PMA on The Adventure Trail

A new film snippet by Bjørn Olson made with several friends bike-packrafting The Adventure Trail in Alaska… with a Positive Mental Attitude. Plus some words and photos about the route by Bjørn…

The idea behind any wilderness cycling adventure is to ride as much as possible. This often means shifting into the lowest gear and focusing every ounce of attention to make it over watermelon sized rocks, deadfall trees, knee-deep creeks, and other assorted obstacles found in the backcountry. Options and work-arounds, like a packraft, allow for circumvention of un-rideable water-bodies to reach the next shore and carry on.

Words, film, and photos by Bjørn Olson

  • The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
  • The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting

When rain falls in buckets, headwinds force you into a slow-grind crawl, or tires cake with mud, there are two options: suffer and whimper, or suffer and relish. PMA (positive mental attitude) is the final ingredient to make any good trip great.

The Adventure Trail is a three to five-day fat-bike and packraft route, which begins in Homer, Alaska. The route contains beaches, single-track trails, steep headlands, glacial streams, riverbeds, outwash plains, and a modicum of bushwhacking. Labor Day last, our ADD addled crew of eight disembarked on a hastily cobbled together traverse of the route under less than ideal conditions.

The rewards of wilderness travel by bicycle are vast. The Adventure Trail, with a little PMA and good friends, is an ideal place to scratch the surface.

The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
  • The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
  • The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
  • The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
  • The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
  • The Adventure Trail, Alaska, Packrafting
Bjorn Olson

About Bjørn Olson

Bjørn is a photographer, filmmaker, and veteran Alaska-fatbike-packraft-backcountry expert. In addition to the short snippet above, Bjørn has also made other incredible films on similar subject matter, including Hunting for Monsters, and Instruments of Adventure. Follow Bjørn on Facebook and his website.

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