Bikepack - Ancient Lake

This is a mentored ride for Garth Lien, and Rachel Agent will be serving as the mentor. This trip is a great entry ride for bikepacking on singletrack trails, but some prior mountain bike skills and a mountain bike are required for the trip. Riding will be on singletrack trails with mountain bike difficulty gradings of green (11-1/2 miles) to blue (1/2 mile). This trip is rated with the Mountaineer rating system as MTB 1. For details on what that means, see here.  

Pack water for two days as there is no access to usable water during the trip. 2 liters is likely not enough. 3 liters might be a good minimum, and 4 liters would probably give adequate margin.

The Ancient Lakes area is  a beautiful location for early season riding as snow is unlikely and sunshine is probable (but not guaranteed). However, in this desert like area, the nights can still be cold in  April. Prepare to pack for cold weather camping.

Email leader noting your singletrack experience -  particularly what Washington singletrack trails you have ridden and what bike you will be riding. 

Meet at the Ancient Lakes Lower Trailhead parking lot at 9:30 AM and be ready to roll at 10:30 AM. The ride to camp is less than 1 mile. Once we unload our gear, we will ride 11 miles on green and blue single track. Find the parking lot and meeting location on google maps by searching for "Ancient Lakes Lower Trailhead".  We may have a short ride on Sunday morning or else just head back to the cars to beat traffic home. Note that there is bridge construction at Vantage, and there are continuous 24/7 single-lane closures and speed reductions heading eastbound beginning 20 miles before the bridge according to WSDOT. Plan accordingly and give extra time. There are similar restrictions heading westbound on the trip home.