The Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail is a "rail trail" that follows the old Southern Pacific railroad and tours through 25 miles of the Lassen region's forested landscape. Most of the trail traverses the Susan River Canyon, which includes numerous bridges, trestles and tunnels.
I'd been wanting to check out the Bizz Johnson Trail for some time now. It's known for being exceptionally beautiful in the fall. And there are free camping options on the BLM-managed public lands that the trail passes through-making it a relatively cheap getaway, only 2 hours from home. Being currently based in Redding, California, we had originally planned on doing an overnighter in the mountains north of us. But smoke from a nearby wildfire and the onset of an imminent rainstorm had us venture east for an alternative route. I was accompanied by Joe Tona, a local riding buddy.
In early October, we headed out to Susanville and gave it a go. I called ahead to the Lassen County Visitor Center where they gleefully allowed us to park in their lot once I told them what we were trying to do. We also caught wind of a marathon that was happening on the trail this same weekend, so I checked with the race director to make sure we weren't going to have any issues.
It ended up being pretty cool to see other athletes out there doing their thing. We even got cheered on from many of the race supporters along the way. It rained on us a bit while we were out there, but luckily it cleared up in the evening and we were even able to start a fire at camp to get warm and toasty. We ended up riding a total of 45 miles on the first day, from Susanville to Westwood and then back to camp. The next day was a 15-mile ride from camp back to Susanville.
Bikepacking Route: ridewithgps.co...
BLM: www.blm.gov/vi...
Music Credit:
1) Emancipator - Dusk to Dawn (Live)
2) Emancipator - Rattlesnakes (Live)
emancipatormus...
27 окт 2024
