SCoffman1
10-22-2007, 12:12 PM
I have been riding for many years and have enjoyed touring most of all. I joined the IBA and have enjoyed long distance riding. However, it has been my policy that roughing it was not having room service. It is nice to have that nice hot shower or hot tub at the end of a long day of riding.
But the idea of motorcycle camping has been bugging me for some time. It has always seemed like something that would be fun, but I just haven't gotten out of my end of the day motel pattern.
Recently, having exhausted all of the possible accessories for my Valkyrie and all of the possible riding gear, I turned my attention to camping gear. It certainly falls into the "toy" category and since I'm only a mile away from an REI...it only stands to reason that camping gear offers a whole new area of accessorizing.
I researched and researched and loaded up the bike with my new Kelty Gunnison 2 man tent, my Big Agnes Encampment Sleeping Bag, Thermarest Pad, Cripple Creek chair, Jetboil and pot and skillet in my Helen Two Wheels bags and headed for Tennessee. I was meeting my wife and stepson at his college in Sewanne, Tennessee and decided to camp along the way.
I located the Natchez Trace State Park off I-40, 35 miles east of Jackson, Tennessee. It is a gorgeous wooded park on 48,000 acres. It is not on the Natchez Trace parkway as I would have expected. But it is very convenient to I-40. As soon as you turn off the highway you are immediately on some winding twisting roads that lead into the park. I am providing a link to the park website and to my Webshots site where I have some pictures.
I camped in an area that has both RV and Tent sites. Each site has water and electricity. There is also a clean restroom with showers. The campsite was on Cub lake which is a beautifully calm and peaceful lake. I brought my collapsible fishing pole and did some fishing at daybreak.
The camping was excellent and I am pleased with my choice of equipment. I am working on better lighting options and have purchased the Lumostar C270, and better pillow options. It is a lot of stuff to pack on the bike. But the Valk seems to handle it well.
As far as future camping goes, I intend to continue to do more camping. The biggest problem seems to be getting into a campsite early enough. The campsite I got into was at 4:30. 30-45 minutes later, the campsite was full. Pulling long distance days and camping may prove to be a problem. Any advice would be helpful.
Here are the links to the campsite and my pictures:
http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/parks/NatchezTrace/
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561049623FcECiS
--Steve Coffman
But the idea of motorcycle camping has been bugging me for some time. It has always seemed like something that would be fun, but I just haven't gotten out of my end of the day motel pattern.
Recently, having exhausted all of the possible accessories for my Valkyrie and all of the possible riding gear, I turned my attention to camping gear. It certainly falls into the "toy" category and since I'm only a mile away from an REI...it only stands to reason that camping gear offers a whole new area of accessorizing.
I researched and researched and loaded up the bike with my new Kelty Gunnison 2 man tent, my Big Agnes Encampment Sleeping Bag, Thermarest Pad, Cripple Creek chair, Jetboil and pot and skillet in my Helen Two Wheels bags and headed for Tennessee. I was meeting my wife and stepson at his college in Sewanne, Tennessee and decided to camp along the way.
I located the Natchez Trace State Park off I-40, 35 miles east of Jackson, Tennessee. It is a gorgeous wooded park on 48,000 acres. It is not on the Natchez Trace parkway as I would have expected. But it is very convenient to I-40. As soon as you turn off the highway you are immediately on some winding twisting roads that lead into the park. I am providing a link to the park website and to my Webshots site where I have some pictures.
I camped in an area that has both RV and Tent sites. Each site has water and electricity. There is also a clean restroom with showers. The campsite was on Cub lake which is a beautifully calm and peaceful lake. I brought my collapsible fishing pole and did some fishing at daybreak.
The camping was excellent and I am pleased with my choice of equipment. I am working on better lighting options and have purchased the Lumostar C270, and better pillow options. It is a lot of stuff to pack on the bike. But the Valk seems to handle it well.
As far as future camping goes, I intend to continue to do more camping. The biggest problem seems to be getting into a campsite early enough. The campsite I got into was at 4:30. 30-45 minutes later, the campsite was full. Pulling long distance days and camping may prove to be a problem. Any advice would be helpful.
Here are the links to the campsite and my pictures:
http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/parks/NatchezTrace/
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561049623FcECiS
--Steve Coffman