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.

Bike trip on the edge of the Gorge

4/20 - 4/21 (1 night)
2020 Bag nights: 6

The Red River Gorge is shut because of COVID, but there are cool places in the surrounding areas.

This gives a hint of where we were

I did a little research about the 15th Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Infantry Division which it was part of in WW2. I don't know when he joined the Regiment, but it fought through North Africa and then Sicily and then the Italian peninsula. Based on the date of death, it appears that Boyd Morisson died at Anzio.

Down the road we go ...

... I had thought we would be able to ride a little more than we did, but I was not accounting for a kids bike with tiny wheels and tiny pedal cranks. The couple mile ride worked her a bit and once we got to my planned campsite, she was not interested in getting back on the bike :)

Oh well we were at a great overlook.

She had an art project for school where she was supposed to spell out her name using natural materials.

When she was done with her name, she decided to do another one.
#TeamKY

Enjoying the view and waiting for the sunset.

We enjoyed the sunset and waited for the stars to come out. Thankfully, the wind died down so we were comfortable.

 

Blue hour

Venus was bright in the west

I was busy talking with her and not really paying attention to the photography. It wasn't until she was basically done for the night that I realized I had never opened up the aperture after the sun went down, so I had been shooting at f/22 for the last hour, so this is the only decent astro-photo I got.

The wind picked back up overnight and some rain came through. It was still really windy in the morning, so not a lot of photography.

We had breakfast and packed up and headed back to the car. It was a little cool, so she is riding in her fleece PJs.

Spring flowers showing up

We got home about 23 hours after we left. It was not the trip I had planned, but we still had fun.

1st bike ride

11/15/19

I got a bike (a Surly Bridge Club) about a month ago and finally got a chance to really ride it besides around the neighborhood with the kids.

The weather forecast looked great and I was able to escape from the office, so I headed to the Red River Gorge, specifically Indian Creek Road. This is a longish gravel road that dead ends, so there is not a lot of traffic. I did some hiking here last winter when the road was closed and thought this would be a good first ride.

I ended up riding almost 14 miles with some photo breaks along the way. I find it interesting that I can hike 15 miles and feel fine, but biking, which uses the same muscles, really wore out my legs. By the end, I was happy to be back at the car.

I'm already planning out my next ride.