Plan B

Special thanks to Velocity Wheels for the 29+ Dually wheelset and Bike Bag Dude for the frame and top tube bags. Adventures like this wouldn’t be possible without them!

What do you do when you realize you bit off way more than you can chew? Imagine you’re in the depths of the wilderness, high up on a mountain peak, about to drop into a canyon. Once you do, there’s no turning back. You must go forward. You discover there is no feasible way you can achieve the goal and route you set out on in the given time you have left before the sun sets. The terrain is rugged, junctions are unmarked and everything is unfamiliar aside from studying the route on a map the morning of the adventure. Can you make the tough call to bail? To come back another time? To find a way out without getting lost?

Flexibility and decision making are crucial traits when venturing into the backcountry. I’ve had to exercise this whether I wanted to or not on virtually every epic adventure I’ve gone out on.

Exploring more of the epic backcountry in the Palisades (Snake River Range) has long been on the short list. I just made it shorter.

Last Sunday night, I laid in bed mapping a route. Monday morning, I loaded my gear in the car and headed to the Little Elk Creek trailhead in Swan Valley. The plan was to climb Little Elk Creek up and over Waterfall Crest at 9,000+ feet, descend through Waterfall Canyon, connect with Palisades Creek trail, but at the unmarked junction after a bridge crossing turn right instead of left. Continue up Palisades Creek to the northeast on a very primitive trail, then turn south to head up Corral Canyon, then to Sheep Driveway and the Divide trail climbing up over Mud Peak at 9500 feet before descending 11 miles back down Big Elk Creek and returning to my car.

That didn’t happen.

In short, it was due to my late start and the significant underestimation of the terrain.

Had I not gotten the late start I did, I would have attempted this route… And probably been out there through the night. I would have gotten to significant junctions past the point of no return early in the afternoon and felt I could still make it. Sometimes procrastination has done me well.

The Palisades are rugged, unforgiving and compiled of massive terrain. The elevation gain is one thing — just climbing up Little Elk Creek I gained almost 4000 feet in 4.5 miles. But it’s the ruggedness of the trail itself that challenges you physically and mentally. There was one nice little rideable section that was awesome… It lasted 0.5 miles.

In addition to hiking my bike practically the whole way to the top of Waterfall Crest, the descent through Waterfall Canyon was no easier. The only thing that helped was gravity and a downward grade, but tight, chunky and steep switchbacks, overgrowth, deadfall, open riverbeds that the trail went down, route finding and, etc. made it quite time-consuming.

Finally, at the Palisades Creek junction, I turned left (west). It’s unmarked and no one even thinks of that as a junction or an option to go UP the canyon from there — why would you… Yeah, why would I?

At this point, it was all straight forward but still not a relaxing descent. It’s old school, techy singletrack and a lot of fun, but you have to be on your game. Terrain aside, this is where I saw all the people — a very popular day hike for families and people with their dogs. The thick willows create fantastic moose habitat and they could be standing there around any or every corner.

From the Palisades Creek trailhead I had hoped there was a connecting trail to some forest roads to bypass riding the highway, but that was a flop, so I hopped on the pavement and spun back to my car.

All in all, an epic day. I certainly did the loop in the right direction (counterclockwise), but this ride is for the 0.5% of adventurers. If you choose to do this route, you better come to terms now that you will be hiking, pushing and carrying your bike through rugged and unforgiving terrain.