[pct-l] horse interests on the PCT

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Aug 28, 2008, at 6:55 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>> Would like to know if anyone recently has ridden the PCT (as much as
>> possible) in it's entirety? Planning to do that in 09 and would  
>> like to make
>> contact with equestrians.
>> Gray-haired rider
>> Susan

> Dr York is a veterinarian and experienced horseman, and he still and
> lost a horse in the Sierra. That is when I first heard of blowing up a
> horse carcass as a way of "cleaning it up." I met some people who
> helped him in Oregon, and they were (privately) appalled at the
> condition of his stock when they met him. Then again, most thru hikers
> are pretty lean and ratty by then too.
>
> He had a dedicated crew to bring him horse feed and water, especially
> in the desert sections, and he trailered around snow sections. I
> suppose a true thru-ride is possible, but it would be very difficult
> and very hard on your stock.

I met a man at the Heitman's house who had ridden his horses (he rode  
one and used another as a pack horse) from Kentucky or Tennessee  
across the Southern US and up the PCT and was planning to ride back  
along the Lewis and Clark trail. He lost one of his horses, the one  
he loved the most, on the Hat Creek Rim. It had become spooked by  
something and ran away. He searched for a long time before someone  
saw the dead horse below the Rim. He was really ruined by the loss. I  
never saw such a sad man.

He had to skip a lot of the PCT because of snow and maybe other  
reasons I didn't catch, and find alternate routes all along his  
route. He told stories of following fences in Texas and coming to an  
impass and having to backtrack up to 50 or 100 miles to find another  
way. It sounds really difficult to travel by horse! I certainly  
couldn't imagine riding a horse over something like Forester Pass all  
half-way covered in snow.

One thing he did not do was travel with light gear. He kept trying to  
give away heavy coats and things no lightweight hiker would ever use.  
He had used his second horse to carry so many heavy things. Maybe  
with ultralight equipment he could have done it with only one horse.  
But I don't know what is required when you travel by horse. Maybe  
living like an old-fashioned cowboy is part of the deal.

His remaining horse, the pack horse, looked healthy enough. But he  
did not seem happy and said he was not having any fun. He kind of  
looked like nothing would be fun for him though, so your mileage may  
vary. You would have an interesting story to tell at the end, that's  
for sure.