Camp Setup
A fellow Royal Enfield Himalayan rider (Uncle Voodoo) and I decided to do some moto camping at Little Irish Creek near Buena Vista, VA. We arrived at a nice camp spot shortly before sundown and got right to setting up camp.
The campsite was really close to the creek and it was a nice and open area. There was more than enough room at the site for each of our tents, bikes, and the other things we brought.
My Camping Gear
I was using my MSR Hubba Hubba tent that I just purchased same day. Planning definitely was not perfect this trip. I actually bought my tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag over the phone and Uncle Voodoo picked it up for me, ha!
I set up my tent along with my Big Agnes Insulated Q-Core Deluxe sleeping pad and my North Face Cat’s Meow sleeping bag. The only thing missing was a pillow. I actually ended up buying a Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow after I got back from the trip. But it would have been really nice to have one there, haha.
Night Ride to Find Cell Signal
After we were set up and pretty well situated, I took a night ride on the Himalayan to try to find cell signal. I use a Garmin inReach when I’m on trails with intermittent cell signal so I can text the wife and hit a button in case of serious emergencies.
One feature of the Garmin inReach is that you can set it up to work through your phone. This is fantastic for texting, as it’s a huge pain to text on the inReach’s tiny screen. I took my ride to find signal and get the inReach working through my phone. Wasn’t super quick, but I eventually did find a signal.
Things Can be Creepy in the Woods
I found these odd cut sticks with the ends filed down hanging from a tree while looking for firewood. They were pretty creepy and reminded me of The Blair Witch movies. We ended up burning them in the fire.
The Awesome Reverse Fire
The other Himalayan rider I was with, Uncle Voodoo (see his YouTube channel HERE), set up a reverse fire in the morning. The way it works is pretty cool. The larger logs go on the bottom and they slowly get smaller towards the top. They’re placed in a criss-cross sort of pattern, some going one way, next row going the other way, etc. Kindling is placed at the very top of the pile of logs.
When the kindling catches and burns, it will slowly fall down to each next row of logs. This will ignite row after row making it basically a self-feeding fire. This is the first time I’ve seen one of these in action, and it was definitely a great way to make a fire!
Creeks Galore
This area of the Blue Ridge Mountains has tons of creeks. After all, the campsite is in a place called Little Irish Creek. The sounds of the creek we were right next were great at night, very relaxing.
As you go down the mountains, the creeks converge and get larger and larger. Lots of the trails around this area include creek crossings. Creek crossings on a motorcycle can be fun, but also allow for lots of slippage and some spills!
An Old Mine
We found an old mine sort of close to where we were camping. Not really much to it (what we could see anyway), but it was still neat. Supposedly, there are lots of bats living in it, but we didn’t see any.
Heading Home
On the way home, I stopped in a parking lot to do a quick walk around the bike. It was pretty packed down with all my gear. I did end up purchasing a new bag for all my gear when I got home. But for the trip, I had to make do with what I had at home for packing.
Full Video of the Moto Camping Trip
Check out the full video of the moto camping trip at Little Irish Creek. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to my channel:)
