Cade’s Cove

Posted on June 17, 2010 by George Burgyan

This was another short day today. Like I mentioned the previous post we went north on 441 and got lunch at the pizza joint.

After that we punched in Cade’s cove into the Zumo and went straight to the campground. Conveniently, the campground is far enough west of Pigeon Forge that we were able to skip that mess.

The drive over was simple enough and we landed at the site around 3:30 or so. We drove around the camp to find a site that we liked and #26 fit the bill nicely. We paid up, $20, and set up the tent.

The biggest thing right now is trying to stay cool. It’s pretty oppressively warm at the moment and it’s hard to really get comfortable in the heat and still air.

Into the Smokies

Posted on June 16, 2010 by George Burgyan

Left today from Balsam Mountain and drove up the 441 highway the cuts across the park. The traffic reminds us of what we were running into in Yellowstone: bad. Drivers that can’t drive to save their lives it seems.

Then into Pigeon Forge. Puke. How can you go from something so beautiful to something so overbuilt in the course of a mile or two. WYF? Why have TWO Best Western hotels ACROSS THE STREET from each other. This is what would happen to Vegas if Huey followed through wi their family friendly thing from a decade ago. Bad bad bad.

At the moment we are sitting in Pizza Palace in Knoxville, TN on the recommendation of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

After this we head back to the park and set up camp in Cade’s Cove… Hopefully the gPS will route us around the hell that is Pigeon Forge.

Balsam Mountain Campground

Posted on June 15, 2010 by George Burgyan

Today was a short day, just like we planned it.

While riding today we realized how good of a decision we made to hotel it in Asheville. With the detour thrown into the mix (which was poorly marked at the start, but well marked everywhere else), and construction ON THE DETOUR it took us around four and a half hours to make it to the camp site. It would have been maddening to try to make it yesterday. We would have rolled in around 9 at night. That’s not the way to have fun.

And we would have missed out on the great BBQ.

On the way over we passed the highest point on the Parkway at just over 6000 feet. We tried to visit the motorcycle museum, but it turns out they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Next time.

In any case we rolled past the campground to check out the condition of the dirt road loop that’s beyond the picnic area. It’s good compacted gravel that’s been worked together well. It looks like a nice drive but with over 1000 pounds on non-knobby tires I think that might have to wait until next time. And it’s a one way road once it turns dirt; 18 miles. Next time.

Back to the camp turned in and drove around the loop a few times to get the law of the land before we picked out our site. There are lots of sites to choose from. Some sites have little pads for tents that are a dozen feet below the road, some have them a bit above the road. Some are just meant for RVs to park in. We picked one that looked the most set back from the drive and set things up.

After a bit of confusion about the order of affairs we set the tent up first and loaded things up before paying for the site. Good thing too. We saw that a giant thunderstorm closing in on us. Being on top of the mountain we had a good view of these things.

Hunkered down in our tent with the rain pounding down gave the tent the best test it’s had to date. The gnats that were keeping us company and us stayed dry.

The storm passed with the swiftness it arrived with and it was back to being sunny no more than a half hour after it started. This seems to be the weather we are encountering the entire trip. (tomorrow looks to be more of the same – mostly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms)

A quick dinner of rice and cashews later (from Target back at home) we happily fed. All that was left to do was wander around the campground and watch the sun set.

Another good day.

Location:Fern Trail,Waynesville,United States

Packing it in for the night

Posted on June 12, 2010 by George Burgyan

Today was a shorter day, just as we had planned for it to be. We used up around half a tank of gas driving the entire length of Skyline Drive. Driving through the Shenandoah on the winding and sweeping curves of Skyline made for a fun day.

Shortly after we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway it just felt like rain. The temperature dropped a few degrees and you could just smell the rain in air. We pulled off when we got to the next overlook to stow the socks that had been drying on the back of the bike in a mesh bag from the morning. Good thing too. A few miles further it started to rain. Not just any rain, but the type of rain that instantly saturates the road and runs off in sheets.

The gear we were wearing kept us dry… Except our gloves. We didn’t switch to our waterproof ones before the rain started, and we didn’t have any warning with the wall of water we rode into.

Not a big deal though. I can handle wet hands, but soaked core is another thing altogether.

After riding a bit more we decided to find someplace to camp. Pulling out the trusty Zumo we looked up some campgrounds and chose something in the Jefferson National Forest.

But it wasn’t there.

No blaming the Zumo either… It was the campground list that I came up with.

Next up was a KOA. This one did exist.

Never having been at a KOA it was somewhat surprising as a dragon came by in a golf cart followed by a tractor-load of kids dressed in medieval garb. They are having a renaissance month now!

