Bike Camping Details and Pictures
Well, here is the big long version of our trip, in case you were waiting for it. 🙂
Day 1: Friday, June 6th. Jenny and I slept in a bit (on purpose), and got up to get the car packed and make final preparations at around 9AM. The night before, we had packed most of the stuff that we could pack ahead of time, including the freeze-dried food, stove, sleeping gear, tent, etc. Right before we packed the car, we filled our Camelbaks with lots of ice and water, filled our water bottles for the bikes with ice and more water, filled my two collapsible military-surplus 5qt. canteens with water, and filled two 1L lexan bottles with water. I know that this seems like a lot of water, but we were preparing for a few things. First we had to make sure that we had enough clean water to keep us hydrated while we biked to the campsite. The camp was supposed to have potable water, but we wanted to make sure that we had at least enough to cook and get us back to the nearest civilized area the next morning to refill our hydration supplies. We needed almost 1L per meal (1/2L per freeze-dried packet), so the two 1L lexan bottles would prepare us at least two meals. One 5qt canteen would give us enough to drink and at least partially fill our Camelbaks for the next morning so that we could get to somewhere that did have potable water. I worry about these things.
After loading the car, we started off towards Monroeville. We decided that we were going to start our trip in Boston, near McKeesport, and ride to Cedar Creek Park, which is a couple of miles past West Newton. Our total trip was only going to be about 18 miles in each direction. Since we hadn’t been on any long rides yet, though, we knew this was going to be a bit of a stretch for our as-yet unconditioned muscles. Jenny insisted that we take the longer trip, though, so that’s what we did.
From Monroeville, we took PA 48 south into Boston. On the way, we stopped at a Subway to get subs and beverages to pack along for lunch on the trail. Our expectation was to ride the six-plus miles to Dravo Cemetary, where there is a picnic shelter, water, and restrooms along the trail. There we would stop for a lunch break and check to be sure that all of our stuff was still in order. From there, it would be a short enough ride back to the car if we forgot anything or were having any equipment issues. There is also a campground at Dravo Cemetary, so if we did have to go back to the car for anything, we’d probably be able to ride back to there and just camp there for the night.
Coming into Boston, one must cross a bridge over the Youghiogheny River. Coming down into Boston, about a half mile before the bridge, we hit solid, stopped traffic. It took us the better part of an hour to get across that bridge. Apparently, part of the bridge had decided to fall apart, so traffic was restricted while PennDOT worked furiously on rebuilding whatever it was that disintegrated. I know that it involved lots of jackhammers and seeing the two halves of the bridge at that point move independently of one another, which was just a little unnerving. Anyway, we finally got into Boston and down to the trailhead.
The day was already quite hot, so we got our bikes loaded as expeditiously as possible and got on our way to get into the shade on the trail. Jenny’s bike carried our sleeping gear and her rain jacket in one pannier, her clothes and personal effects in the other, and strapped to the back rack were the tent and our two sleeping pads. All of this equipment was fairly light, so it didn’t weigh her bike down too much more than normal. She decided to carry one of the 1L bottles in her handlebar bag, as well as her hat and a few other odds and ends. Onto my bike we had the food bag, stove and miscellaneous other camp equipment in one pannier, my clothes and camera in the other. In my back rack bag (or "trunk" bag, as they seem to be called sometimes) I had bike repair tools and supplies, a rain poncho, first aid supplies, bug repellent, sunscreen, our Subway lunch and bottled drinks, and the other 1L bottle. On top of all of that, I had strapped one of the 5qt. canteens. That made my bike really heavy. Argh. After thinking about it a little while later, I should have tied the canteen to my handlebars to help even-out the loading. Oh well. It wasn’t too bad, overall.
We set out from Boston at probably close to 1PM. I set the pace for the first few miles, then let Jenny set the pace for the rest of the trip. I wasn’t having any problems and was feeling pretty good, so I wanted to let her slow things down if she was feeling the need. We arrived fairly quickly at Dravo Cemetary. To be entirely honest, we didn’t check clocks after we left, so I have no idea when we got there or how fast we were going (the batteries in our odometers gave-out over the winter, and I forgot to replace them before we left). We ate our Subway lunch and talked to a few older gentlemen who stopped for a break. There were a few other riders out on the trail, but not many. Being Friday afternoon, and an unseasonably hot day, probably kept some people from riding. After checking that all of our stuff was still well-secured, and double-checking that we had everything that we thought we needed, we set off for Cedar Creek Park.
We took a few more rests along the way to the park. I had initially aimed to stop after going about another six miles, which would have made for three stops total on our trip (Dravo Cemetary, one rest after another six miles, and then our final stop at Cedar Creek). After about five miles in the high heat of the afternoon, though, we were both ready for another break. We stopped near a waterfall caused by some spring with high iron content (the rocks and water were colored an orange-red). The water there is quite cold, and the cool rocks and cool flowing water create a pocket of cold air on the trail that is quite comfortable for a short rest. About four miles later, Jenny was starting to get quite tired, so we took another break. Three miles later we arrived at camp.
I let Jenny rest while I pitched the tent and unpacked our stuff. We took some rope so that we could bear-bag our food bag, just in case. We weren’t in the deep back-woods or anything, but there were plenty of raccoons, squirrels, and other animal life that could have made our lives miserable if the food was easy to access. I was happy that I did this, too, as I later heard from the ranger that there had been reports of bear in the area.
