[at-l] Horseback Riding on the AT

[Slyatpct@aol.com (Slyatpct@aol.com)]

In a message dated 11/2/2001 6:20:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
janl2@mindspring.com writes:


> It must be said:
> 
> I personally apologize for all the sins of my fellow riders. Every last
> one. Cretins!
> 

LOL....   I hope you didn't think I thought all riders were cretins.  My 
experience comes from the PCT and for the most part the independant riders 
were wonderful people, conscience of their surroundings.  However, most of 
the commercial packers and mule trains I saw had little regard for anything 
else but their clients and appartently their wallets.  

In a catch 22, a great deal of the PCT is maintained by backcountry horsemen 
(and women) and it would be nearly impossible to keep the trail up without 
them, since most of the trail is remote, but for the most part it's the 
damage they cause that they're fixing, not to mention the pulverized soil, 
the spoiled water sources and abundance of "trail apples" that remain there 
for the rest of us.

Personally I'd like to see horse diapers in the backcountry.  Afterall if a 
dog shits on the trail or in a campsite, the owner is expected to clean it 
up.  (llamas get a pass, for miles I thought I was following a large deer or 
an elk and auguably cause less damage than a backpacker)

Sly


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