A few photos from a recent Canyonlands bikepacking trip.

[Bedrock]

The temperatures forecasted for Canyonlands this weekend seemed perfect for a bikepacking trip so we dropped the dog off with her human grandparents and made for the desert. As we passed Cortez we noticed a ridiculous amount of bikes and RV's at Phil's world. Clueless, a quick Google search later informed us that it was the 12 hours of Mesa Verde. It looked like a great party. We camped outside the park on BLM land on Friday night and Saturday packed up the bikes for a quick overnighter. Then we rode into Canyonlands proper where we had a fantastic couple of days. There was plenty of hike-a-bike and sand to go around but we were not in a rush so we took it all in stride and made the best of it. With incredible views around every corner it was hard to complain.


Trusty steeds waiting while we topped off on water.


Little people exploring a big world.


Shapes.


An incredible place filled with light and contrast.


This is a photo of myself in a crazy crack that ran for tens of meters as straight as an arrow. It was much cooler inside, as if you walked into a cellar.


We pack light, but there is still room for one well earned beer a piece. Incidentally, if you wrap one of these in cloth (like a sock) and saturate it with water you will have a cool (~60 deg with a good breeze) beer in about 30 min.


First light on a great day.

Cheers,
Greenwater

__________________
Bedrock Bags and Packs

[ImAFred]

Very cool!

[paulmissoula]

Great pics. Is that the Needles? I was just down there in April for some backpacking, but would love to do a bikepacking trip there. What was your route / roads? Did you haul all your water?

[jhl99]

What are night and day temps?  Those bags look like they are rated for a decent chill.

[Bedrock]

Paulmissoula,
glad you like the photos. We parked our vehicle out near Lockhart basin and then rode in to the park and went over elephant hill. From there we rode toward the Devil's lane area and then to the Confluence overlook. We stopped short of the overlook due to deep sand. There are a couple of designated camps that you can reserve in the area to spend the night. If you wanted to do a longer trip going toward Chesler park and Ruin park would open up a lot of possibilities. We did have to carry all of our own water though as conditions are very dry.

jhl99,
the lows were in the 40's and the daytime highs were around 80.  Pretty nice actually. Our bags are only 30 degree bags but the loft on those Western Mountaineering bags is pretty ridiculous.

[paulmissoula]

Very cool. I proposed to my lady there in Chesler Park last month, so we'll probably be making an annual trip down to Canyonlands to visit. Considering doing the White Rim Rd next year.

[Chad B]

Great pics!