I have been
meaning to get away on a couple of overnighter’s recently to only be shut down
by other obligations, weather or I must admit a little laziness. One of the
local destinations that I have been meaning to ride to is the Cedar Valley
Reservoir which is to the west of Garnett. I had heard some great things about the lake
and after mapping out a route, I decided that it would be my destination this
weekend for an out and back, bike packing trip. So after working Thursday
night, and sleeping much of the day away on Friday, I packed up and headed
north at a little after five o’clock in the afternoon.
Having
previously ridden the majority of the route just a week ago, I figured with the
wind at my back, I could cover the twenty six plus miles and arrive well before
dark. The ride north was great. I rode north on Kentucky/Idaho until I reached
1350 Road in Anderson County until reaching Indiana Road just north
of Mont Ida. I then rode north on Indiana until I reached 1500 Road. I followed
1500 Road to the east which ends at the entrance to the lake.
Having never
been there before, I decided to do some exploring and followed the road to the south
hoping that I could find a secluded campground. I was in luck. I found a great
site off in the woods and right next tot he lake. There
were plenty of fire pits and wood for small cook fires.
After
setting up camp, I decided to take a little swim to cool off. The water was
great. After drying off, I decided to start a small fire. PBJ, cashews and a
cup of tea made for a decent meal. After my brief dinner, I cast a line for a
while and caught a couple of small bass. I have heard that the reservoir is a
pretty good fishing lake. I was surprised that there was no one else around.
There were no boats on the water and no loud obnoxious drunks to keep me awake
all night. It was actually quite peaceful. Once it got dark, I sat down on a
nice rock ledge next to the lake and finished a second cup of tea.
Tent
sleeping for me is more like tent relaxing really. If I slept at all I would be
surprised. There were some trains in the distance at times and the wind was
pretty consistent but I have no complaints. It’s just me. It takes me a couple
of nights to settle in when camping. And the two cups of tea probably did not help any either. When it came time to rise and shine,
however I felt pretty good. I started another small cook fire and got some
water boiling to fix up some eggs with bacon and tea for breakfast. For
dried food, it tasted great.
I fished for
a little while with no luck and decided to go ahead and ride out early. The
weather was looking like rain and I chose ride in it rather than
pack my gear wet. I loaded up and headed out. I caught my first storm within
the first mile of leaving camp. It was a gully washer with some light hale. It
continued the down pour for about a mile and then let up. For the next twenty
plus miles the pattern of rain continued off and on. As I passed Hwy 58, west
of Colony, it brightened up for a while but by the time I reached Carlyle, it
was raining again. The road was pretty slushy which made for some muddy legs.
On a positive note however, there was very little wind with the rain and what
there was seemed to be out of the west rather than the usual frontal assault
when riding southbound in our area.
I was able
to make it home around eleven this morning and took some time to clean my gear
and hang up the tent and sleeping bag. After spraying the mud off of my legs I
took a warm shower which felt great. The garage looks like a locker room with
clothes and miscellaneous gear hanging everywhere. Fortunately I left early
enough to miss the bigger rains this afternoon.
Enjoy the
ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment