Kofa National Wildlife Refuge – A Little Getaway

Last weekend I snuck away for a much needed solo bikepacking trip in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. It was going to rain yet *again* in Santa Barbara and all of our forest roads and trails were still closed from damage following the heavy rain in January. This route developed by Kurt Refsnider is just outside Quartzite, Arizona and only a six hour drive from home. I was going to get out of town before the rain (because my van doesn’t start once it is wet) and enjoy some sunshine and remote pedaling! And my new role as President of the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance was causing me a fair bit of stress — I desperately needed this solo weekend of riding and contemplation.

On Thursday morning I packed quickly, relying more on hope than care that I had everything I needed. My planned ride is just 130 miles (short version of the route) and rugged road, not trail, so the route should pose no problem over three days of riding. I know that sounds like foreshadowing, but in the end I really did have everything I needed — well, a water filter would have been nice, but not necessary.

The six hour drive actually took closer to 8 hours, thanks LA. I got in late Thursday night hungry and tired. Friday morning I got up and going, making the first water source by noon. It was deliciously clear water!

I finally used my small rechargeable Steripen for the first time! I’ve had it for over a year, but it’s really only appropriate for a weekend trip and much bulkier than the tablets I often use so this was it’s first time out. I think? thought? I had my usual stash of tablets with me as well, as a back up. Honestly, I always have a sheet of them in my fanny pack, which in my day to day life is my “purse”. What can I say? You never know when you may need to treat some sketchy water!

I carried a very large volume (+7L) with me from this water source since I would be dry camping and potentially have serval of hours of riding in the morning before reaching the next water. I pushed myself and made 45 miles for the day and enjoyed a good nights sleep. It had been cloudy all day, even spitting rain a couple of times, so I put up my tarp just in case conditions devolved during the night. Using it this way takes a fair bit of fiddling to set up, and I definitely didn’t want to do it in the rain in the middle of the night.

Day two I reached the next water, a solar and wind powered watering hole for wildlife. It was full of just barely macroscopic swimming things that definitely did not stop swimming from my Steripen use. Hmm… hopefully it is still frying their DNA and rendering them harmless. I also meant to bring a filter bag as well, but didn’t. At least I can throw a tablet in there as well. I check my usual spot in my fanny pack, hmm… must have used them all in Baja. Pretty please tell me I have some stashed somewhere on my bike. Phew, I found a strip of water treatment tabs tucked away. It’s worth it to keep them everywhere I tell you!

Due to all the swimming things in the water I only took a couple of liters and decided to hope that the water well by Kofa Cabin was better. I pushed on for another 45 mile day, which was consistently 5 more miles than my body wanted to ride. It did not help that the last 5 miles were directly into a strong headwind. I don’t usually like staying in public cabins on roads as a solo woman, no matter how low the traffic. I don’t feel safe being so obvious in my presence in places vehicles can reach, but the wind was strong enough that my desire for a comfortable place to shelter outweighed my safety concerns. First was to get my water for the night. I rode down to the well and the water was SO GREEN. Ugh! So much for this water being better. Also, Steripen’s are meant for clear water. I’m really glad I had tablets to double up on the treatment, but I still was not too keen to drink water this green.

Fortunately the free, first come first serve, cabin built by the CCC was empty and available for my use. I was grateful to be out of the wind. I used the sketchy green water for cooking and saved all my other water for drinking (even the stuff with the previously swimming creatures).

Dawn of day three was still beautiful and not too hot weather. I had less than 40 miles to go, the second half of that largely downhill.

I was happy that the final day of riding took much less time than the previous two because I still had a long drive home, including getting across LA traffic on a Sunday night, which is notoriously bad.

Despite the frustrating drive times it was so important to get out and clear my mind and enjoy some long physically challenging days on the bike. As my socks say… Do Bikes!