the Jet Boil. No way this would have happened if the sleeping bags, sleep mats, pillows, and blankets weren’t compressed. I made all the compression bags custom to fit what we were taking — it takes a little ripstop nylon, webbing, and ladder lock buckles. I will never travel on the motorcycle without them. Next project is to find a way to compress clothes without trashing them.

  • Black Diamond Apollo Lantern – review

    The Black Diamond Apollo Lantern is a wonderful light to set on the picnic table or hang at the top of the tent. We were able to eat dinner, play cribbage, do dishes, all by the light of this little lantern. In two months of every night use the pack of 4 AA batteries had to be replaced one time. (Note: we both had headlamps so the lantern was not the exclusive source of light.) As advertised it’s about the size of a soup can when closed and easily tucked in between sleeping bags and sleep mats.

  • Exped Downmats – review

    Exped Downmat 9 & Exped Downmat Deluxe 9 – each were a little bit of a pain to inflate compared to the Thermarest self inflating, but oh what a difference. Properly inflated each is thick and comfortable and completely insulates you from ground cold. In Natashquan it got down into the 40’s and with 35 degree sleeping bags we were warm and comfortable with the Downmats. Besides comfort they each pack easily back to original size (I felt the Thermarest took a lot of work to get it compressed to original size). Ditch the bag for the Downmat 9 and use straps to secure it or it will be too big to pack. The deluxe compressed well with the compression bag that comes with it. Both take a little practice and time for both inflating and deflating, but I don’t think I would ever travel with anything else.