[pct-l] Horses on the PCT

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning,

As Ken said, in remote wilderness areas it’s difficult to conduct trail
maintenance operations without the support of pack animals.  The distances
involved, and the heavy tools, mean longer trips are necessary just to
provide efficiency.  I’ve participated in a number of such trips, but one
in particular comes to mind with a mix of good news and bad news:

  In July of ’08 after hiking sections of the PCT in N. California – I had
spent Independence Day in Old Station with Georgi – I returned home just in
time to depart for a 14-day maintenance project on the north side of
Washington’s Goat Rock Wilderness.  The project was general trail
maintenance and rock work between Elk Pass at the north end of Knife Edge,
and on to Lutz Lake.

Up N. Fork, Tieton River, east of White Pass, we met the packers at a
trailhead campground.  From there the crew hiked up to the PCT at Tieton
Pass, and then off the PCT about a half-mile to McCall Basin where we
camped.  Each crewmember carried their own personal gear, while the pack
animals carried all of the food, crew camping gear, and pioneer tools for
the maintenance work.  The pack string consisted of four wranglers on
saddle horses or mules, plus four horses and mules under packs.  The hike
in was substantially uphill but only about 6 miles long, and anyone who’s
had to carry an 18-pound rockbar under such conditions will certainly
appreciate the pack animals.

McCall Basin is a good place to camp -- and it is popular with the local
riders and packers -- but in mid-July at 5,200 feet elevation there was 2-4
feet of snow remaining in shaded areas.  While the snow was a good place to
bury our bear-proof food packs, the entire area was still wet and swampy
from the melt.  That caused a significant problem.

The pack string hauled our gear in and returned to the Tieton camp empty.  The
next weekend, in the middle of the project, the pack string came back in
again empty for an evening just for something to do and to escape the
buggy, canyon camp.  Finally, at the end of the 14-day project, they came
in the third time and packed the camp out.

While the packers were great company around the campfire, there were a
total of six trips of eight 1,200-1,400 pound animals crossing wet, fragile
McCall Basin.  The result was approximately 40% of the entire crew time was
spent remediating their damage to about a half-mile of non-PCT trail.  That
was not an efficient process.

Some of the best use of pack crews is in logging-out downfall timber;
something that is very common in the Cascades.  The pack strings often haul
and saws and do the cutting themselves because it’s in their best interest.
Often hikers can thread their way through or around down timber, but pack
and saddle animals usually can’t:  If they want to get through they have to
cut logs.  Riders are also best at cutting overhanging limbs that swat them
in the face but don’t bother hikers at all.

In general, the riders aren’t good at trail tread maintenance.  One reason
is riders don’t usually see the problems.  From the saddle, the animal’s
withers, its neck, and its head obstruct the trail tread for about 15-20
yards ahead, and most tread looks good from that distance.  Also, a rider
doesn’t really need to look at the trail at all; that’s the animal’s job;
freeing the rider to soak up the wonders of the scenery.

Any hiker who objects to equestrian usage of the PCT should be given the
opportunity to perform maintenance in these remote areas on foot – carrying
the rockbar -- and a shovel -- and a Pulaski.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/