Bikepacking Trails of the Kenai Peninsula

   When Lisa and I were planning our Alaska trip, one of the must do’s on our list was to check out the bikepacking routes on the Kenai Peninsula, specifically Resurrection Pass, Russian Lakes Trail, and Johnson Pass. While the trailheads for these routes are easily accessible, the trails go deep into the Chugach National Forest and combined, they form 83 miles of awesome wilderness singletrack riding. We linked these trails up with some bikerafting and beachpacking, but to ride them as a loop, park at the north trailhead for the Johnson Pass Trail, at mile 64 of the Seward Highway and at the end of the bike path descending south from Turnagain Pass. From here you can ride counterclockwise, heading south on the Johnson Pass Trail, or ride 25 highway miles to Hope and the start of the Resurrection Pass Trail, which is the option we chose.

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Beachpacking Nikiski to Homer

   When Lisa and I were planning our Alaska bikepacking trip, we knew beach riding had to be included. That was one of the main reasons we chose fatbikes. Unfortunately, after some research we realized long stretches of easily accessible and rideable coastline are hard to come by, but not on the Kenai Peninsula. Riding the west coast of the Kenai Peninsula isn’t something new; the first trips I read about were Pat’s and Kathy’s Near Hope to Homer trip, which was back in 2005, then Eric’s and Dylan’s 2008 trip.  While chartering a plane was out of our budget and chest deep slogs through marsh and mud didn’t seem like the most fun, the beach riding looked amazing.

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Riding the XVT (Cross Vermont Bikepacking Route): Part 1

   I was back from Alaska for only a couple of days when Jeff, who I rode the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route with last year, mentioned he wanted to ride the XVT and he wanted to leave that weekend. Perfect, enough time to unpack, repair, and repack my gear, with a little time to research the route. The XVT, or XVtBkPkRte as it’s also referred to, is a 300 mile long bikepacking route that runs the length of Vermont, from Whitingham on the Massachusetts border to Derby on the Canada border.

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