We set things up in a secluded corner of the site and made dinner with some spaghetti and sauce we picked up at a gas station on the way over. Quite yummy.

Then we went to the ice cream social. (!) And karaoke. (!!) Not something that we expect at a campground. Oh wait. It’s a KampGround ™.

People out here are friendly folks. We chatted with an older couple from Indiana for a bit. They are a week into a three week trip visiting family and friends around here. That’s what I want to do when I retire.

Now it’s just raining and we’re holed up in our tent waiting for the weather to blow over again. I’m hoping to not have to put away a wet tent. But the sound of the rain on the tent for now is really soothing and making me sleepy.

Location:Killdeer Ln,Natural Bridge,United States

All packed up and ready to go

Posted on June 11, 2010 by George Burgyan

The bike is packed other than a couple of Ennie’s things. All the camping gear is on board along with all of the clothes. We are just about set to go.

That being said, I just wanted to try posting a picture with the intended workflow: take a picture without the camera, suck in the pictures with the iPad camera connector, then post to the blog directly.

I just need to get some cash for he trip and fill the bike up with gas, hop on, and ride off!

Camp cookware comparison – MSR vs. Optimus

Posted on June 9, 2010 by George Burgyan

For the past couple of trips I had been using a set of MSR cookware — a four-piece Duralight collection. Realistically I can’t complain about it. It is light enough that I’ve never had any issues.

But I also like change.

The heat exchanger on the bottom

A week or so ago we were at Appalachian Outfitters and saw a set of Optimus cookware. The Terra HE Cook Set. The key difference is the corrugated heat exchanger on the bottom of the big pot. In theory it should get things heated up a lot quicker because it simply has a lot more surface area to capture the heat the stove puts out.

So of course a test is in order!

The stove in question is an Optimus Nova+ being fueled with white gas (naphtha, Coleman fuel, whatever you want to call it) and I had the settings consistent between tests. I just turned it on, let it warm up then didn’t mess with it between tests. I tried to keep the pressure in the tank as consistent as I could. As soon as the first test was complete I immediately started the second one.

The test was bringing 1 liter of water to a rolling boil. I chose that test because is many camping situations that’s exactly what you need to do. I left the pot uncovered in both cases — that’s so I can monitor the the action. The exposed surface area was similar so I don’t think that it introduces too much of an error.

The first test was with the MSR. It took 9:04 to get the water up to a boil. This is very much what I was experiencing in the field before. I could have used a wind guard but I didn’t because it’s one more thing I would need to carry.

Up next was the Optimus. It got the same job done in 4:53. It was almost twice as fast! I guess it works as advertised.

Onto the weight front. In both cases this is the fully packed weight.

MSR: 774 g
Optimus: 786 g

Not too bad. (Really, I moved one of the small packtowels that came with the MSR to the Optimus, so the pictures reflect the 10 g difference from the above figures)

The MSR comes with a lid in addition to the three pieces of cookware. The Optimus lacks a purpose-built lid. I’m OK with that though. The Optimus also comes with a neoprene cozy for the pot. They claim it can keep things warm longer though I didn’t test that specifically.

Another interesting difference is the supplied pot holders with each set. The MSR and Optimus have very similar designs, but the Optimus has little rubber bumpers where the holder contacts the pot. In using the MSR I noticed that over time it was scratching off the non-stick coating near the lip. Similarly it has measurements stamped into the side of the pots. Neither of these is a big deal, but they are nice little touches.

The biggest pot in the Optimus set (with the heat exchanger) isn’t non-stick while all of the MSR are non-stick. I don’t think it makes a huge difference because it’s mostly a water boiling pot. I wouldn’t want to try to cook anything slowly on there because I’m sure it would get some wicked hot spots.

All in all: I think I have a winner! I’ll report back further as I use it for real on our trip.

View photos at SmugMug

You’re going where? On a motorcycle? Why!?

Posted on May 30, 2010 by George Burgyan

That was a pretty common reaction when I first started taking long rides on a motorcycle. People have gotten a bit more used to my wanderings but it still comes up for both me and Ennie.

I’ll add camping to the mix as well just for fun.

So, why a motorcycle? Why not a car? Why camping? They all relate to one another. It’s the same as why do people go backpacking/camping. Can’t you just drive to where you’re going? Why walk?

