[cdt-l] CDT with horse ?

[cdt-l@mailman.backcountry.net (Lee Clark)]

Hi Joanne,
  I've hiked the section from Wofl Creek Pass to Monarch Pass in Colorado.  I also have a horse, so I'm always evaluating the trail in terms of rideability.  There are sections that were extremely narrow and slippery due to gravel on the trail where a false step would mean a very long fall down a very steep slope.  I was glad I was on my own two feet in those places.  Especially in the Weminuche you are above treeline much of the way, so there is nothing to tie a horse to.  You could go off trail to go down to tree level, hobble the horse if you think it would stick around, or carry one of those really light electric fences.  The fence would give you the most flexibility and maybe soften the horse's impact on the terrain.

Another consideration would be snow.  The Weminuche is often still quite snowpacked until very late June, depending on the year.  I have heard from others on this list that they need crampons and ice axes to get through at that time of year.    You might want to consider a later start.  

Keep me informed of what you find out!  I'd be interested to hear how your trip goes.

Lee Clark
New Mexico

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 11/19/2001 at 2:52 PM Joanne Lennox wrote:

>I have contacted a few people off list but somehow had the cdt list
>address wrong and it never got to the list itself.
>
>I have decided to try to do the CDT with a single horse in New Mexico and
>Part of Colorado beganning in March and probably ending in June.  I do not
>know how much of this is possible, or what routes are feasible and what are
>not.  If things proceed well I will probably continue, especially if Oregon
>and Washington is under a lot of snow.  I finshed 1,700 miles of the PCT ,
>almost all of it in California, this year.  And want to do Oregon and
>Washington next year, probably starting in July(depends on snow).
>
>I generally walk as much as I ride.  I am carrying the same stuff that I
>thruhiked the PCT with in 1999 (15 pounds), plus about 10 pounds of
>equipment for horse.  Most of what I carry is horse feed.  
>
>I have been pouring over The guidebooks and Delorme maps.  And am getting
>overwhelmed by the thought of fences, locked gates, and most of all cattle
>guards(which seem to be everywhere, are unmarked on maps, and completely
>impassible), muddy roads, and the generally paucity of objects to tie a
>horse to in the desert.
>
>I badly need some names of reliable persons in the New Mexico BLM community
>and National Forest Rangers that can tell me what I am up against, before I
>spend a fortune on maps and before I load up the beast and drive off. 
>
>It might be noted that most people have told me that I could not do what I
>have already done, so this does not seem to  work very well.  Stony silence
>and editorializing on my experiences also appears to energize the
>situation.  Specific comments about particular pieces of the trail derived
>from actual experience means that the person actually has given it some
>thought, and is not simply dismissing me out of distaste for my hiking
>style.
>
>Joanne (Goforth)
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