markskor
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Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
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Post by markskor on Mar 4, 2021 17:23:44 GMT -8
Getting older. I cannot do what once was so easy... Recently have discovered the spot pack option. The "spot pack" is when they pack you and your pack in, and drop you off at a pre-designated spot, and leave...you walk out.
My anal backpacking buddy Mike (aka the OldRanger) has always taken care of the reservations and permits...FYI permits vary - some gotten beforehand as usual/ some directly from the outfitter. Ask Mike. I just show up with a big smile, a full wallet, 2-weeks of provisions packed, ready to fish, and go with the flow. BTW, Mike always added some last-minute weight (*) to my pack...always worth it though... whatever.
Observations on spot packing... as have had the privilege of sharing 5 spot packs with Mike: We always showed up at the outfitter at the crack of dawn...packs loaded and ready. The drover or wrangler (or whatever the politically correct term is now) took our 60 liter packs, weighed them, (each backpack fishing-ready, both about equal weight, somewhere shy of 50 pounds), then strapped both of them expertly on one mule. Here Mike usually told them what they were doing wrong...always had some comment on how he used to do it...He knows. I just sat back, smoked a fatty, and watched it all go down. Eventually, we mounted up on our assigned beasts... (I always got the biggest, most ornary mule available due to my weight, 225 lbs, ...thanks Mike)...and headed out for an all-day ride. My mule, usually the slowest, chose to be last...but first he also decided to give me the ol' stink eye right after my mounting up... he was the one in charge that day. Riding atop a mule (for 10 - 12 miles uphill)...sigh...mine always had a mind of its own...as stated, was just along for a bumpy ride. Was once told by someone..."The trick is to pretend you were balancing a cup atop your head." After 10 hours or so (and gaining a few/three thousand plus feet elevation), your ass screams out...now at the "spot" you cannot walk afterwards for a good half hour...long after the horses/mules headed back home to their stables below.
What you are left with then is Mike, two weeks of provisions in your over-stuffed backpacks (*including a few liters of 161 proof Jamacian rum, couple pounds af Asiago, bars of good chocolate, etc)...amazing fishing for Goldens ahead, off-trail, at altitude, and usually starting off downhill...nice!
As mentioned above, not exactly sure of the total costs as Mike (having past ranger connections) always made all the reservations, but my share was $400 - $500 per each trip (which always included a healthy tip), and always well worth it. One good example specifically was the 15-day, 55 mile backpack fishing trip starting out the top of Pine Creek, out of Bishop - doing the Bears for Goldens. Our total "party" for that one "Spot Pack" day included one wrangler and his horse, Mike's horse, my mule, and a mule carrying both our packs. mark
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zeke
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Peekaboo slot 2023
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Post by zeke on Mar 4, 2021 17:32:15 GMT -8
Thanks. I may look more into this as things are always in a state of flux.
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Post by cweston on Mar 5, 2021 7:14:39 GMT -8
Yup. I've never had much of an interest in horse travel (or any other kind of stock), but I have thought that that could change when I get to the point that the kind of hiking trip I enjoy now is simply impossible.
Another thing to consider is that if carrying a really heavy, multiple day pack is the issue, one might be able to select a base camp not too far from the trailhead, and make two trips in to ferry all those provisions. By the end of the trip, you've presumably eaten almost all of the food, and burned most of the fuel, so you could carry it all out in one trip.
An NPS ranger told me once that this is how he backpacks with his wife, who prefers a larger tent, hot water to bathe each day, etc. He just makes two trips in to get all those "luxury" appointments to the basecamp.
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Mar 15, 2021 9:49:38 GMT -8
Eventually with certainty, we all grow old and less physically capable, eventually passing into eternity. As Jim Morrison said "No one gets out of here alive". I commend older folks that are able to utilize horse packing services in order to continue reaching more difficult wilderness destinations. Note as an adult I've never ridden a horse. Backcountry fishing today on average within a day's hiking is far less productive than decades ago and moderately less 2 days out. Thus a need to reach more remote destinations.
I have a similar issue continuing to lug heavy photography gear. Seven years ago ended my 4x5 view camera work and went to a lighter digital camera system that reduced my weight 5 to 10 pounds. The other solution is a balance between hiking distances and more food weight required for more days to reach and return from destination zones. An average backpacker given typical verticals out for a 5 days might carry 35 pounds while hiking 12 miles the first and last days leaving 3 days at a destination lake basin. This person might need 7 days with 2 days out and 2 days back, thus maybe another 3 pounds of food.
The above noted, I will always know of plenty of ignored trail less places to backpack into less than say an easy 3 miles from roads for photography and simply enjoying mountain environment experiences that I will be able to enjoy into older age while the same cannot be said for fishing.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 15, 2021 18:02:17 GMT -8
Another and somewhat cheaper option we used to use was to have the packer haul our stuff in while we hiked to the first night’s camp. Since this usually included a big hunk of the climb, ditching the gear would allow us to get there even with two little kids. After eating a dinner and a breakfast, and with the worse climbing over, we would continue under our own power. The difference being, of course, that we didn’t pay for saddle animals, just the packs. When the kids were very little (carrying size) we’d just have them dump our gear and we’d basecamp for several nights. At that stage, I don’t think riding was an option—most packers don’t want small children aboard the horses.
