After a little sweet talking Martha agreed to go bike camping with me in the mountains above Payson, Utah, which is about 90 miles south of where we live in the southern Wasatch.

I haven't had the best of luck riding in this area -- mostly problems with getting lost -- but I was determined that things would go well on this trip so that it wouldn't be the last bike camping adventure. We set off in beautiful riding weather -- 70 degrees and sunny and things went well until we had to climb up a long hill after riding for about 3 hours. Having the extra weight strapped to our bikes made climbing a challenge and Martha wasn't too happy with me, but she managed to get to the top of the hill.

It was getting late and I really wanted to find us a camping spot so we could enjoy the late afternoon a bit before darkness fell. We had some trouble finding a turn off onto the return trail, but just as I was starting to despair, Martha spotted it. We rode downhill and fairly quickly found a nice camp site.

The only real disappointment on the trip was that the food we brought for dinner completely sucked. Thank god we had some whisky and a little chocolate.

The ride out the next morning was short and sweet -- mostly downhill!