After I had the tent set up, Jenny took a nap in there while I sat and read for a while. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze that kept us pretty comfortable. A few hours passed. As the sun started to head for the last part of its visible arc over the valley, I woke up Jenny and we made dinner. After dinner, we put the food bag up in the air, secured the bikes, and zipped ourselves into the tent and away from the mosquitoes. Unfortunately, the one thing that I forgot to check before we left was the fill level of our insect repellent in the trunk bag. I had a new one in the car, waiting for the old one to be empty. Well, the old one was just about empty. Sitting in the tent was more comfortable than the picnic table benches anyway, so it didn’t matter much. As the sun went down and night set in, we dozed-off, listening to the trains across the river. Jenny woke me up multiple times thinking that she heard a bear. It was pretty amusing. 🙂
The next morning, we woke up with dawn. It was awesome. We got up and put on some clean clothes, washed-up a bit, and made breakfast. I took this picture of sunrise over the campsite as soon as the sun made its way above the valley wall. We had more freeze-dried food for breakfast. 
After breakfast, we packed-up camp, re-packed the bikes, and got ready for the ride back. When we arrived at camp the previous evening, we found that the potable water on hand was clean, cold, and tasted great. Knowing this, we decided to ride back dry, except for the Camelbaks, one 1L bottle for cooking lunch, and our bike water bottles for extra drinking water. The previous day, by the time we got to Cedar Creek, we had exhausted our Camelbaks and the bike bottles. We knew we were going to need that much water to get back, so I’m glad that the water there was cold and tasted good. That meant that my bike was going to be a lot lighter, and Jenny’s handlebar bag was going to be a good bit lighter.
Jenny had checked her cell phone at some point in the morning, and so we had a good idea that we were eating breakfast at around 7:30AM. We got to watch the Amtrak to DC pass us before we left, which was cool. We had seen the other one pass us in the other direction the previous evening at camp, so we got to see the train going both ways. By the time camp was packed and we were underway, it was probably somewhere near 8:30 or 9AM. We were definitely feeling the previous day’s ride when we started out again, but we had no schedule, so we rode relaxed and tried to stay hydrated. It was going to be another hot day, but we had the advantage of riding during the morning and enjoying some cool air. On our way out of Cedar Creek Park, we noticed one of the picnic pavilions set up with people and a big sign saying something like "Yough and Roll Rest Stop". If there was an event today coming our way, our ride might get a little more interesting.
We rode almost six miles before we took our first break. We were feeling pretty good, but it was already getting hot. Our water in the Camelbaks was staying pretty cool (those things are completely awesome that way), but I could already tell that we were drinking a lot more than we had the previous day.
We were going to stop again about five miles later, but I noticed that we were only about a mile away from Dravo Cemetary, where we had planned to stop again for a second meal. We decided to keep riding to the cemetary. Once there, we cooked our last freeze-dried food, refilled our bike bottles from the nearby pump well, and made ready for the last leg of our trip. We stopped once again on the ride home about two miles outside of Boston at a small community pavilion. Our legs were getting a bit tired, and it was starting to get quite hot. From there, the last two miles to Boston were a breeze.
On the way back, we passed a few other rest stops and activity stops for the Yough and Roll event. I still don’t know exactly what it was, but there were a lot of people there for it. We happened to ride stretches when most of them seemed to be stopped at the rest stops, though, so that worked-out pretty well for us. We usually don’t have any problem riding in the midst of organized rides, but sometimes those organized rides have people who don’t have any trail etiquette at all. I don’t even mean perfect etiquette or anything–I’m talking about people who don’t realize that the trail goes in two directions, and their group shouldn’t occupy the whole width of the trail when there are riders coming in the opposite direction. Jenny and I have had to take to the berm a few times while some of those groups passed us. Fortunately, these folks seemed to be more courteous, and we had no trouble whatsoever.
By the time we were back in Boston, their event there was wrapping-up and they were calling ticket numbers for door prizes. We unloaded our bike stuff into the car, got the bikes onto the roof, and fired-up the AC. Wow. That felt good. The padded seats in the car also felt good. 🙂
On our way home, we wanted to get some flavored something to drink. Up the hill out of Boston there was a McDonalds. Easy enough. I pull in to the drive-through, which then comes to a screeching halt. Apparently someone decided to order something complex, or maybe this particular location only had two people working the lunch shift. After waiting there for a good ten minutes and not moving, we pulled-out and kept heading towards home. On 48 north there was a shopping center that proved that some people simply cannot design a traffic pattern to save their lives. The first thing I saw on our side of the road was a Taco Bell. I figured I would try to use the side entrance instead of tying-up traffic on the main road while I cut across an entrance lane from the cross street. I made the right and then realized that there was no side entrance. I drove up to the next light, which was an entrance to the larger shopping plaza. Oops, traffic coming this way can’t turn left into the plaza. So I go up further and turn around so that I can get into the plaza this way. I do this and drive over to the Taco Bell, only to find out that they are an island and their lot is not connected to the plaza lot. ARGH. So I drive across the street to the other size of the shopping plaza. Here they have a Wendy’s. After I figured out how to get in there, it was all good, and we had some cold diet coke. Mmmm.
We arrived home a little while later, where we unloaded everything and were able to get real showers. Yay. I’m a fan of primitive camping, but Jenny is not so much. With this heat and everything, though, it was nice to be able to wash-off the sweat and grime from the trail.
Hopefully this is something that we’ll be able to do again. We’re certainly set up for it now. I think that a trailer on my bike would have made this a lot easier, though, as the heavy and bulky stuff all could have gone there, leaving our back wheels somewhat less loaded than they were this time.
There are more pictures available here. Enjoy!
jonathan
