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I want to get into motocamping and am looking to plan my first trip may 4-7th, a trial run for a 10 day vacation a couple weeks later. I wanted to go over my trip, get feedback/advice, make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. My trial trip will be from Gulfport, MS to Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, AR (apparently a combination gallery/natural trail that houses the Rosie the Riveter painting). That's 1,200 miles, an easy 300 miles a day. The museum itself is open till 6pm so I'm guessing my schedule would be:
At no point in the trip will I be longer than a hotel stay from home, so If I realize I absolutely can't stand camping I can pack it up. My biggest concern, my main reason for posting, is actually being able to stay at Chicot. Should I make reservations? I assume people just ride around on their bikes and stopping at places, and I don't really see how a campsite can run out of small patches of flat ground for me to put my tiny tent on? The websites lists "67 Class B including several sites with Class C options" but doesn't list rates for any sites other than AA to B - so I'm assuming there's maybe a 5 buck entrance fee to the park and then you just tent camp wherever? Is that about how this works? I really hope so because picking out a single camp site for this small trip is doable but if I had to do that for every day it would get tiresome, especially if anything happened to my schedule. Look, I've been camping like two times in my whole life, and that was boy scout type stuff, get driven somewhere, huge group, etc. This will be the first time I camp as an adult, and the first time by myself, and the first time on a motorcycle. Any advice about what I've posted so far would be appreciated. Later, either in this thread or maybe someplace else, I need to post pictures of my bike and get tips on how to pack/stow my gear.
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Apr 30, 2017 05:10
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| # ¿ May 4, 2024 18:17 |
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I didn't know I'd strike goon-gold and snare someone personally familiar with the area, awesome.HenryJLittlefinger posted:Its part of the Arkansas State Parks system, and most of them are first come, first served, pay cash at a kiosk. Call and ask, they're usually pretty helpful. What you will probably have to deal with is mosquitoes. They're probably already getting bad. Problem is, you can't get away from them in the delta. Take some light long sleeves and pants, you will want them. Awesome, yes I'll call and just check things out, I suppose make a reserve ration if they think it's necessary. The mosquitoes aren't bad here on the coast yet but I'll be sure to have long sleeves and some repellent. And since I haven't bought a bug net for my hammock (and because I don't want to be too unconventional regarding my first trip), I'll bring a tent. HenryJLittlefinger posted:If you could add on some extra miles on day 1 or 4, Pendleton Lock and Dam near Dumas is sort of close to Lake Chicot and has decent campsites. I think there's even free showers. It's a little more interesting than the Lake Chicot area. A bunch of the movie Mud was filmed there. I'll call them as well, my main concern is that I want to make sure I get to my campsite before it's dark, so having two possible campsites on the same route might help me pick the right location for my progress. I'd probably be most willing to stay there on the return trip, because the final leg back home can run long without consequence. HenryJLittlefinger posted:In order to get to Bentonville, you'll pass through some of the best motorcycle routes in the world. Don't take the interstates to get around the Ozarks. I know most of those roads by heart and could give recommendations if you want. You won't want to leave. You might not care about making it to Crystal Bridges after an hour in the Ozarks. Great camping throughout as well. Yes, yes, I'd love road recommendations. I didn't realize I'd be going far enough north to get into mountains but looking on google it looks I'll be just hitting the southern edge of the Ozarks, apparently the Boston mountain range? My trip is scheduled at 300 miles a day, when I know (and have) easily done 400 a day (non-interstate) and been fine. Another great thing about this small trip is I know even if I plan badly the worst I might endure is Sunday super-slab run of ~500 miles, which is a pain but hardly the end of the world, and since that's the final day it doesn't really matter if I ride through the night - no campsite to find. Plus I've ridden from Jackson, MS to Gulfport, MS plenty of times and doing that whole stretch at night doesn't phase me. HenryJLittlefinger posted:On night 2, stay in Fayetteville a few miles south, Bentonville is just big box sprawl and sucks