Ladies' Moto Camping: Reeds Gap, PA

Amy & I have been wanting to go motorcycle camping, and nearly a month after her birthday our calendars were able to finally collide. Reeds Gap State Park in Pennsylvania has been on Julie's list of intriguing campgrounds, so it was a plan. Then Amy met some friends at her ADV class and we decided to invite more women and add a 2nd site for our group. 

Of course I couldn't have tested all of my hammock components when I bought them last summer. So I spent last week doing that in a frenzy. I was really feeling like this was a lot of work to get ready for such a short trip. Then the weather forecast was in the upper 90's all weekend and people started getting concerned. THEN a short notice short term project came up at work and my boss asked if I could work that weekend. I said that unfortunately I could not because I was leading a retreat. 🤣 (which was true!!) So, there were lots of obstacles to this trip. 

I was able to ride up with Ingrid who I'd met at the MD Ripple Relay a couple of years ago, and we had our first adventure when we saw road closed signs. We kept going, because...I mean...HOW closed is it really? Sometimes work hasn't started yet, or work is completed but the locals leave the signs up. Well, it turns out it was, really, closed. 

We went to check it out because, after all, we were on ADV bikes. We cleared rocks out of this path and decided to go for it. It doesn't look so bad from this angle, now does it. 

You can't really tell from this picture, but there were a lot of bumps in the gravel. 

And we did it! We were feeling especially adventurous when we found out that everyone else had taken the detour to get to the campground. They were all traveling alone tho, and I would not even have considered doing it if I was alone. 

Boy were we glad we'd decided to take the fast way there bc it was after 7 by the time we got to the campsite. Ruth & Jen, Amy's friends from her ADV class, were already there. Amy got in shortly after and we all madly worked to set up camp and make dinner before dark. 

Check out these mossy rocks behind our campsite! 

Man, am I glad I'd been playing with the hammock all week because as it was it took quite a while to get it all set up. I stood on my top case to get high enough to hang the rain tarp. What I had not anticipated was having to adjust everything to be centered. I don't have big enough trees far apart in my back yard so I'd tested everything on my yard hammock stand so it was all automatically centered. I decided to do a top-down assembly with the rain cover first, then the bug net, and finally the hammock. Well, the hammock was stretched pretty tightly and I had to move the bug net which barely fits over it. There is not a lot of room for error. Then one end was sticking out from under the rain fly. So that required some re-staking and adjusting all the lines. (I am glad I got my own stake mallet since there were a total of 10 stakes...not counting re-dos!) Also, I had chosen a big tree for one end which took up a lot of my hammock strap to get around. I needed some help from my compatriots to get 3 different ties (one of which had to be redone when I was centering everything), so I will need to think of a way to do this when by myself. The ground was rocky so it took some time to find the right place to drive in stakes. Between this, making dinner and taking a very necessary shower, it was after midnight before I was able to go to bed. And btw, motion lights in the bath house meant taking a shower in the dark. 

I hadn't tested my hammock since I was in a hurry and so behind, so guess what? I get in, looking forward to FINALLY being able to relax with my wet hair and wet socks, and my ass is on the ground. 😤 So I had to get back out pull the hammock up a bit. And can you believe I got cold that night with an overnight low in the mid-60's? Jen suggested I raise the hammock and/or lower the tarp to trap more warm air and that worked just great the 2nd night. 

Here is my hard-won hammock. 

One more thing about my hammock set-up. I got the ENO Skyloft because I wanted to lay flat. This means that most bug nets won't work with it. The one I ended up keeping is the Grand Trunk Mozzy 360. (They guarantee their products for life, which is good because I will be in touch with them about something already.) I chose the Amok tarp because it is made or better quality materials than the ENO XL tarp, and I'd read in reviews that the ENO XL is so big that it restricts your choice of hammock sites. I was a little concerned that it didn't extend far enough beyond my hammock to protect me from rain, but it did rain the 2nd night and none of my stuff hanging from the end of my hammock got wet. 

Ok, on to more fun stuff! 

