I think I'll take a SEAT...

[Pdsmith505]

Getting ready to set out for a ~2000 mile moto-hobo camping trip over 12 days at the end of the month. Plan is to run the northern portions of the South East Adventure Trail from the old forum ( https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/seat-south-east-adventure-trail.1225114/ ) on my KTM 690 Enduro, and sleeping every night but one out in the national forests. My goal is mostly dirt roads, and I’ll be running a fresh set of Tusk DSport tires knowing they will be dead when I get back home.

I’ve got a buddy near Chattanooga, TN who’s willing to share his home and, most importantly, his washing machine, so I can take care of my drawers halfway through the ride. No one likes a stinky rider.

I’m still considering taking a detour to the tail of the dragon.

Anything else you see on the route that I ought to deviate for?

The actual route covers ~1400 miles, with 2x 300 mile legs getting to/from the start/finish and home on the tarmac. I’m very much time constricted and feel like 1 day out, 10 days on the trail (140 mi/day), and 1 day back is a reasonable expectation.

To keep the wife and kids happy, I picked up a Garmin GPSMAP 66i. Once I'm ready to roll I'll throw up the link to the satellite track updates.

More to follow when I actually execute!

 

[Pdsmith505]

The start of the SEAT, regardless of your plans, seems to be right around an AT hostel...

Woods Hole Hostel

Serving the AT hiker community, as well as Individuals, couples, and families looking for a getaway that is off the beaten path.

woodsholehostel.com

Last year, as I ran the Atlantic Spur of the TaT and MABDR sections 3 through 1, I passed by this hostel and it's AT supply drop box... I inadvertently found it to be a good place to add a gallon of fuel to my bike's tank...

Since then I've decided that adding 6" of width with a RotoPax can on either side of the bike is counter productive to getting through the more exciting places in the Appalacians, so I moved to a water bladder and fuel bladder on top of the side bags...

Anywho... I reached out to the hostel about their bunkhouse beds. Should be better than laying on a single-width cot... neh?

 

[SandRdr]

Sounds like a fun trip! It's been a long time since I rode the seat. I would incorporate more of the SM500, logistics depending. Where are you starting?

 

[Pdsmith505]

Sounds like a fun trip! It's been a long time since I rode the seat. I would incorporate more of the SM500, logistics depending. Where are you starting?

I'm coming out from the Norfolk, VA area. Going to start with sections 1 through 4, then use 22 and 21 to loop back up to sections 3 through 1. Let's me run most of "hard" alternatives one way, and the the main path coming back.

I just don't have time for a longer ride than that, and going south of that little loop adds lots of return miles.

 

[Yinzer Moto]

We ran the SEAT in 2018. It is a fun ride. 140 mi a day is a leisurely pace, it should allow for some time for detours and sightseeing.

 

[EGR]

Last time (last year) we were in Burke’s Garden it looked (from pavement) like the E road was gated.

 

[random1781]

Last time (last year) we were in Burke’s Garden it looked (from pavement) like the E road was gated.

We tried to go north through here about a year ago. I don't recall actually seeing a gate, but it was one of those places that had an obscene number of no trespassing/road closed signs.

From SWVA Today:

Regarding the Burke’s Garden side of Round Mountain Road, McKeague said the landowners have been maintaining the road and decided to close it to traffic rather than keeping it as a public road. He said that at one point, the Forest Service was close to an agreement with the land owners, but the land owners changed their minds.

A statement on the Forest Service website said the property owners closed the road because of road damage, and approximately 1.5 miles of the road is inaccessible. The closed private section begins at Burke’s Garden on Back Road/666 and ends after approximately 2 miles. An additional half mile is closed in order to stop westbound traffic at the last safe turnaround.

McKeague said the Forest Service plans to keep the right-of-way document alive in case the land owners change their minds.
“It is a priority for us; we know how important it is,” he said.

Mattie's Place is a little Amish general store in Burke's Garden that's really good though. We had breakfast sandwiches with bread still hot from the oven.

 

[EGR]

We tried to go north through here about a year ago. I don't recall actually seeing a gate, but it was one of those places that had an obscene number of no trespassing/road closed signs.

From SWVA Today:



Mattie's Place is a little Amish general store in Burke's Garden that's really good though. We had breakfast sandwiches with bread still hot from the oven.

Mattie’s Place is off the charts. We’ve put kickstand down there next to horse and buggy.

We’re long timers and I’m quite sure Burke’s Garden is on the “call it paradise, kiss it goodbye” very, very short list.

 

[random1781]

There's also a phenomenal place to camp just south of there, one of my favorites, if it's along your route. It was actually a USFS improved campground, but has been abandoned for a long time. You're on top of a ridge and have an awesome view, and there's an old stone fireplace/chimney thing to use. 37.0245, -81.1761

 

[Pdsmith505]

Last time (last year) we were in Burke’s Garden it looked (from pavement) like the E road was gated.

We tried to go north through here about a year ago. I don't recall actually seeing a gate, but it was one of those places that had an obscene number of no trespassing/road closed signs.

