Went on my first overnighter this weekend in Northern AZ

I rode around Flagstaff all morning and in the afternoon I took the AZT down to Marshall Lake to camp for the night. I learned so much on this trip. I’ve been wanting to go bikepacking for a few years now. There was one other attempt at an overnighter that was foiled by a mechanical failure. This time everything went (almost) perfectly. Originally my plan was to leave Flag early in the morning and ride all the way to Sedona. I changed my mind on this as I wasn’t sure about a reliable water source for part of the route. Even if there was, 50 miles on terrain like that would’ve been a stretch for me. I have a bad habit of underestimating elevation gain/overestimating my own abilities. I had the idea of going to one of three lakes. Marshall, Kinnikinick, or Ashurst. I took my time on the route and stopped for pictures (and 🔥🌲) a lot so I ended up rolling into Marshall Lake around 6pm. I decided to set up camp there because I wasn’t sure about riding on to Ashurst before dark. It was a bit rainy but it didn’t bother me too much. I set up my bivvy, ate dinner and laid down for the night. The next day, I packed up and filtered some water from the lake. I also used Aquamir because I wasn’t sure about the water source. Then I rode back up to Flagstaff on Lake Mary Rd, which was beautiful and not too difficult. Overall I had an amazing time and I feel like I learned a lot about bikepacking, my gear, my bike, and myself.

by mysteryShmeat