August 2023
Have you ever had one of those AHA! moments, you know, when something obvious hits you that you should have tuned into weeks earlier? Of course you have! Well it happened to me...again, when my friend Doug T (aka: Doug 2, - D2) invited me for a trail ride that goes out to Stampede Reservoir. With the big winter of 2023 all of the area lakes are full and healthy. And in fact Joannie and I have been taking advantage of this by doing lots of kayaking including overnighters. The AHA! moment came when I realized this would be a perfect route to take Joannie and Wyatt out for a BIKERAFTING overnighter! This is why we bought our Alpacka's nearly 10 yrs ago. (Throughout this blog site are stories of our other packrafting and bikerafting adventures through the years.)
I invited my friend Kurstin who also owns a packraft (for great bikepacking and adventure stories see his blog, Bikepacking Northern Nevada) and Doug 2 who would ride out to the put in with us. Everything was going along swimmingly until a day before the the trip when Wyatt pulled up lame after playing with a neighbor dog. We debated cancelling the trip all together but Joannie graciously volunteered to stay home with Wyatt and have him checked out by the vet. (Spoiler: he's ok, got some anti-inflamatories and pain meds. We are more alike than is healthy...for him.)
So at the trailhead it was Kurstin and I with our bikes and rafts with overnight gear and planning a night out somewhere along the lake shore and Doug 2 who was round tripping the trail. The trail is easy technically though loose in some short areas. We had met fairly early at the trailhead and it was still relatively early by the time we reached the put in. Kurstin and I blew up our rafts and packed our gear while Doug 2 rode back to the trailhead, an 18 mile round trip for him. I had an issue with my cargo zip mis-aligning so had to deflate my boat, take the bike back off and re-align the zip. After reinflating and loading my boat we were finally ready to go but by now it was around 11:30. It was somewhat protected at the put in so when we rounded the point into the main body of the lake we were blasted with a strong headwind, a condition that we faced the remainder of the day. We paddled up lake toward the inlet of the Little Truckee River battling the strong winds and if you stopped paddling you immediately started drifting backwards. A bit brutal in packrafts with a big bike sail out front! Very slowly we made headway. It was around 2:30 when we pulled into a cove and found a campsite having paddled only 3.7 miles. I'd like to say it was a protected cove but it was very intermittent. Calm and then a thundering blast of wind would come barreling in off the lake scattering any unsecured items. We both knew it would calm down toward evening but it abated even earlier than that becoming very nice by about 3:30. Lounging about in our camp chairs was very relaxing. I took a swim and then a short hike to round out the day. Kurstin managed to get in some night photography after I was already sleeping soundly.
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| PC @bikepackingnv |
It was surprisingly chilly when we got up the next morning. There was a layer of wispy fog on the lake which gave the scene a very fall-like feeling. After morning chores and packing up we finished off paddling up to the river inlet which wasn't far away. We watched Osprey's diving for fish, some type of ducks and duckling's, Merganser's and Merganserling's, Gulls, a Bald Eagle (taking 'Artistic License' here as technically we observed the eagle the day before...) and even what appeared to be a muskrat plowing the mornings still waters. The paddle back to the put in was much easier with only a breeze to contend with in some areas of the lake. Altogether we paddled something like 8.4 miles. At the take out which was the same location as the put in, the transition back to bikepacking mode seemed smoother and more efficient than what I'm used to. Everything just seemed to leap into place. Then it was just retracing the 9 mile trail back to our vehicles. I had a great time with a fun and capable partner.
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| PC @bikepacking nv |
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| PC @bikepackingnv |
This is an excellent beginner friendly bikerafting trip with the only caveat that for the best experience, only go when the lake is full or very nearly full. In our case it looked to be within 3 feet of full capacity. Here'e a link to current water levels at the reservoir. The trail is scenic and without overly taxing climbs or technical difficulty. It can be done in 2 somewhat leisurely days.
Packrafts:
Me, Alpacka Caribou with cargo fly zip.
Kurstin, Kokopelli Hornet Lite