From SWVA Today:

"A statement on the Forest Service website said the property owners closed the road because of road damage, and approximately 1.5 miles of the road is inaccessible. The closed private section begins at Burke’s Garden on Back Road/666 and ends after approximately 2 miles. An additional half mile is closed in order to stop westbound traffic at the last safe turnaround."

Mattie's Place is a little Amish general store in Burke's Garden that's really good though. We had breakfast sandwiches with bread still hot from the oven.

Well, that's a bummer. But it looks like if I'm willing the hit the forest section twice (out and back) it's still worth doing before detouring along 42 and getting into Burke's Garden that way.

Appreciate the heads up so I can make a note on the map.

 

[Pdsmith505]

Did a little more planning today by working on the loadout for the bike...

Pretty much the whole loadout. Still need to fill out the food stuffs, but there's plenty of extra space. Tourmaster suit and boots seem to do the trick without costing an arm and a leg. Found the Krios + Sena 50 as a floor demo on the old site a while back for a decent deal.

Stuff and packing locations are as follows:

1) Left Pannier - Nelson Rigg RiggGear Sierra 28L
1.1) North Face 20* sleeping bag and camp pillow in compression sack
1.2) Thermarest Cot
1.3) Thermarest Cot Shelter
1.4) Source Hydration 3L water pack

2) Backpack / Seat Bag - Nelson Rigg RiggGear Hurricane 20L
2.1) Food
2.2) Fuel Canister
2.3) Stanley 500mL cook pot / cups / stove
2.4) Thermacell
2.5) Rain tarp
2.6) Kindle
2.7) Molle pack containing spare strap material, bug spray, torch lighter, fire starter, and zip ties
2.8) Chain lube
2.9) Plexus

3) Right Pannier - Nelson Rigg RiggGear Sierra 28L
3.1) Rachet straps and handle bar ties
3.2) Stop-n-Go mini compressor
3.3) Tire spoons (also axle wrench)
3.4) Front tube (can fit the rear in a pinch)
3.5) Tool kit (KTM with supplements)
3.6) Clothing (zip-off pants + sleep shorts + 4x changes warm + 1x change cold + liners for suit)
3.6) Giant Loop 1G fuel bladder and spout
3.7) Folding camp chair

4) 'Tank' Bag - Nelson Rigg Hurricane Enduro
4.1) 30000 mAH battery pack
4.2) Charging cables (micro USB and USB C)
4.3) Lip balm
4.4) Pressure gauge
4.5) Paracord bracelet
4.6) TP & hand sanitizer
4.7) Wallet

5) Water Pack - Source Hydration 3L
5.1) Garmin GPSMAP 66i

Tank bag holds a really big battery. USB power is wired into the keyed auxiliary feed. Does not draw power when key is off to prevent killing the bike's battery, hence the battery pack for device charging.

Decided that, if I'm going to be going solo out in the wilds, I ought to have some means of telling the world when things have gone horribly wrong. Doesn't hurt to have a backup to my cell phone for navigation either.

All packed up. I am going to evaluate running two 1L fuel cannisters in place of the chain lube and plexus (ordered smaller cans) instead of the 1G fuel bladder. Gas stations on the SEAT are close enough that I should be fine with a smaller backup fuel supply. Extra water on the left to balance weight between right and left sides.

Next big thing to figure out is the meal plan...

 

[Pdsmith505]

There's also a phenomenal place to camp just south of there, one of my favorites, if it's along your route. It was actually a USFS improved campground, but has been abandoned for a long time. You're on top of a ridge and have an awesome view, and there's an old stone fireplace/chimney thing to use. 37.0245, -81.1761

Took a look in GaiaGPS... Might be a good candidate for the end of the return leg! Thanks!

 

[random1781]

Unpaved roads in VA:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=e4e9638690634fafae8bccb63abbee7c

They're not always up to date and don't include roads not maintained by VA (i.e. USFS), but it's a good way to connect dots if you need/want to detour somewhere. I have a KML of it if your device/app can handle that many tracks.

3.6) Clothing (zip-off pants + sleep shorts + 4x changes warm + 1x change cold + liners for suit)

It doesn't matter much but you probably get by with fewer changes. I live on my bike with 4 shirts, 1 pair of pants, and 5 pairs of underwear, plus cold/riding gear. I do have a kilt, which is awesome when you want to ditch your riding gear and air out. Maybe not awesome for anyone else around me though!

Next big thing to figure out is the meal plan...

Our technique is to go stupid simple since you're usually tired after a day of riding. We just grab a protein (canned chicken usually), a base like rice or pasta, and then some type of pre-made sauce packet, like curries, tikka masala, etc. Literally just mix it all together and heat it up and you have a meal better than the freeze-dried packets for just a few dollars. It also requires a lot less water than those REI meals.

 

[Pdsmith505]

It doesn't matter much but you probably get by with fewer changes. I live on my bike with 4 shirts, 1 pair of pants, and 5 pairs of underwear, plus cold/riding gear. I do have a kilt, which is awesome when you want to ditch your riding gear and air out. Maybe not awesome for anyone else around me though!

That's about what my clothing load out is, and your right, I could do with less but not really hurting for space (it's all in the grey inner-bag). I do appreciate having clean underwear each day though... that's important.

