Just completed a good section of the park to park trail.
Started at hwy 11 at Scotia, 75km across to the 400 and Oastler Lake prov park.
45km on day 2 to Killbear.
This was my first bikepacking trip, and lots of learning was done along the way. I rode a Surly Puglsey with a filzer rack, two MEC rolltop panniers on the back, Blackburn fork cages up front with two 20L SealLine dry bags, and a frame bag with my water bladder inside. Backpack had my tools and snacks, as well as a rain coat for around the campsite as the weather was threatening all weekend.
As for the trail, with the wet summer it was extremely moist out there. I was past my shins within 5km of the trailhead and eventually swapped to my flipflops for riding as there was no way my shoes would ever dry. I was very happy to be riding the pugs with Knard 3.8s as the trail is primarily sandy.
With the ATV/dirtbike in the summer and snowmobile traffic in the winter, the trail is rough even though it's sandy. Long rolling sand waves turn smaller and shorter which were rough on full rigid without a thudbuster seatpost - something I would invest in if I did it again.
The waterholes were frequent and often well over the BB. The worst of which was about 150' long and at it's deepest was nearly at my waist. With the dry bags and 12psi in the Knards, the rig floated beside me nicely.
The 20km heading towards hwy 400 were quite nice. Almost a gravel cottage road for most of it, and downhill for the last few clicks to the rest stop.
I didn't realize how challenging the 75km would be, so hopefully someone reads this and chats with me before they do this ride. If you're expecting a leisurely railtrail, this isn't it! I recommend the trail around minesing if you want easy.
Day 2 was all road, and happy I was on the Knards for that. Lots of hills on 559 to Killbear, and was thankful for my 1x10 with the 28t front surly chainring for the long grunts. Not much to speak of on this ride except for some raw skin on the backside from day 1 which got worse on day 2.
As for gear, I did opt for the panniers over the seatpack, and if that makes me a "tourer" over a true bikepacker, so be it, I could not care less about the semantics or aesthetics. It let me pack maybe a bit more than some, but I was comfy as could be.
Pack included:
- North Face Tuolemne 2 tent
- MEC reactor sleeping pad
- Sail Protex 5C sleeping bag
- Biolite campstove2 with kettlepot
- platypus backpack with 3L waterbladder
- change of clothes and chamois
- 2 dehydrated meals
- buckshot speaker/powerpack/light
I'll try to post some pictures tonight from home.
I definitely recommend this trip, with the right footwear and backside padding.
