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[pct-l] Mule Race etc. - also 2 B. Wiggins



On Tue, 27 Apr 1999 11:01:19 -0700 Brick Robbins <brick@fastpack.com>
writes:

brick@fastpack.com writes:
>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.

   Oh my! I should think any hiker capable of getting through that
veritable wall of manure would be proud to live to tell-the-tale! <LOL>
Mules and bears; the list is becoming a zoo, heheheh.

     Seriously, all kinds of experiences and opinions are what make a
horse (or mule) race, no? I was glad to see Shawnee's post - it's neat to
get input from all sorts of people on the list. (lurkers, c'mon out! <g>)


     Some _other_ hikers have had quite pleasant encounters with packers,
used them for resupply, and have even been rescued by them. I've done
lots of hiking all over the trail, and never found myself stumbling
through mountains of road apples or received anything but courtesy or aid
from packers. The Sierra Club has a large mule-packing section, and
several colleges use packers for environment and altitude physiology
continuing-education classes. Mules/horses are used for trail
maintainance and garbage pickup too, aren't they? Lifeline of the Sierra
and all that.

   Many of those huge flat "packer" campsites date from the Golden Hiking
Era of the 30's; I've seen some in the South Sierra that dated from
cattle drives of the nineteeth century, which is neat, if you're a
history buff. I'm under the impression that commercial packers try to use
those sites (when they camp at all; those pack trains carry mostly
dunnage), rather than build new campsites. It's easy (but unfair) to
grumble along a deeply-rutted track like the JMT, see a hoof-print or
road apple, and blame all the erosion on horse traffic. I read your post
about the new fee to pay for repairs etc to the Mt Whitney Trail, which
is not used by stock at all. Most of us realize there are just too many
of "us" (whoever that may be) some places to allow the backcountry to
stay in balance.

   Anyway, commercial packers only enter the Sierra for a few peak summer
months, and use the main "highways". Nobody seeking a Pristine Wilderness
Experience visits places out of Kearsarge, or Mammoth or Bishop Creek at
that time - and regular northbound thruhikers will long since have passed
through, having had the trail all to themselves and without being turned
away by packers grabbing all the permits. <g>

   I can understand why a trail runner would find stepping aside for pack
stock to be an inconvenience, but do we really want the backcountry to be
managed for _convenience_, as most theme parks are? I don't think the
most hurried or self-centered of us minds a little compromise now and
then...
    
      Speaking of mule races: is anyone going to Bishop Mule Days? I
think I have to work, but I might try to get off one day if the schedule
looks really good...

       Also, ***to Butch Wiggins***:
       I just got a new-to-me computer and in my excitement, I misplaced
a ton of stuff - including your last e-mail and your address. I feel like
an idiot, sorry; if you see this, could you write again? Thanks          

    Two posts in a day - I'm pooped! How do you other guys do it?       
bj




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