Bikepacking in Canoe Country

Bikepacking in Canoe Country can be just as fun as paddling in the Boundary Waters. Besides paddling, my other recreational love is biking and I love touring by bike. This year, I’ve gotten a few paddling trips in (canoeing the lower canyons of the Rio Grande, overnight on Lake Superior and an upcoming BWCA trip), but I hadn’t gotten a bike tour in. I decided to bike in my backyard and bikepack on the gravel roads of Cook County, one of the counties that contains the Boundary Waters.

There’s something like 2,000 miles of roads in Cook County and much of that is gravel. I ended up riding a short route of about 95 miles. I broke it up into three days. The first day, I road only 13 miles in the dark to a primitive campsite on the Cascade River, which is close to my house. Day two was a casual ride of 36 miles and lots of messing around to take pictures and relax. It included running into a bunch of men doing a religious service on Lake Clara. And, finding a bunch of late season blueberries. I think I ate a dozen handfuls before moving on to camp at the Toohey Lake Primitive Campsite. The last day was a 47 mile ride home.

I was a little light on food and would bring more next time. It seemed like I was hungrier than one a paddling trip (and I usually bike trip near towns and stop for lunch in town). Here’s my food list:

Breakfasts

• Oatmeal with raisins
• Oat cereal with powdered milk

Lunch

• 2 x Tuna w/ tortillas
• 2 x Beef stick

Dinner

• AlpineAire Three Cheese Lasagna

Snacks

• 2 Nature Valley granola bars
• 2 peanut butter Clif bars

My bikepacking kit is a bit of a mishmash of brands, but I’m happy with most of it. The only thing that I’m considering replacing is the handbar bag. I need a bigger bag for camera gear and have tried a bunch of bags but haven’t found anything that is perfect. I’d need to fit a mirrorless camera with one lens, filters, extra batteries and a shutter release cord. I’m thinking of replacing what I have with a Revelate Harness and Egress Pocket, but I need to see one in person first. I also need a better way to carry the tripod, because getting it off is a PITA. I didn’t shoot any moving shots of me riding because getting to the tripod was too much work. I may add a Revelate Mountain Feed bag to carry a water bottle (these work great on canoe thwarts as well).

Here’s the gear that I used:

• Seatpack: Arkel Seatpacker 15
• Frame bag: Rogue Panda custom rolltop w/ map pocket
• Top Tube bags: Rogue Panda Rincon Top Tube Bag, Bedrock Dakota Tank Bag (I’d just buy Rogue Panda if I was buying again)
• Handlebar bags: Roadrunner Large Point and Shooter, Outer Shell Drawcord Handlebar bag w/ camera padding, Outer Shell Stuff Sack Harness
• Fork Bags: Salsa Anything Cage HD and bags

Here’s the gear that I packed with arrows point to where I stored it on the bike. It’s essentially my current S24O: Kayaking Kit List with just a few differences.

Here’s the route

Day 1: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/26986358
Day 2: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/26986360
Day 3: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/26986368

And finally a few pictures from the trip