[pct-l] Muir Trail Ranch package fees

[JohnDRandall at aol.com (JohnDRandall@xxxxxxx)]

The post office for the Muir Trail Ranch is in the mountain community of 
Lakeshore, which is about 25 miles down a narrow, twisting secondary county road 
from the road end at Florence Lake.   The packages are picked up by MTR 
employees, ranchhands mostly, stacked into a jeep and hauled back to the lake, where 
they are either loaded into the lake's small ferry and transported to the 
opposite site, then loaded onto horses or mules...or driven cross country on a 
poorly-defined jeep path up to the ranch, five miles on the eastern side of the 
lake.   At the ranch the packages are offloaded, moved to a storage shed and 
accounted for by the staff.

My wife and I have stayed at the ranch twice, choosing to hike once and to 
ride a horse another time.   Whatever they charge, $18 or $25 or higher, is a 
service just like FedEx or UPS.   They aren't saving up for a trip to Bali with 
the money they charge for the service.  In fact, they lose money on it;  it's 
a service to the backcountry community.   Dude, pay the money or mail your 
packages to Vermillion or hike out to Bishop.  But, please, stop whining.

John Randall
Birmingham, AL