Notes from the Namekagon River

A bikerafting trip, a creaking bike, and a lighter approach to photography.

As I write this, I’m sitting in camp watching the Namekagon River drift by while trying not to think about the loud creak my bike has developed. I'm on a bikerafting trip, which is part bike touring and part river floating.

My bike has developed a loud creak every time it rolls. I recently had the hubs serviced, so maybe it’s related. Hopefully it’s something simple, but it's an unknown.

I parked my car a little downstream from the middle of the river, then rode my bike to a point about ten miles from the source. The river is running at about half its normal level, so I decided to skip those first ten miles. Now I’m sort of regretting that decision.

Tomorrow I’ll reach my car, and then I’ll have to decide whether to continue on to the St. Croix River, knowing it means a 35-mile bike ride back to retrieve my vehicle. That decision will probably depend on whether I can figure out what’s making my bike complain.

Knowing this wasn’t really a photography trip, I left most of my gear at home, including my tripod. I brought three batteries, one memory card that can hold about 2,500 photos (I’ll never shoot that many on this trip), my Nikon Zf, and the 24-120mm f/4. It all rides in a dry bag while I’m on the raft.

As a photographer, it’s a little strange to be on a trip where photography isn’t one of the primary goals. But I’ve found that on active trips like this, camera gear often becomes more burden than benefit. Campsites rarely line up with the best sunrise or sunset compositions, so the tripod spends most of its time as dead weight. The Boundary Waters is the exception because there are so many campsite options.

When I’m on the bike, I’ve mostly been photographing people’s yard art. Since I’m traveling solo, there isn’t anyone to photograph in action except me, and selfies aren’t really my thing.

Honestly, I could probably get by with a smaller camera, something like the new Panasonic L10 or a Nikon Z50II with the kit lens. Either would weigh less, take up less space, and produce images that would be more than good enough for a trip like this.

While photography is never far from my mind, I’ve learned that sometimes it’s good to set it aside and simply enjoy the adventure.

That said... I now have a serious case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).

Until next time

I hope you enjoyed this little diversion from the usual photography newsletter. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming in two weeks. In the meantime, if you’ve been thinking about joining me for a workshop, I’d love to have you along.