Camping...

One thing I love to do is to go camping.

Since I am a bike lover and rider, I do this on a motorcycle. And believe me, camping on a motorcycle is the hardest thing you can plan for, next to backpack camping.

The most important thing when planning for motorcycle camping is how to carry your gear. Since I drive a sports bike (1982 Honda CB900F Super Sport), I have nowhere near the carrying capacity that I would on a Goldwing. And because of the age of this bike, there are no saddle bags or other luggage available from aftermarket sources.

My solution was to go back to what I know best. I went to a local surplus store, and bought a used ALICE pack.

Now the ALICE system has been used by the military since the 1960's. ALICE means "All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment. It is modular, light weight, and can be used in many ways. This ability makes it perfect for backpacking or cycle-packing.

I spent 10 years in the Marine Corps, an Infantry Rifleman by trade. Because of this, I am intimately familiar with what can be done with this equipment. I used it all over the US, and overseas. It is light, has a lot of carrying capacity, and has easy to access straps to hang accessories onto.

My first trip was in March 2005. I bought a Medium ALICE pack and frame, and a foam "E-Mat" from a surplus store. I already had a sleeping bag, which I bought years earlier for use in my move to Alabama. This was the equipment I took in my trial run to Mobile, so I could see an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

One of the things that took longest to prepare for this trip was the tent.

Now one drawback of camping like this is that you have a limited amount of room to pack your equipment. Over the years, dome tents have passed the old "A Frame" tents, and that was a problem to me. With only about 3-4' of depth, I could not use a conventional dome tent becaue the poles were normally 5-6' long. I either had to use a much more expensive (and harder to find) backpackers model, or an A-frame tent. And a-frames are much harder to find.

To the rescue was the surplus store I went to for the pack. Just the week before, they had recieved a shipment of camouflage 2 man a-frame tents! They were cheap (about $25), small, and light weight. I also got an electric flashlight-lantern-radio from Wall-Mart for about $25. This let me combine several needed items into one small package.

Now came the drawback, the size of a medium ALICE. This is the pack that most military people are familiar with. With 3 large external pockets, it has a decent carrying capacity. A lot of other equipment that you would use in the field though is carried on the cartridge belt though. Because I was not going to be wearing something like that, everything I needed had to go in the pack.

It fit, but once I added a change of clothes and food, my capacity was pretty much maxed out. Thus prepared, I set out on my trip to Mobile.

Once I got there, I ran into some unexpected problems. The first being that the State Park I planned on camping on no longer allowed camping. I got there at 8pm, and the gates were locked! This made me scramble through my map and tourist information, and located a private campground about 5 miles away. After consulting the map, I was away again.

Now I hit the next problem. Unknown to me, more and more campgrounds were now "RV Parks" or "RV Resorts". In short, this means "NO TENTS"! I was informed when I got there, that tent campers were not welcome, especially not motorcycle campers. They also could not (or would not) give me the location of any campgrounds that would take me in.

So I consulted the guidebooks again (provided at the Alabama state line by the visitors station) and found another campground.

Now real quick, I am going to make a pitch for the place I ended up for the night, the "I-65 Campground".

http://www.i65rvcampground.com/

I arrived there at around 10pm, and even though they were not sure, they let me in and made me feel welcome. When I told them why I had come to Mobile, they told me that they had been full almost all spring, from other people comming to see the exhibit. The tent area was empty other then me, and the park was nice and quiet.

After a quiet night, I packed up, then took a walk around the park. It was clean, with a lot of trees and a small pond. The shower / rest room was clean and well maintained. From walking, it was obvious that a lot of the people there actually lived there. Some of the RVs look like they had not been moved in years! DirecTV dishes were burried in the ground, and some even had wood fences up to keep in/out dogs and other pets.

I saw both the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the USS Alabama. After a nice day, I was back on the road and drove back home. Overall, a wonderfull trip, and a good first run.

The pics are from this trip. Here is one from the campground, after I loaded everything up for the return trip.

This is the bike, with the Medium ALICE on a frame. The light green bag is my sleeping bag. The rolled up item on the end is the sleeping mat. Made of 1" thick dense foam, it makes sleeping more comfortable, and prevents heat loss from sleeping on the ground. The tan item is a 2 quart military canteen. It is collapsable, and with a shoulder strap, I can remove it and take it with me very easily. Not visible on the other side is an entrenching tool (shovel) and 1 quart canteen. There is a "Canteen Cup" with the 1 quart, which doubles as a pot, cup, and shaving sink. The pockets carry things like my digital camera, food, batteries, and anything else I may need to access quickly. Strapped on with bungee cords, it can be secured in less then 5 minutes.