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Mar 17, 2021 5:27:19 GMT -8
Getting older. I cannot do what once was so easy... Recently have discovered the spot pack option. The "spot pack" is when they pack you and your pack in, and drop you off at a pre-designated spot, and leave...you walk out. ... We always showed up at the outfitter at the crack of dawn...packs loaded and ready. The drover or wrangler (or whatever the politically correct term is now) took our 60 liter packs, weighed them, (each backpack fishing-ready, both about equal weight, somewhere shy of 50 pounds), then strapped both of them expertly on one mule. Here Mike usually told them what they were doing wrong...always had some comment on how he used to do it. In the Gila (New Mexico) there’s an outfitter that uses llama for hikers and, in the late fall, hunters. Not sure if there’s a difference between the types of animals but the outfitters may have been on their own horses themselves (been awhile). Anyways we were backpacking out and met a somewhat older couple carrying daypacks pretty deep into the Gila wilderness. When we asked if they were dayhiking, they said their gear was behind them... and down the trail a bit were the loaded pack animals (guessing the service follows behind so the gear can be dropped early if the hikers decide to stop). Another option I’ve seen going into the Sierra is ultralight with only a bit of food until resupply. A 70-something year old couple remarked that ultralight gear made a world of difference but they were having problems with packing a lot of food and, of course, water. There’s now UL bear cans as well.
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rangewalker
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Post by rangewalker on Mar 18, 2021 7:29:53 GMT -8
My local wilderness area, spot packing, was much more common 80-100 years ago. Many of the dude ranches offered the service to more middle class clients that were not resident guests. WWll and road building killed off the small outfitters and dude ranches. The survivors today are like gated communities to shield their celebrity and mega rich clients and in season have little or no outside contacts.
I have rented llamas for stream studies in Wilderness. Before letting us loose with the pack, two of us had to go through a one day "wrangler" school. The llamas we had were excellent. Later, I went out with a volunteer couple who had two of their llamas and two borrowed. the borrowed two were decent, but theirs were a handful. I have considered llamas for hikes in the Red Desert of Wyoming where the water packing can be prohibitive. One their behavior quirks is you have to have two. I have horse packed. Won't voluntarily do it again.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Mar 19, 2021 14:12:01 GMT -8
I've considered something similar, but for the otherwise inaccessible reaches of places like Gates of the Arctic. Fly in with a canoe perhaps and go from there, then get flown back out.
I need to put that higher up on my list...
I've encountered llama packers once in a while, remarkably calm animals.
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markskor
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Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
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Post by markskor on Mar 19, 2021 19:37:42 GMT -8
I've encountered llama packers once in a while, remarkably calm animals. Slightly different take on llama packing… A few years back now, I had the privilege of doing a week-long trip out of Onion Valley... llama-packing with Llama Mel, and a few of her (5) critters. She was a famous llama outfitter out here in Crowley Lake, working many of the Eastern Sierra trailheads. Thoughts: Llamas have a distinct pecking order…#1 (the established dominant) has to be the one in front of the rest on the string (or on top of any small hill)…#2 comes next...then #3...they know where they rank...Hopefully you do too. The problem is when a newer (#3?) llama is put in line wrong, and thus wants to move up in ranking (very important in llama-ese who gets to be first). Here they have a strange habit of biting the balls off the one in front if they feel wrongly placed. They are a social animal and ironically, important ...you must have more than one along, or they get nervous if alone...lots of work to understand their social order. While they can carry 50 pounds, you must trail-monitor them constantly on what they can eat along the trail. One of ours ate something, got bloated...we had to sit for a day nursing. (Don’t ask me exactly what Mel did with the hose and warm water...wasn't pretty.) It takes a good 2 - 3 hours a day just to tend to their needs...that's daily. They spit...are ornery, and a bit of a wilderness problem at night...llama-packing is not something I would want to do if not uber-experienced with them.
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muleman
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Post by muleman on Sept 5, 2021 14:54:33 GMT -8
When I was younger I did a lot of mule packing trips. A few we got paid for and some we did without an outfitter. It is a great way to travel. Nothing wrong with hiring some help.
I wish we had more donkey and llamas to rent. They can be lead from the ground to carry your outfit. They are fun critters to have around and easy to manage from the ground. The are popular in other parts of the world, donkeys especiallly.
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muleman
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Post by muleman on Sept 27, 2021 10:22:13 GMT -8
Compared to horses, mules and donkeys, llamas are a piece of cake. The secret to handling all of them is kindness. They are easy to handle and require little care. High line them on a rope between two trees. They will lie down. Feed them a quart of llama chow. Make sure they get some water a couple of times a day. Simple.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 4, 2021 13:54:44 GMT -8
Seeing this thread again brings a tear. RIP markskor
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Nov 27, 2021 23:43:52 GMT -8
Seeing this thread again brings a tear. RIP markskorOh hell, I missed that. Damn. He’d been going back to work up at Tuolumne so I’d expected he’d beat it.
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