Bike Packing Anyone?

[Sky King]

The last year we've found ourselves doing more bike packing than bike touring. Often we are off on back roads somewhere in Idaho. I don't enjoy large group events so avoid gravel grinders - quite the fad in the Northwest at the moment. Quite a few of our customers just completed the 2015 Smoke and Fire 400 - over 400 miles all on dirt and gravel - check out there website if you are interested. We've ridden different sections of the route - be it at our own pace. This last weekend we celebrated "not going to Interbike" by taking a trip into the Owyhee desert and exploring another Cherry Stem into the Owyhee Wilderness area. Talk about some rough country - wow. We came across numerous Sage Grouse, Antelope, Deer and two herds of wild Horses. We also saw several hawks, golden eagles, a coyote, an otter and a mountain sheep. The road on Sunday certainly was a very loose definition of road. I think cobblestones would have been easier to ride. If it wasn't rocky it was pockmarked with horse hooves prints that had been made during wet season and now are as hard as concrete. While a barren landscape it has a beauty of it's own.
We made it back to the main highway only to have our truck break down in the middle of nowhere. Had to be towed to the nearest "town" and spent the entire day on Monday waiting for repairs.
So while not any cheaper than going to Interbike it was certainly another vivid memory