Edge of the Gorge (part 2)

Somewhere near the edge of the Red River Gorge

5/31 - 6/1/20 (1 night)

2020 bag nights: 12

My last bike trip on the edge of the gorge had left more unseen places than I had expected. The weather forecast looked great for a quick overnight so I decided to do a "real" bikepacking trip. This would allow me to test some new gear, but be short enough that if anything did not work it would not be a big deal. 

I parked at the end of a gravel county road that quickly disappears into the actual creek bed. The Forest Service map shows a road going all the way through, but it switches to a four-wheel drive road at the county line. This area is very popular with the ORV crowd, I encountered a bunch of groups/families out for the day in lifted pickup trucks/jeeps and ATVs, I was the only one on a bike.

In the photo below, the "road" goes from where I'm standing over the creek to the right.

Other parts of the road are high and dry, but this doesn't last long.

It is a very pretty area, but hard to appreciate with all of the noise. If I go back, it would be in the middle of the week vs. Sunday.

Once I got up on the ridge, the crowds thinned out and the road made for nice riding ...

... but there were enough steep parts that I decided to aim for my intended campsite. The two tall boys I carried were a great way to enjoy the views and recover from my hike-a-bike day.

First sighting of Mountain Laurel

Not a bad place to hang a hammock. It was warm in the sun, so I enjoyed a bit of shade while I read in the hammock and waited for dinner time and then sunset (~9 pm).

A little more clouds would have been nice, but I can't really complain.

It was the first quarter for the moon, so I knew there wasn't going to be much astrophotography.

Blue hour with some crepuscular rays

I stayed up late enough to enjoy the stars (and see Mercury), but soon it was time for bed.

I woke up the next morning and enjoyed my coffee and the quiet morning, then packed up and headed back towards the car. My plan was to take the only bike friendly trail in the actual Red River Gorge down to a different road and then around to my car. I knew the trail was steep, but I thought I would be able to ride at least part of it. But, I'm not a very good mountain biker and the trail was very overgrown making it hard to see obstacles. I ended up pushing the bike the whole 2 miles down to the road and then had an easy 5ish mile ride back to my car. 

This ended up being a very good test for bikepacking. I learned that I am much more a gravel road and double track rider vs single track. I also learned that I need to work my bicycle leg strength since the ups seemed to work my legs more than steep hiking does. So, not only a good trip, but I learned something as well.