Mile Creek to Sheep creek... Backcountry adventure

This past weekend, we went to Island Park on a family vacation. The intent of the trip was to spend time with the family and ride ATV's on some trails, but I did what I always do and look for some places to go biking. After some research and help on MTBR, I was pointed to Mile to sheep Creek and was lucky enough to be staying about 30 min from the trail head on the south side of Henry's lake.

Since I was riding solo, in what I was told was bear country, I thought it would be a good thing to find bear spray. I stopped at several shops/gas stations to see if they had it and the conversation generally went like this....

Me: " Do you have bear spray?"

Retailer: "No, we just sold out."

M: "How important is it to bring you think?"

R: "Well, if you're in a group on ATV's around here, you should be okay."

M: "What if I am going biking alone?"

R: "Where you going?"

M: "Mile creek/Sheep creek just past the Montana border"

R: "You're going there by yourself?!?" " I would HIGHLY recommend finding some; actually, yeah, you need to find it.."

After two days of riding the ATV's I was ready for some pedaling, but got a bit nervous after everyone saying it wasn't the best idea to do alone. I was kind of hoping to see a bear, but at the same time I was hoping I wouldn't... Just in case, I packed a few more things in case of a bear encounter and decided to head out on Monday morning. I woke up at 6:30, got ready and headed over to the trail.

Generally, I think people do it with a shuttle vehicle, but since I didn't have one, I drove to sheep creek TH and rode about 7 miles to mile creek TH. I started riding at 7:43 am and the view from the trail head was pretty impressive.

Mile creek is a nice section of climbing. As you start into the canyon after the meadow, you get into a few more scattered trees. It was just super quiet and peaceful. I spun up and was expecting to hit some switchbacks. Little did I know, there were about a million switchbacks awaiting me with some really spectacular views.

After an eternity climbing switchbacks and my legs begging for a break, I was nearing the top... or at least I thought... There I was at an elevation of 9333ft and still not at the top... HOLY CRAP! I still had about 700 feet to go and 12 switchbacks according to the trimble outdoor website. By the time I hit the last few switch backs I started questioning my fitness, my head, genetics, bike, the altitude, the stress of maybe being a bears' dinner and any other excuse I could come up with.. It was a brutal, but the views were crazy! All I could think was I needed to get in better shape...

After a little snack of peanuts and dried berries, I finally got to the top. 10,000ft.. There were pretty amazing views on both sides and all I could think about was the 9 mile descent that was coming.

The next nine miles was a blast. It started out with some really fun, tight, rocky switchbacks, opened up in the field with a few pedally sections then entered some trees down to watkins creek. I was the only one out there and it just felt like a back country exploration with big mountains, meadows, forest and everything else you could think of. As I was ripping through the meadows and groups of trees, I started thinking about coming around a corner, scaring a bear, and him thinking his dinner just arrived. But I couldn't help just enjoying the scenery, the adrenaline and the adventure.

The descent was a mixture of just about all the mountainous singletrack I had ridden. It was fast, flowy, rocky, steep, little lips to launch, had some creek crossings, and all the other singletrack goodness I have come to love. It was just a blast! After the descent, I got a second wind from the adrenaline just in time to start climbing again.

The second climb started right after a really nice area next to the creek. It went through a lot of trees and was just super scenic. As I came to one of the first openings on the incline, It was definitely a hike-a-bike for me. Not only was it steep, but my legs were screaming by this point. I pushed the bike for a bit on the steeper sections then rode the flatter sections and then came to this meadow. Gorgeous.

I went through the meadow and picked up the trail. I came through the meadow with a renewed energy of knowing the rest of the ride was about a 5 mile downhill section to the car. This downhill was a BLAST and had a few challenging parts, but pretty fast for the most part.

This ride was awesome. The climbs were brutal and I could do without riding steep switchbacks for awhile, but the descents and the views were seriously awesome. I did not use the GPS for the entire ride on the road between the two trail heads, but did for the entire trail. It was a total of 27.5 miles, 4 hours and 45 minutes of riding and 7 hours total for the entire loop including the road. I left sheep creek at 7:43 and returned at 2:45.

I didn't see any wildlife or a single person the entire trail except the last mile.. I saw a dog and three ladies that just got done camping at a lake and were hiking out. It was a good day to be in the mountains and awesome to ride a new trail in an unfamiliar area.