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Re: [pct-l] Mules in the Woods



At 10:24 AM 4/27/99 -0700, reynolds@ilan.com wrote:

>pS: Ize hates mules and horses but have a great hike. 

Shawnee:

The problem is not with YOUR mule, but with the shear volume of pack animals in certain areas along the PCT. The commercial pack outfits have no limitations on the number of pack trains they can run into the wilderness, and will sometimes run several shuttles with the same train in one day.

Because of the bad experiences with walking through several hundred horse's worth of dung and conflicts with large pack trains sharing the same narrow trails, some hikers have taken a dislike to all stock animals.

Also, stock may not litter or build fires, but 20 head staked out in a meadow can do a lot of damage, especially since the meadows near desirable campsites see a lot of traffic (which is the wranglers fault, not the stock's).

So the problem is with overuse by the commercial pack outfits, not the use of stock. Unfortunately, some hikers misidentify the problem as being the stock itself.

Respectfully,

Brick Robbins

--
Brick Robbins                     Life is a Journey, not a Destination
mailto:brick@fastpack.com        http://www.fastpack.com/brick 


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