Ride Report Palm Canyon Epic no more?

Yes?

 

Have to take the wash to Dunn rd, then go from there right? Indian Potero was on my original route.. I guess I'll need to make a slight mod..

 

Presently, where Indian Potrero starts (when riding north on Palm Canyon) is BLM land. A little further down, about a quarter mile of IP goes a few hundred yards into tribal land. That's the only reason I can see that they have posted the entire trail closed to bikes. If the land swap goes through, the start of Indian Potrero AND the Palm Canyon trail from there would become tribal land, and it could effectively eliminate bikes from the entire Palm Canyon trail.

I commented against the land swap a few years ago and posted: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/for...ail-Access-Threatened&highlight=agua+caliente

 

If the land swap has not gone through, and the tribe is changing the terms of the agreement by closing trails that were to remain open to mountain bikes, then we need to let the BLM know we're not ok with this. I will be sending an e-mail to them and the Agua Caliente tribe. I will continue to ride these trails as I did Saturday with a printout of the original agreement on me. As far as I'm concerned, any signage that differs from the land swap agreement is illegal.

 

Can you post up a copy of that agreement? I might go ride out there this weekend. Would be nice to have some legal ammo in my pack!

 

Land swap aside, would it be completely outside the realm of possibility to re-route this small section of IP such that it never enters tribal land, thereby preserving MTB access?

 

Carry around some wampum to bride them with if you get caught.

 

I don't want to marry them!!

 

Come on guys. Don't screw it up ! Stay off Indian P. , stay on Palm to the wash . Its not that big a deal. Otherwise we loose the whole frieken thing! Let BLM work it out.

Please!

 

I wouldn't count on the BLM to work it out without pressure. They were the ones that originally tried to sneak this through. Fortunately the local hiker groups threw a fit and forced a full Environental Assessment which is still not complete. I have corresponded with BLM in Palm Springs and unfortunately, the tribe is free to do as it pleases on it's land. It is clear that despite the Tribe's assertions that they would not change any access or management of these trails after the land swap, they have no intention of honoring that agreement. It sounds like there will be another public comment period once the EA is complete. Let's all make sure we make our voices heard. Agua Caliente Tribe do not allow bikes on their land, and charge a fee for hikers to access their trailheads. I would not expect them to change that. With that in mind, use your best judgement when riding Palm Canyon trails. I predict any "No Mountain Bikes" signs will be ripped out as soon as they go in.

 

So we rode PCE today.....the new signs have been installed.

The "No Mountain Bikes" sign above has been replaced with a sign that states: "Mountain Bikes ----->" pointing down Palm Canyon Trail. The sign does not state "No Mountain Bikes".

We chose to take the detour.....all I have to say is that is SUCKS!!!!! Drops you into a sandy wash/canyon.....was way deeper than the sandwash itself. It was quicker and not any shorter...but it was not really any fun.

So take what you want from that.

 

Haven't been on this trail yet and now we can't go on it..... Bummer:?::?:

 

The only part of the established PCE route that you can't legally ride now is the 3-mile section called Indian Potrero Trail. Instead of peeling left onto it, you must keep right on Palm Cyn Trail, a shorter but somewhat unsavory option (as mtbj describes above) that will drop you at the sand wash right where IP does. No deal breaker at all, still well worth doing the PCE.

As previously mused, if you take the signs literally you can still ride cyclocross bikes and unis on IP Trail... :-k

 

You can still ride 90% of the ride. What you can't ride is about ~3 miles of pretty cool trail.

And with all due respect I would have to disagree with J the new section does not SUCK...it actually simply TOTALLY BLOWS...especially in comparison

All that said we has a truly spectacular day... And would do it again any cool day

 

Here's the new "new" sign at Indian Potrero

Rode the PCE on Saturday, here's the new and improved sign at Indian Potrero. Even though Indian Potrero is less than 3 miles long, I think its a huge, huge loss. It is a very scenic trail, especially as you approach the dark brown granite formations after the first creek crossing.





Other than that, It was a beatiful day on the trail, probably my last trip down Palm Canyon for the year....

 

That is one wily looking Argentinian you photographed there!

 

It is waaaayyyyy too hot out there now.....but here is a vid from our trip in March.

We took it easy, seeing as half of the group was doing VQ/CC the next weekend.

[youtube]Wwvs0nZdYsA[/youtube]