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Re: [at-l] Handicapped access
Jim Owen wrote:
> Lately there's been a discussion on Wingfoot's list about handicapped
> access to the AT. I've stayed out of it because others have said
> almost
> everything that needs to be said about it. But I'm gonna stir the pot
>
> here because there's something that no one's brought up. At the ATC
> Conference in Maine there was a proposal that the ATC support the use
> of
> pack animals on the AT in order to facilitate handicapped access. It
> was voted down and not publicized. But it will be back - bad ideas
> always come back.
>
Well Jim, I guess I'll jump in. As you know, equines are allowed on the
trails of the western section of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park
and that includes the AT. In '96, I was completing the AOL/Backpacker
Magazine Tag Team Hike with my team and we encamped at the Spence Field
Shelter. It was cold, I was way out of shape (knees were bad from recent
arthroscopic surgery), and I messed up my knee further when I fell off
the top bunk of the shelter. Anyway, a mule skinner showed up with his
mule and he hobbled it near the shelter. He he had tons of supplies,
iron skillets, wonderful eats, etc. As you can guess, he was treated
like a pariah by some of the hikers. He kept to himself as he clearly
got the message that he wasn't exactly welcome.
After I fell out of the bunk and was limping around, he started a
conversation with me. Turns out, he had been hiking the Smokies for
years but had a bad accident that caused permanent back and knee
injuries. He was unable to carry a pack anymore but loved his mountains,
so he started using a mule to carry his food and kit. He offered to
carry me off the mountain, offered food, etc. Sound like a trail angel?
Well, this encounter made me think a little. I was always against equine
use of hiker trails for the usual reasons until that time. This guy was
no fat, lazy tourist out to see the mountains on a horse because he was
too lazy to walk. This guy was a native mountain man using a natural,
non-motorized, non-polluting method to help him enjoy his mountains.
And, he was not breaking any law. He packed out all of his trash and was
a responsible trail user. I guess what I'm trying to say is that in
certain situations, I don't mind sharing the trail with people like I
just described. I know this is a slippery slope, but this guy wasn't
asking for the trail to be altered for him, he just needed a little help
from his four-legged friend. I try to look at individual situations
before I pass judgement and also strive not to lump all horse/mule/llama
people into one group of trail evildoers.
It was sort of a coincidence, but the only other time I saw mules on the
AT was almost exactly 20 years before at Spence Field. A trail crew was
using mules to clear blowdowns and perform trail construction.
BTW, what did you think of Cindy Ross using llamas on the CDT?
--
Peter H. Fornof
athiker@plantnet.com
broknspoke@aol.com
http://www.plantnet.com/~athiker
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