The little things are what makes travel on a bike different from a car. The subtle temperature differences as you go up and down rolling hills gets you connected to the environment around you. The sometimes unpleasant weather (not a problem if you’re geared up for it BTW) that makes the good times all the better. The 360-degree view of the world. The leaning into turns. Riding along looking over your windshield feels like you are flying over the road. On top of all that the very nature of a motorcycle forces you to be in the moment – it requires more attention to what you’re doing to make sure you stay safe. You don’t generally think of the random day-to-day issues while riding.

People always wonder about safety too. If you wear the right equipment then you’re a few steps ahead of the folks that ride around with shorts and a T-shirt. A good helmet is obviously a must. The rest of the gear is important too: armored riding suit, gloves and boots will go a long way of keeping you safe if the worst happens. Besides, it’s more comfortable riding when you’re not worried it might rain; a lot of the suits are waterproof as well!

The camping combined with the motorcycle forces you to figure out what you really need to take with you. It’s easy to camp with a Winnebago, you just cram all of your stuff in and hitch it up. On a bike (like backpacking) you need to limit yourself to what you need. On my bike I have roughly 120 liters of storage volume between the panniers, tank bag and other bags strapped to the bike. It sounds like a lot up until you think that even a relatively small car like a Honda Civic has easily twice that in trunk space (12 ft^3 = 340 l). And that’s not counting any of the space in the passenger compartment (think of food, purses, drinks, anything) which adds over 2500 liters more space. When you need to jettison items and luxuries you can figure out what you need.

An interesting difference between motorcycle camping and backpacking is what’s the limiting factor. When you’re camping, every gram counts since you’re carrying it the whole way. On a bike the thing that always gets me is size. While small thing tend to be light, some of the biggest things I need are also light. A tent is only three pounds, but it takes up a lot of space. Same with sleeping bags. Those things would cause any problem when you’re backpacking, but on a bike they’re harder to fit on for some reason.

Camping: It adds a lot of extra gear that you need to carry with you. The tent, sleeping bags, stove and other various items. Sure, it’s more work, but then there’s waking up in a tent in the woods to the sunrise and brewing a cup of coffee and just taking in the world around you. It’s things like that that makes it all worth while.

Orikaso foldable camping tableware – Preliminary review

Posted on May 29, 2010 by George Burgyan

Last weekend we went to Appalachian Outfitters just for fun to get prepped for our trip that’s coming up in a couple of weeks. One of the things we acquired is some of the Orikaso foldable tableware from Flatco Ltd. (I love that name!)

I’ve seen these around a number of times over the past couple of years and I’ve always been skeptical about how well they hold up to use — both the hinges and the overal durability with cutting on it and such.

I read a number of reviews online, both of the old snap-style and the newer “fold a tab into a slot” type. Overall everyone had only said positive things about it. In fact the folks over at Orikaso say you can even use it as a cutting board.

In any case, the store had them on a 35%-off sale, so I picked them up on a whim.

Of course I already have some camping tableware, so why would I get something new? Space. Like backpacking, motorcycle travel has a lot of the same limitations (with a twist). When backpacking the primary concern in weight above all else. If you need to carry everything, every gram counts — you feel it the entire way. On a motorcycle the biggest issue I run into is size. The panniers only hold so much. And when you have two people and gear for both space gets used up quickly.

The tableware stowed in the reusable envelope

The gear we had before was a set of polycarbonate plates and cups. Both take up quite a bit of space though with the flanges of the plate and the cups are a far worse with the handles and the overall odd shape. The Orikaso solves that by making everything flat. It’s also quite light tipping the scales at 330g (11.7 oz) with the envelope and 276g (9.7 oz) without the plastic sleeve. The whole assembly looks a bit puffy sitting there, but that’s just the folds somewhat pushing on the envelope a bit — it squishes down to almost nothing with any force applied at all.

Ready to go -- with the time I took to get it done

After getting it home the first thing I did was follow the directions and pre-fold all of the creases. Things start off stiff but after a few folds things loosened up a bit. The first time it took a little time to get things together. Breaking it down goes a bit faster.

The next concern was how hard it is to put together when in the field. Having put it together a couple of times before I started to get a knack for getting it set up. I timed myself folding it up — 2:58 to get all six pieces done. Not bad at all. Certainly it’s a bit slower than just pulling out the plates and cups, but not bad at all for how much space it saves. Putting it all away only took 2:18 to get it all back in the envelope. I think that’s quicker than trying to stow the plates and cups. All in all I think it’s pretty much even with the old gear.

One other cool thing is the cup has measuring marks. I wanted to check how accurate the markings are. They’re OK. One cup of water almost made it up to the “1 cup” mark on the glass. Not perfect, but good enough in a pinch.

So far I’m happy with them. I’ll report back when I’ve used them in the field.