Bikepacking the Paul Bunyan State Trail with Toddlers: Adventures in Tykepacking
Disclaimer: I frequently use the term bikepacking because it sounds cooler than touring. It also rhymes with “tykepacking” which is what this blog entry is about.
I’m writing to document our first tykepacking adventure but also to encourage others to plan their next adventure with their tots. In our case, we biked with three kids and one future child from the ages of just under negative 6 months old to 3ish years old. Let’s call them Jack (3ish), Lou (2.5), Charlie (>1) because their parents are cool enough to let me use their real names. Let’s call the unborn child Jimmy (0>) since I’m sure our friends will name their second boy after me after they blew their first chance.
A little background, we are novices, beginners, greenhorns at bikepacking. We have just a few short bikepacking trips under our stretching belts. Our rides have ranged from 80 miles to 200 miles which included one or two nights of camping. We’ve mainly taken the Heartland and Paul Bunyan State Rail Trails in central Minnesota which I’d recommend to anyone but especially those who are intimidated on where to start. The trails are beautiful, easy to navigate, and smooth as silk.
“As a family we spend hours a day on our saddles so naturally we wanted to get back to bikepacking shenanigans with our friends. It only made sense to bring our minis along.”
On these past rides we have conquered flat tires, a few mechanical issues, relationship disagreements, and buying cases of mediocre beer without room to pack them. Don’t let any such fears intimidate you because these setbacks create the best memories. As is life, it’s different with children though, right?
Yes, It's harder. It’s also arguably better. Being responsible for the well-being of another human who relies on you multiples risk by infinite but the reward is sweet. As in many relationships my wife is the realist and I’m the dreamer. I’m always looking to take the next adventure, jump the next curb, and fly closer to the sun to get a better view. My daughter and I are fortunate to have a wife and mom who keeps us from flying too close to the sun. What we all share is a love for exploring on a bicycle. We use any excuse to bike including work/daycare commutes, errands, and any event in town we can support, loiter, or whatever you want to call it. As a family we spend hours a day on our saddles so naturally we wanted to get back to bikepacking shenanigans with our friends. It only made sense to bring our minis along.
We are fortunate to have family along the trail on Leech Lake near Walker, MN. This made planning for us easier and allowed us to have a fallback plan we fortunately didn’t need. We used it anyway. This made packing easier and the ride more comfortable. I’d recommend having some sort of fallback plan in case you or your child’s safety is at risk.
11 Safety Tips
Refer to https://bikepacking.com/bikepacking-101/pack-list/ or another resource if you don’t know where to start with packing.
Pack extra Band-Aids in first aid kit because toddlers will water the majority of them.
Go with a group and have at least one person fitted with tools, flat repair kit, and basic knowledge of common fixes.
Have your phone charged to callout in case of emergency. Bring an appropriately sized power bank to compensate for all your kid’s paw patrol toy videos they binge on YouTube.
Stay close to where you live or where others are ready and accessible to help.
Keep the ride short with frequent towns along the way.
Choose a route which is easy to navigate.
Check weather and have reliable resource for updates along the way.
Carry plenty of water and nutrients for you and your child.
Take care of yourself to be able to take care of your child. Keep your inner child at bay for when you need to be the adult.
If It’s summer and your child requests “Frozen” or “Elsa” on the Bluetooth speaker just roll it.
DAY 1
Back to our first tykepacking adventure. We started just outside of Walker at my parents’ cabin. This allowed us to leave our cars in a safe location and gave us the resources to get our only group picture of the weekend.
Shoutout to my mom, Susan, whose photo turned out great and even included a little bit of her finger in the top left corner for credit. Her cookies and extra freezer full of cookie dough balls is worth a mention too.
Time to do our favorite thing. Time to bike with our friends away from what we know like we are 8 year olds feeling freedom for the first time because our parents are letting us bike alone to Little Duke’s gas station to get Sobe’s and refill the sample cups with cappuccino slushees until the attendant has to shut down the samples. You may not have that same memory but I’m guessing you understand the feeling.
Lou was taking advantage of her sucker bribe, Burleys were packed, and we were ready to roll.
Our route was a typical overly optimistic dad’s “20 miles” which ended up being 25 miles. No harm no foul. Our first segment was half way to our destination campsite. These 13 miles were everything we’d hoped they’d be. We started with a few climbs but more fast rolling descents. With some singing, snacking and flower picking we were already almost to our halfway point.