We didn't hang out much the first night, but we had a leisurely morning and sort of came up with a plan for riding. (This state park actually had a dual sport motorcycle and ATV trail guide!) Amy couldn't stay the 2nd night bc she had to work on Monday so she headed home. ☹️  Jen led us noodling around and we ended up doing about half of section 7 of the MABDR! 

The sun was really bright, y'all. 

This creek was a nice spot to take a break. 

There were definitely a couple of dicey sections of road with loose gravel, but there were no incidents. There was a hairpin turn I didn't have a good angle on so I stopped and got some help backing my bike up for a better angle. We had only one drop and it was at a stop and there was great teamwork all around helping each other out. At one point I turned too sharply and was certain I was going to go down but didn't. I think these TKC 80 tires made a big difference between that situation and the time I broke my shoulder. There was another point when I pulled in the clutch to give someone else some space to make it up a hill, and then I was at the bottom of the hill with very little momentum in 2nd gear, but the bike did it! It's no longer the un-stallable bike as I have stalled it many times now, but it seems to only stall under very specific conditions and I can live with that. Oh and I also ended up in a rut when pulling off the side of the road and I got myself out of it no problem. It was a really great ride for doing some normal gravel and dirt roads and getting some good practice. I found myself testing out some of the skills I've learned in the training I've taken -- and actually remembering to apply them most of the time. 

At about 2:00 we decided it was time to turn around and get lunch. After lunch around 4:00 we decided to call it a day. I wanted a chance to actually enjoy the campsite, and we decided to quit while we were ahead. Except for one last thing: to all go thru the closed road! Heh heh

We got back and chillaxed a bit, shot the shit, and looked at snakes and other critters in the creek. There was a family staying there with two smaller kids and we all were keeping tabs on a snake hanging on a tree over the creek and letting each other know the latest. We all made our own dinners at different times whenever we felt like it. Ruth brought rice krispies treats! And she built a fire and we sat around it telling ghost & UFO stories until it was time to turn in. It was a nice evening. 

I slept way better the 2nd night and woke up to only Jen left in the last stages of packing up. It was 11:00! I missed the rain and just had a few sprinkles while I was having breakfast and packing up. I headed out at about 1:30. I said to my absent companions: let's go, bitches! 

I had a great ride home. I started on google maps' avoid highways routing, but felt like it was kind of boring and that I could do better while in PA. I found some shade and pulled out my Butler map and made myself a better route until I had to cross the interstate in Hancock, PA. I also figured out that I can put the other half of the bag of ice in an external sort of pocket (beavertail) of my panniers. So I kept topping my bottles and hydration pack off with ice every time I stopped. 

I was coming in too hot in to a turn at one point, so I leaned in to it and hit my trail brake. The bike wanted to stand up due to the gyroscopic effect, so I got off the brake and jerked it back down. Still needed to lose some speed so I tapped the rear brake again, bike started standing up, and I let off and jerked it back down. I was effectively doing manual lean angle abs. The adrenaline hit hard as I was exiting this turn. Man, that is some goooood shiiit. 

I stopped for lunch at 6:00 in a state forest on a pull-off and made my cool water prep meal from Pack It Gourmet. It was pretty good! That is a very handy way to have a decent lunch on the side of the road. I munched on it while watching tractors pull large beds of hay. 

I was almost at the end of my route so I pulled out my Butler map and started looking for more good roads. I thought...maaaaybe I should see how far I actually am from home. 3 hrs via avoid highways! 2 hrs via interstate. I thought weeell, it's probably time to mail it in if I'm going to get home before dark. I got on the interstate and made really good time from Hancock, PA to Frederick, MD (suspiciously TOO good, if ya know what I mean) and figured I had earned taking the fun way home from there so I didn't have to go to either DC or Baltimore. I mean, that's like having bad coffee after a nice meal. 

I got approached by (only) two randos on my trip home. One of them actually startled me (this can happen if I leave my earplugs in) but we had a nice conversation. The other was when I was picking out my route, but he did wait a bit and asked me where I was headed, as an invitation to ask for directions if I needed them. I didn't feel worried or vulnerable either time. Working out is really helping with that, and having spent a weekend with some badass bitches did too! 

I got home before dark -- barely, but I made it. Jaron was cradling and petting his new helmet and very excited to show & tell me about all its cool features.