And socks. Clean socks are great. Not sure how you are getting by with out them. Probably the only thing I'd add to your list

 

[random1781]

And socks. Clean socks are great. Not sure how you are getting by with out them. Probably the only thing I'd add to your list

Oh yeah, forgot to include those there 4x pairs going from super light to waterproof. "Motorcycle" socks are disappointing, Smartwool/Darn Tough are where it's at.

 

[Pdsmith505]

One week to Day 0 of my SEAT adventure. Got some more planning done. Took the advice to look at the SM500 (thanks SandRdr !)... and it overlaps the loop on the SEAT that I was planning on doing for the most part... but looks like even more fun.

So, revised the route to do a hybrid of the SEAT and SM500 in my southern loop. Also tossed in a out and back on the Dragon (purple), just because. Blue paths are SEAT, yellow/orange are SM500. I'll alternate back and forth on SM500 Red and SEAT 4, but SM500 Green and Yellow fully replace SEAT 22 and 21.

Up on the north end, I tossed in part of MABDR 2 that I missed last fall due to a tree fall blocking the road... and the fact that my wallet decided to jump ship (which I noticed when I got off to investigate the tree fall). So, revised path looks like this:

Also got my days roughly planned out with meals and whatnot. Using the section breakouts as a guide, looks a lot more like 8 days on the trail than 10... so more like 180 miles/day than 140. Numbers on chow indicate how many have been consumed. All the food fits in the tail bag. Granola is vaccum packed cereal with full fat powdered milk... just add water (hot or cold). Knorr sides, ready to heat rice sides, and flavored pouch chicken rounds out the lunch and dinner options in camp. All overnights are dispersed camping except Day 0 and Midway.

Took a deep dive between the maps available in GaiaGPS Premium and the various National Forest Road maps to find "high clearance vehicle" roads that are actually open during this time frame. Turns out, a lot of the seasonal VA/NC National Forest roads open up on April 1st... what a coincidence.

Getting excited!

 

[random1781]

Glad to see you didn't omit the most important part of planning and included breweries.

We always look for dispersed camping also, but we wound up at Mountain View Motorcycle Campground in NC, which was a really fun stop. The owners are super cool and we had fun hanging out with other folks there, plus there's a garage with tools if you need them. Tent/bunk space along with showers, coffee, and beer.

Mountain View Motorcycle Campground · 401 Buck Mountain Rd, Elk Park, NC 28622

★★★★★ · Campground

goo.gl

 

[Pdsmith505]

Today I took care of my clothes and tent. Treated everything in permethrin to keep the creepy crawlies away.

Also sorted out my thermocell fuel and pads, fire starters, and additional cookware (because I'm not worried about a few extra ounces).

Watching the face-space pages for MABDR and SM500, I'm seeing lots of snow. So, I broke down and ordered some merino base layers as well.

Nothing in the world like being a few days out of a big trip!

 

[Yinzer Moto]

Treated everything in permethrin to keep the creepy crawlies away.

Thanks for the reminder, I need to redcoat everything as they will probably be coming out of their winter slumber soon.

 

[Pdsmith505]

I guess it's that awkward time when a trip planning thread starts turning into a ride report thread and has to mosey on over to the other section...

Merino base layer came in the Amazon van today, along with a sleeping bag liner. That makes the very last of the impressively large pile of junk I'm taking with me on this trip, so I decided what better opportunity than now to give everything a quick shake down ride to the gas station and back via the only dirt road I have access to in a 20 mile radius. Good news is that it's in pretty bad repair, so plenty enough woops, puddles, and mud pits to give a proper shake down.

Everything checked out... except for some reason my riding pants shrank over the winter. I didn't think codura did that... The Garmin GPSMAP 66i seems OK where it is on my water pack... but I might move it to the jacket's belt later on. Either way, the cheap molle-style radio holder from china is doing the trick just fine.

So, what changed from my original loadout?
1) No fuel bladder. No need on this ride, the 2x 1L bottles fit better, and I won't have to futz with a spout.
2) bought a compression/stuff sack for my rain tarp... mostly so it would have straps that I could use to secure it on top of the now vacant right pannier. That's where the camp chair went too.
3) Swapped out the big cans of plexus and chain lube for small cans, then put them in a molle pouch attached to the top bag. Much neater now.
4) Added a first-aid pouch. Doesn't have trauma gear in it... I don't know how to use trauma gear anyways. But, at least I'll be able to tie some gauze over my sucking chest wound while I wait for the magic SOS button to do it's thing.

Everything seems to have stayed in place, and isn't too obnoxious. Next time I'll pack less. Chalk it up to seeing if I could run a bigger, more wild, trip or something. If it was a week or two later in the year, I'd ditch the liners for my suit and the winter gloves for sure.

Those of you familiar with the 690/701 will note that my top bag is on top ( ) of my fuel tank. The straps holding it on the rack have buckles on the right side, so I just pop those open, flop it to the low side, and I've got access. Easy peasy.

Now all that's left is to wake up and make an omelet... can't do a trip without breaking some eggs. See ya over in the ride reports!