First fish(es) of the year...

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
gy.com...
riverman wrote:
"Jonathan Cook" wrote:
...
Two weekends ago my wife and I did a one-night pack-in
with our horse, mule, and burro into the Mimbres River
in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Area. While we've done
plenty of truck camping, this was our first pack-in camp,
and was an experiment in seeing how we overcame certain
logistical difficulties, you can see pictures he ...

Beautiful pics, and a soul-satisfying thing to be doing! What's up with
your
horse that he needs training wheels?

My guess is that certain logistical difficulties refers in part to
the fact that Mrs. Cook travels with a wheelchair.


Well yeah, that's obvious. So Jonathon: were the 'logistical difficulties'
managable? It sure looked like a great trip; it'd be good to know that you
can keep doing them. There was some discussion awhile back about pack
animals being in Wilderness areas, and your TR puts excellent color on the
importance of it.

--riverman

"riverman" wrote in message ...

Well yeah, that's obvious.

No worries -- if you can't make jokes and laugh about life,
you're doomed...in our house, gimp is a PC word...

So Jonathon: were the 'logistical difficulties'
managable?

Yeah, we'll be doing it again. My major concern was if our
donkey could carry enough, and if the load would ride ok.
I loaded my mule with as much as I could -- I'm small so he
can easily carry 60lbs along with me. Going in I didn't have
the wheels tied down as good...so I took them off the donkey
and hung them on my saddle strings...my six-year-old mule
had me, two sets of saddlebags (in front of me and behind),
a bunch of stuff tied behind the saddle, and two 24" wheels
hanging off his hips. He did great -- never spooked once.

There was some discussion awhile back about pack
animals being in Wilderness areas, and your TR puts excellent
color on the importance of it.

Obviously I'm in favor of it :-)

Although the ATV and off-roader industry uses disabled people
as a "reason" that motorized access should be maintained (and
expanded!), my wife is a counter-datapoint. She'd _love_ to see
the wilderness and roadless areas expanded, as would I.

Jon.

"Jonathan Cook" wrote in message
m...
"riverman" wrote in message
...

Going in I didn't have
the wheels tied down as good...so I took them off the donkey
and hung them on my saddle strings...my six-year-old mule
had me, two sets of saddlebags (in front of me and behind),
a bunch of stuff tied behind the saddle, and two 24" wheels
hanging off his hips. He did great -- never spooked once.


Ahh, I did notice that the wheels were arranged differently in the two
pictures. I was wondering if the terrain had done something to your wife's
chair. How is it for mobility on the forest floor: do they make any sort of
special wheels that can give better traction in the pine needles, etc? I
think that being able to get around more easily would make it even better
for her.

Although the ATV and off-roader industry uses disabled people
as a "reason" that motorized access should be maintained (and
expanded!), my wife is a counter-datapoint. She'd _love_ to see
the wilderness and roadless areas expanded, as would I.

There is (was) a strong movement to make the Colorado River in the Grand
Canyon accessible to people with disabilities, and it also raised a lot of
questions about the accessibility of wilderness areas. The consensus among
the clients was that the emphasis had to be on making their hardware, and
the boats, more accommodating, and not to change the environment.

--riverman

"riverman" wrote in message ...

Ahh, I did notice that the wheels were arranged differently in the two
pictures. I was wondering if the terrain had done something to your wife's
chair. How is it for mobility on the forest floor: do they make any sort of

Actually, those pictures are taken 30 seconds apart. The reason the
back picture shows them not to be "even" is that they are stuffed down
into the panniers (actually just army duffel bags), and the one side
didn't have a nice "vertical" slot to stuff it down in to.

We only used the wheelchair around camp, and it's generally not too
bad. On regular rides (not overnight), we just bring a standard cloth
fold up chair (tied behind the cantle) with us for breaks.

Jon.

Jonathan Cook wrote:


Although the ATV and off-roader industry uses disabled people
as a "reason" that motorized access should be maintained (and
expanded!), my wife is a counter-datapoint. She'd _love_ to see
the wilderness and roadless areas expanded,

A sign of some true character.

Willi