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MYOG Part 4: Sleep System

[Editor’s note, I know this is technically the first published, but I wrote it as the 4th in the series. Read them in any order and they should still make sense. Also, I get asked a lot of questions about my tarp.] MYOG Sleep Systems, introduction Canada can get cold. The Canadian Rockies can get…

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Mud, Sweat, and Tears: Family Bikepacking in Marginal Conditions

Jeremy loves to take his family on bikepacking weekends. That’s mostly because he loves his family, but also because he loves riding bikes and sleeping outside. He was kind enough to invite me on a weekend ride to celebrate his birthday and to have fun with the kids. For bikepacking with kids, it is very…

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Late Winter Bikepack

Mid March, my friend Katrina organized a very fun overnight bikepack to Lake Minnewanka. The original plan was to get up early on Saturday, bike from Goat Creek trailhead through Banff (town) and then ride up to the Lake Minnewanka trailhead and proceed to the LM8 campground. The year previous, this is exactly what an…

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Shadow Lake Fatbikepacking with Fiona

Every year I try to make it out on a couple of trips alone with each of our kids. The one-on-one time is great bonding for all of us. I try to choose something that will be at least some challenge so the kids can take some pride in it afterward. I have high hopes…

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Fatbikepacking Guiding by a 9-Year-Old

Fiona a.k.a. Tonie, at age 9, is a veteran of several fatbikepacking weekends. She loves outdoor winter sports and really does sleep better outside. I was due to take her out for a fatbikepacking weekend without her brother. At the same time, there aren’t that many more winter weekends left. I had promised to take…

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Winter Elbow Loop Successful Attempt.

We had some trouble deciding where to go on our father and son fatbikepacking trip. We’ve had some warm weather and some of our favourite trails are an icy mess. We debated trying a few new routes, but some of them were likely to be 90% what Scott refers to as, “hiking with an awkward…

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New Years 2017 fatbikepacking campout

[click pictures to enlarge] There are 3 nights of the year that connoisseurs refer to as “amateur night” at the bar, Saint Patrick’s day, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve. Even though we don’t go to the bar very often, we avoid those nights at all costs. This year I talked Tania into joining me and…

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Family bikepacking at Lake Minnewanka

[Click images to enlarge them] Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park is one of the few trails close to us that allows bikes and is long enough for a reasonable bikepacking weekend. As such, we tend to go there a lot. Sometimes I get the feeling that it is a compromise to go there since…

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Bikepacking Packing (mostly also applies to backpacking)

Put everything you want to bring in a pile. Then put half of it back. It’s the cliché of bike touring and backpacking alike, but it has an element of truth to it. I like to start by deciding what the coldest temperature I could possibly encounter and decide what I need for that temperature.…

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Minnewanka Winter Bikepacking 2016

“Hey dad, you know how I sometimes complain that it’s freezing when the kitchen is 18ºC at home?” Tadhg and I were just finishing up our day’s ride on Lake Minnewanka from the LM 11 campground to just past the end of the lake at the first of the Ghost lakes. It was -15ºC, not…

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