North Rim Video:
http://youtu.be/ImPRUj7e4c8After the birth of my daughter last August, my drive to race bicycle and train for racing literally disappeared over the remainder of 2012. I had always debated the pros and cons of riding bikes with the ultimate goal to be fast. I felt the creative side of my brain was being disregarded for the thrill of speed and appreciation of efficiency and fitness. While I had no intentions of giving up bike riding as a primary form of fitness, what I felt I really desired was a renaissance back to my rooted love of nature. I missed my old hobbies of hiking, photography, fishing, and nature study. In many ways, my old favorite hobby of wilderness travel, backpacking, had been disregarded for the bike. But, alas, there is a way to combine the two!
I have been attracted to the growing popularity of bikepacking for a couple of years now. The ultralight version of mountain bike touring appealed to me. For the first time I was able to travel by bike to go somewhere, and unrestricted by the need to return home, do it again the following day. This leads to endless trip possibilities – and for my first tour, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon would serve as my testing ground.
Starting in January, 2013, I decided to start gathering the necessary gear. I already asked Santa more than two years ago for the handle bar bag set up, and my bike, Salsa’s El Mariachi twenty-niner, is undoubtedly one of the most qualified bikes for such endeavors. The rest of the gear would come to me as I auctioned off most of my old backpacking gear and purchased newer, ultralight versions of the same, plus frame and seat bags specifically designed for bikepacking. My first new camera in 10 years was purchased too; I was ready to head out.
While I had planned at least one “shake-down” trip to test the concept and the gear, a variety of snafus would not land all of the critical pieces of gear till 36 hours before departure!
Motivated by a variety of outstanding trip reports published online, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon offered all that I was looking for. A nice mix of top quality single and double track trails, plus a network of mostly dirt roads and optional resupply points, if a plan b or c was ever needed while out on the trail. And of course the scenery is nothing short of world-class; I would flirt along the North Rim for 150 miles camp out for 4 nights at select vantage points.
Day 1 – Jacob Lake to Monument Point
Distance: 37 Miles, Climbing: +2,535 / -3,395, Ride Time: 3:30
Whoa, ok, a loaded bike is heavier, it’s slower, and the weight over the handle bars in particular impacts the handling of the bike. I estimated the weight of my bike was close to 50 pounds. Tires and shock need quite a bit more pressure. Luckily my introduction to bikepacking was a good one, the terrain this day was easy and a friendly tailwind would propel me south towards my first view of the rim and a rendezvous with my friend’s vehicle parked at my first night’s destination.
My co-worker Nathan and I coordinated our week of vacation together. His plans included backpacking the Thunder River area of the Canyon which offered me access to his car on my first night for a strategic water/beer stop and later a meeting at the North Rim Campground on my final night on the trail.
I made my camp on a secluded spot right on the rim near the Bill Hall Trailhead, enjoyed a cold brew from the cooler and made conversation with a few hikers either returning or starting their journey into or out of the Canyon below.
Day 2 – Monument Point to Timp Point
Distance: 30.5 Miles, Climbing: +2,633 / -1,989, Ride Time: 4:48
Today would be one of the highlights, I would finally ride the Rainbow Rim Trail, a mountain bike specific trail in the Kaibab National Forest that hugs the rim for 19 miles, but getting there was a bear. There was quite a bit of climbing and some hike-a-bike on primitive roads to get to the trailhead. Along this route I met a few other travelers on bike, horse and foot. Many were interested in my “rig” and trip. The views were great but somewhat infrequent along the rainbow rim. Flowers and shrubs were flowering and humming birds buzzed from bloom to blossom. Flocks of western tanagers, with their florescent rainbow colored plumage hopped from limb to limb. I camped at the southern most trailhead at Timp Point where I found another fantastic campsite along the rim. Timp was completely vacant until John and Julie rolled up in their “overland” style custom Ford Sportsmobile Van, completely outfitted for a modern day safari.
John and Julie run Tonto Trails, a boutique expedition vehicle rental outfit based out of Durango, Colorado. They had just returned from an Overland Expo in nearby Flagstaff, Arizona and were touring with a British couple, Toby and Jo, on the North Rim. J and J invited me over to check out the rigs and have a beer. I obliged! I spent some time getting to know everyone, hitting it off and doing a bit of dancing and frolicking around the campfire. I was treated to a tour of the two vehicles they brought with them. Toby is a renowned photojournalist that covers the 4x4 and overland sports in Europe and around the world; he was working on a story on the North Rim and Tonto Trails. Not wanting to wear my welcome out, I departed to my camp early and made a fire from a select piñon pine firewood batch that I had gathered earlier. Piñon has the most amazing fragrance of any wood on earth and with this being my last night in the more lenient National Forest (campfires are not allowed in the backcountry of the adjacent National Park) this was my best chance to enjoy the spellbinding aroma. Shooting stars crossed the night sky.
