The first use of the term "Bikepacking" - Nat. Geo 1973 - Article attached.

[Grizzattack]

On the Bikepacking.net "about" section, The DrunkCyclist has this to say:

"...ONE GREAT WORD We’re not sure of the genesis of the term “bikepacking,” but we at Adventure Cycling have been using it off and on since the beginning days of Bikecentennial–including utilizing it extensively to describe the riding on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. We know it goes back to at least May 1973, when Bikecentennial co-founder Dan Burden’s article titled “Bikepacking Across Alaska and Canada” appeared in National Geographic..."

I have scanned a copy of that article which is accessible here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B58u7NAO-w8yM1lZMjdJRUxRLWs/edit?usp=sharing

Check it out.

[bicyclehobo]

Thanks for making the effort  to share this...wow!

[wahday]

That's funny you just posted this. A few days ago I did a "bikepacking" search on ebay and a few copies of the Nat. Geo. issue came up.

Thanks for posting! Though currently the article will not come up for me. Goes to the page, but I get a blank screen. Will check back later to see if its a glitch. I viewed it a day or two ago but had no time to read.

[erichthered]

I got a blank page when I loaded it as well. Looking back at it, I saw that it was a google docs file. After hitting the sign in info on the upper right it loaded fine. 
Thanks for posting this.

[mmeiser]

Awesome

Thanks for posting.