Saskatchewan Gravel Bikepacking

Hi folks, last week I spent 3 days bikepacking in rural Saskatchewan, Canada on some beautiful roads and trails not far from my home.

It was a loop route that started and finished along the North Saskatchewan River at Petrofka, about 50km NW of Saskatoon, and ventured west then north from there past Redberry Lake wandering through the Thickwood Hills and on to Blaine Lake then back to the North Saskatchewan River. It was a great three days of biking and touring around some really scenic areas. My 182 km route had 1,537 m of elevation with some long hills and many short steep hills that had me rapidly shifting from grinding uphill in the lowest gear to flying down the other side in high gear. Anyone who thinks Saskatchewan is flat has never been off of the major highways. We don't have the elevation that many of you have but we have enough wills to keep it interesting and allow for some fantastic biking.

Day 1 was ~67 km, Day 2 was almost 97 km, and Day 3 was ~20 km. Day 2 was a very tough day for me with the distance, load, plenty of hills, thick gravel, grassy trails and some moderate headwinds to finish the day.

My shelter is a hammock tent from Little Shop of Hammocks and includes an integrated under quilt plus a topquilt. The first night I didn't even bother with the tarp and opened up the mosquito net once the critters had gone to bed. Night 1 was spent off the road in a random spot in the bush alongside a field. Night 2 was a spot along the river at an unofficial recreation spot at an old ferry crossing.

I probably had enough snacks to stay out for another few days without going hungry. I might need to be more realistic in my food planning in the future. I do more canoe and kayak camping so a lot of my stuff is not as ultralight and compact as it could be, plus I apparently have an unreasonable fear of running out of snacks.

I had a 2.5L water bladder at the bottom of my Thief frame bag, plus a 1L Nalgene. I resupplied on water from a tap at Redberry Lake and the community of Blaine Lake. I meant to bring tablets to treat additional water en route but I forgot them at home. Things to improve or change for next time would be to carry more water and have the ability to treat or filter water, more electrolytes, properly sized meal portions and fewer snacks. Also more training and conditioning wouldn't hurt.

It was a fantastic but challenging short trip.