<div>I met an English gal riding the CDT with two horses, a mule, and her dog. I think it was in '93 or '94. Her name was Jo Cooke. Supposedly she did the whole CDT and had planned to write a book about it. The last I heard she was living in New Zealand.</div> <div> </div> <div>The trail was not easy for her either. She had a horse fall off a cliff near Gibbonsville, ID, and the whole town came out for the rescue.</div> <div> </div> <div>Good luck! La Zorra<BR><BR><B><I>erin@ridethegreatdivide.com</I></B> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">I'm in the process of a thru-ride with my two mules<BR>right now and became very frustrated with the CDNST<BR>yesterday. My understanding was that the Trail was<BR>designated for foot and horse traffic, so imagine my<BR>surprise when I found that a section of the official<BR>trail was closed to stock use
and likely impassable<BR>anyways.<BR><BR>I'm aware that I'm probably the only rider on this<BR>list, but I hope that y'all can understand my<BR>frustration especially after riding 25 miles up<BR>highway 117 yesterday instead of the Zuni-Acoma trail.<BR>After just barely resisting the temptation to cut<BR>some wires and ride it anyways, I spoke to the ranger<BR>station to try and find a way out of riding the<BR>highway. I discovered that another section of the<BR>official trail through Hole In The Wall isn't closed<BR>to horses but is considered impassable.<BR><BR>I know stock users do not compose the bulk of trail<BR>users. I'm also aware that many hikers, fairly or<BR>unfairly, have a negative impression of stock in the<BR>backcountry. However, this group of trail users<BR>deserves equal consideration and respect. Many riders<BR>are switching to low impact stock use methods: using<BR>light weight gear instead of traditional equipment,<BR>tree saver
straps, tying stock at night, restraining<BR>away from water sources, etc.) In additon,<BR>organizations like Backcountry Horseman do significant<BR>trail maintenace to keep trails open. I am very<BR>disappointed that the BLM decided to place the<BR>official route in an area closed to stock.<BR><BR>I am not suggesting that this section of the trail be<BR>entirely rerouted. I understand that the Zuni-Acoma<BR>trail offers a unique landscape, historical<BR>significance, as well as an unusual challenge to<BR>hikers. However, an official horse alternative needs<BR>to exist. Stock users should not be cut out of this<BR>trail.<BR><BR>I know many hikers do not enjoy travelling through<BR>areas frequented by horse traffic. However, I don't<BR>think the CDT is in danger of receiving significant<BR>stock use except in areas where it's already<BR>established (i.e. Bob Marshall Wilderness, Wind Rivers<BR>etc). To the best of my knowledge, no
thru-ride of<BR>the CDT has ever been completed and it may not happen<BR>this year :) The trail is simply too challenging for<BR>the stock themselves for many to attempt it. Hikers<BR>will always be the dominant presence on the CDT.<BR><BR>I have been frustrated for much of this trail because<BR>of horse inaccesabilty. Until this point I haven't<BR>had much right to complain. I've been following Jim<BR>Wolf's route, and he makes no claim that his trail in<BR>southern New Mexico is horse friendly. In fact the<BR>number of times the phrase "squeeze through the<BR>tightly woven fence here" appeared let me know I'd be<BR>adding a lot of extra miles finding gates.<BR><BR>However, the Zuni-Acoma is on the designated trail. <BR>Permanent trail routing decisions were made in Glacier<BR>based on stock accessability. Why not in New Mexico? <BR>I hope that the BLM can take horse users into<BR>consideration and perhaps have two routes through
the<BR>area.<BR><BR>Treehuggin' Cowgirl<BR>Erin Zwiener <BR>_______________________________________________<BR>cdt-l mailing list<BR>cdt-l@backcountry.net<BR>http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/cdt-l<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
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