The segment ended in the great town and community of Hackensack, MN. It’s the perfect stop. Not only is it a well timed segment to give the kids a break to get off the bike but right on the rail trail is a park, a lake w/ beach, restaurants and most importantly Rendezvous Brewing which has the only cream ale I’ve considered to rival Castle Danger’s Castle Cream Ale.
A couple doors down from Rendezvous Brewing is Sun and Fun Ice Cream which is a convenient and fun stop for coffee, playing and the best sleeper of a falafel sandwich. The family who owns it runs an awesome shop that is very child centric. After a couple hours of playing, eating, and digesting we were back on our bikes. Next stop was Backus, MN which was just a couple miles from the final campsite destination.
A break from the early summer Frozen soundtrack led us to dancing on our bikes to the Bee Gees and a mix of typical folky music you’d expect coming from a group of cyclists with sandals and baskets on their bikes. The ride was beautiful and soon enough we took a short break in Backus before finishing the ride into our campsite at Sunset Pines Resort. We finished on a gravel road which enhanced the sense of adventure with the soft crushing sounds of heavy aired down bike tires forming to the small rocks.
The camp gear shuttle that was my parents’ loaded up SUV arrived soon after and dropped off our coolers, tents, as well as all the latest glamping accessories. I’d suggest if you haven’t tented with your child(ren) to do so prior for practice but also because it’s a blast and your backyard is free.
Once camp was set up, we could play with the kids as well as open our first “how bout that ride in” Hamms’s of the night. This was the rewarding beer we’d dreamt of all day. We wound down by playing card games including Amber’s Anomia which is just like all the other card games that require whit, attention, and confidence in which I lack. I lost as expected but the game produced giggles to balance out my competitiveness. We had ambitions to go into town to pick up food for to cook over our fire but to no surprise we ended up ordering Heggies Frozen Pizza from Sunset Pines instead with no remorse for Grant and his inferior genetic ability to digest lactose.
We still had a fire.I didn’t last long in boy scouts but I think the dad in me brought tout some campfire building superhero skill i didn’t know i had. The torch lighter, dry birchwood, and endless supply pizza cardboard may have contributed as well. After the fire, Kumbayaing, panicking to get in the tent to escape the mosquitoes, changing our daughters diaper in the dark, and kicking each other while putting on our loosest clothes, we fall asleep with ease… except for the occasional itch that was probably another tick.
DAY 2
Let’s jump right in. Another day of beautiful scenery, giggling kids all the sudden turned crying kids, and biking with our friends. We all wake up at about the same time except for Colin and Amber who are the only of the four couples without a child. They wake up last and look annoyingly beautiful and fresh. Still, we are happy for them and happier they put up with us.
It’s going to be another great day. We snack a little, pack up our gear in the shuttle, play a little outdoor table tennis, and head back towards Hackensack. This ride seems to go faster for some reason. I like to think it’s because we were having fun but it’s more likely due to the need for coffee and breakfast at Viddles and Joe diner in Hackensack. There we eat not only a midwestern trucker sized breakfast but our oversized kid’s dessert pancakes as well.
Once full, we make our way out of Hackensack back to Walker which just gets more and more beautiful. We see a family of swans as well as a sluggish but terrifying bike trail dinosaur called a snapping turtle. About five miles out of home base the sky starts to look real gnarly. Our daughter Lou has fallen asleep on the bike again and we are trying to pedal as urgently as we can while keeping her steady for a worthwhile nap.
You can tell when you get close to Walker and Leech Lake because the hills become more dooming. You’d expect the overpacked climb to be the worst and most chaotic part of the ride but it’s more of a needed mediation. It’s one of those times where your total attention is on trying to get to the top of the next hill and not on work, your un-mowed lawn, or how old our presidential candidates are. Besides from the hills the once refreshing backlit mist gradually became a heavy rain in the cloudy dark. I thought this would be the low point as we finished but Lou did great and it made for The Notebook’s rainy Goslingeque “IT’S NOT OVER, It’s still not over” finish.
Blog entry author Jimmy Whetter organizes Ducks in a Row Bike Club of Fargo Moorhead, a family oriented bike club that organizes group rides and events in the Fargo Moorhead area!