rear end. Fayetteville is funky and cool as hell. There are some decent hotels near the interstate. What do you like to eat? Most of my favorite restaurants are there. Hugo's for burgers and sandwiches, Damgoode Pies for pizza, Penguin Ed's or Sadie's for BBQ, Farmer's Table for crafty local southern stuff. They catered my wedding and are good. Greenhouse Grill has great breakfasts, as does Farmer's Table. Onyx Coffee is super clever and crunchy, but it's good poo poo. Fayetteville and Hugo it is, thanks for the tip. HenryJLittlefinger posted:Pack rain gear and make sure your tent is waterproof. It can rain reverentially for days in all of Arkansas in May, but especially in the delta and Arkansas River valley. Heh, yeah, I see "heavy rain" is the current weather status Pendleton Lock and Dam. I'm used to riding in the rain (rains a lot here on the coast, but maybe not as much as the Delta?). I've got personal rain gear, and my motorcycle bags are water proof (as will be whatever bag system I make over the new few days for my gear (which again will be a later post). As far as my tent I got a *checks* Mountainsmith Morrison 2? It better be dryish in the rain, that and bugs is essentially what I envision a tent being for. I guess it's more a question of quality but the tent was recommend in articles (and cost more than tents I saw at walmart) so I'm hoping it's "the cheapest tent that isn't some p.o.s. from a big box". Or maybe I wasted my money, who knows! HenryJLittlefinger posted:Let me know if you want any help with routes. I can tell you the best ways to get through or around Little Rock without hating your life by the end. Yeah, absolutely, my plan was mostly to take state or federal highways (not interstates) along the way, and only use interstates if I need/want to on the way home. The only time that's likely to happen is on the last bit from Jackson to Gulfport when hopefully familiarity will mentally compress the final hours. --- Ok, you've given me a lot to think about, today I need to complete a shopping list of things I need for "camping" (I mostly intend to stop somewhere as the light dies, set up camp, and then leave at dawn. This is about turning $50-$100 hotels insto $5-$10 camp sites). I'm sure I can google that but recommendations/input are welcome from all.
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Apr 30, 2017 14:31
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Everyone make a mental note that HenryJLittlefinger is awesome because holy poo poo man, thank you for that effort PM.Your detailed route looks amazing and I'm going to pour over it over it later today. Also you've given me a riding destination that is almost exactly as far as Medina, TX (the start of the "Twisted Sister" highway trio), so this is going to be an interesting comparison to that trip,which I did and basically hated; the twisted sister roads themselves were great, but I super-slabbed i-10 to get there and back in 3 days, including passing through both Houston and San Antonio(and I caught at least one of them in rush hour coming and going). That's what I accomplish on my own when I plan these trips myself, so thank you again for showing me what looks like a much better ride. Edit: I also need some advice on how the heck I'm going to carry this stuff. I have to actually get it all back to my house (as well as then figure out exactly what I'm bringing). My dad, I believe, has one of those big waterproof top roll bags I can borrow, so I'll stuff a series of smaller bags into that and put it all on the back of my motorcycle. My question is how I'm going to secure it. This is the back of my motorcycle with it's awesome new saddle bags:  It has little cargo prongs on the back that don't seem very useful:  What I mostly used to do, with a bag that sat on the rear seat and came pre-equipped with internal bungie cords, was route the cords to the passenger pegs and the license plate bracket, which I think is the best way I would bungie down a big bag sitting on top of the saddle bags:  Alternately I guess I could route big bungie cords around the fame itself? There's a fender between the chassis and the bottom of the tail with maybe a half foot of clearance so there's no way the cords would really be in danger but it doesn't seem as secure:  So I guess my plan is get a big bag, put all/most bags in it, bungie that down, probably diagonally to the pegs and license plate bracket. I'd like to get a cargo net but from looking online I don't really understand how a net edged with hooks is secured. Actually, from looking at the pictures and thinking about it more, if I went around the chassis but at a diagonal I guess that would work well to secure a big bag to my rear seat? Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Apr 30, 2017 |
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Apr 30, 2017 17:48
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