Day 3 – Timp Point to Point Sublime
Distance: 25 Miles, Climbing: +2,002 / -2,066, Ride Time: 2:56
During my departure John came by to check out my rig, he shared his interest in bikepacking and recommended I come by and show off my bike to the others. I went over and said my goodbyes, not before giving a handful of recommendations for their next night’s destination. I headed out on some easy and pleasant wooded roads, pumped water out of the Quaking Aspen Spring and headed south toward the National Park boundary. Once into the Park the fun began, the tread was challenging and the terrain was rugged and simply felt “wild.” At one point during a downhill run through a narrow ravine, two buffalos entered the trail directly in front of me, one from the left and another from the right, galloping and kicking up enough dust that I decided to stop, rather than chance heading into a smoke screen whose contents included two huge friggin’ beasts easily capable of destroying me and my machine. I never saw the two buffs again, and actually can’t figure out where they ran off to - the ravine that I met them in did not let up for at least another mile and did not offer easy escape from the trail. Eventually I would drop out of the deep woods and transition to the piñon/juniper and sage habitat that frequent the lower elevations below the actual rim as I closed in on Point Sublime, this nights destination.
At the Point the view is spectacular. From this vantage you have a commanding view of the Canyon and can even see the Colorado River below. I set up camp and rested in the heat of the day. Later in the afternoon, I was surprised to see the overland crew roll up and soon afterwards the party was on. We were joined by 3 more overlanders, outfitted to the gills with pro photo equipment in pursuit to capture a show put on by the setting sun. I was invited over to indulge in much appreciated apps, vino, and dinner and enjoyed what turned out to be an amazing evening - ending up tops in the “least anticipated/coolest part of the trip” category. An excellent buzz was achieved (by all) and eventually, I stumbled off to camp, not before admiring a celestial showdown between Venus, Jupiter and Mercury right on the western horizon.
Day 4 – Sublime Point to North Rim Campground
Distance: 19.1 Miles, Climbing: +2,243 / -1,276, Ride Time: 2:27
I left Sublime Point after saying my final goodbyes to the overlanders, and with a subtle hangover, I began my shortest but most challenging day in the saddle. At this point in the ride my lack of fitness was showing. My legs were toasted and I generally felt fatigued. But with no other real options, I happily kept the pedals turning. Later I would realize that the volume of riding I was completing in any given day was equal to the volume that I was doing in a typical week leading up to the adventure. It was a slog, but I eventually navigated all of the surprisingly sandy tread on this route and rolled into the North Rim, grabbing lunch at the deli, showering off the first layer of filth and saying hello to Nathan who was just coming back from his grand adventure in the Canyon. We took it easy, hit the Saloon, shared some stories and met a small group of young dudes from England who had brought their 40 year old double-decker bus, over the Atlantic, complete with custom paint for a tour around the US! Nate and I polished off a pint of ice cream and I headed off to sleep early in preparation for the following day’s big day in the saddle.
Day 5 – North Rim to Jacob Lake
Distance: 47.6 Miles, Climbing: +2,217 / -2,122, Ride Time: 4:14
To be honest, I was a little worried about this day which featured over 20 miles of singletrack on the Arizona trail, a trail that bisects the arid-zone-uh state. In totally, nearly 50 cumulative miles was needed to get me back to my starting point. However, two important elements were in my favor – one: in general the terrain would feature as much downhill than up and, two: the wind, which was howling out of the south, would be at my back. The latter, in particular, gave me the confidence needed to tackle the day. I didn’t make it out of the parking lot before bumping into a group of mountain bikers checking me out. Richard is the owner of Moustache Custom Cycles in Flagstaff, and as you would have guessed, he has a sweet ‘stache. His bud also had a beard that I would later describe as having the ability to nest a medium sized bird. Anyway, they wanted to hear about the trip and the day’s itinerary. I gave them all the local knowledge one could acquire over 5 days and headed off knowing that I might bump into them on the trail. The effect of the wind was noticeable and I made good time.
Once on the Arizona trail, I made a trip up a fire-tower and further down the trail hugged one more view of the Canyon. I said my goodbyes to the Grand at that point and headed onward. Rich and Company later joined me before outpacing my tired ass up a hill. Finally on the pavement, I was really flying, I covered the last 20 or so miles in just a little over an hour. I rewarded myself with a fat pastry from the Jacob Lake Inn and called it a trip - a really fantastic, hard earned, but not without some surprising perks, first ever - bikepacking trip.
Travel Dates: May 19th - 23rd, 2013.
