I bikepack about once a month in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the ride out to Lake Del Valle involves tackling some steep 20-25% grades. Doing that with loaded gear on a 20" folding bike is a grind, but finally getting into camp makes it all worth it. It gets hot where I live, so ditching a tent for a hammock is the best way to stay cool. My routine is simple: lay back and read a book in the afternoon shade, eat dinner, and then throw on the underquilt once the sun goes down.

For my setup, I used to run the Warbonnet Ridgerunner but have since switched back to my ENO SkyLite. I prefer the ENO because it's much longer for my tall frame and wider without much of a weight penalty, and the shoulder squeeze is practically gone. To me, the Ridgerunner felt like a coffin, whereas the ENO feels like a decent-sized cot. It’s very easy to lay on my side with my knees bent in the ENO, which was hard to do in the Ridgerunner. The ENO's side fabric also sits higher, providing better wind protection and some much-needed privacy at crowded campgrounds. The only two things I miss about the Ridgerunner are the zippers (higher quality, fewer snags) and the deep side pockets. For everything else, I prefer the SkyLite.

The peacefulness is why I love getting out there, but nature also has a way of reminding us how fragile things are, and this trip ended on a much heavier note.

I departed camp around 6:15am and decided to take the roads home rather than the trails. I watched a speeding driver hit a two-month-old coyote pup - and just keep driving. It was one of the most visceral experiences of my life.

I had nitrile gloves and BleedStop in my kit, so I sat on the side of the road to hold and tend to the pup's external injuries, all while trying to keep his frantic mother and sibling from running out into the street as cars continued to speed past. It was, unfortunately, the most agonizing thing I've ever witnessed. As I held his 6 lb frame, his heartbeat was so strong against my hands. He was groaning and crying out for his mama, fighting for his life with absolutely everything he had.

My wife dropped everything and drove down to meet me. We carefully put the pup in the car and rushed to Lindsay Wildlife Hospital in Walnut Creek, since the City and County were of no help after I waited there for over an hour. Once at Lindsay, the staff went to work immediately - suturing, running diagnostics, taking x-rays, and doing an ultrasound. Ultimately, there was just too much internal trauma. Later that day, they made the difficult call to put him down so he could finally have peace.

The last photo in this post shows what he looked like. Because the actual pictures I took are nsfw, I used an AI tool to recreate his exact likeness. I know Reddit generally dislikes AI content, but hopefully, you guys can let this one slide. We ended up calling him Cheerio, since he smelled just like cereal. We printed that image and put it in a small frame in our house to remember him by. It's a reminder of how incredibly hard he fought, how precious life is, and the devastating impact our cars and infrastructure have on wildlife.

**Pictured Gear:**

* **Hammock:** ENO SkyLite
* **Underquilt:** Ridgecreek XL
* **Suspension:** Myers Tech UHMWPE Becket hitch straps with Evo loops

Bikepacking Lake Del Valle: ENO SkyLite vs. Ridgerunner, and a heavy wildlife encounter on the ride home.