Horses don’t enhance a trip to the Sierra

I read Christopher Reynolds’ article on his horse trip into the Eastern Sierra and wanted to de-tenderfoot him a little [“Tenderfoot Trail,” Aug.20]. I have hiked all over the Sierras but have stopped because of my most recent trip, which was consistent with a trend I’ve seen over the last years.

My hiking experience in the Sierras runs for about 45 years. Since the near past, horses and mules have increased. It hasn’t been a good thing. Reynolds’ article describes well why there are more people using horses. I could demean him, but why do that to a poor tenderfoot? I will say he wasn’t in the wilderness, he was on a pack trip.

Here are some of the problems with horses:

1. They are heavy animals with small, metal-clad feet. This means that the pound-per-inch impact on any trail is enormous and quite damaging, especially on steeper trails.

2. Horses poop along the trail. This draws flies, nay, even, breeds flies. Reynolds was some feet above the trail, but a person hiking would be swatting at flies all along the trail. And because going off trail is difficult, hikers are forced into a miserable existence.

3. When packers stop to set up camp, the horses and mules stop too. They are led off to another area (because it’s not good to set up a camp overrun by flies) and left there, sometimes overnight but certainly for hours. This causes trampling of another area and, of course, more horse/mule poop to breed more flies. Camp usually is set up near a lake, so two areas become fly party scenes in what would be an idyllic spot.

Here’s a suggestion: Next time Reynolds wants to go somewhere, he should put a pack on his back and walk there. Perhaps he can ask at the Forest Service in town where the best trail is that doesn’t have flies. Trust me, the Forest Service people hate those horses and mules too. They have to try to remove all the poop off the trails and camp environs.

Doug Lappi

Del Mar

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Thank you for Reynolds’ story “Tenderfoot Trail,” which generated many memories for me. In the 1950s, my family joined with several others for annual camping/fishing/exploring vacations along Rock Creek.

Back then, Tom’s Place was truly rustic, a general store where we got ice, milk and a few essentials before heading up Rock Creek to claim our campsite.

The highlight was a day trip on horseback from Rock Creek Pack Station. We sang as we rode, and we saw many sights such as Reynolds described.

The Pack Station is truly an institution. I am so glad to hear the enterprise is still a going concern and generating new happy memories for novice riders in such a glorious setting.

Susan A. Herney

Sunland

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I enjoyed Reynolds’ story on going into the wilderness on horseback. I spent several summers at a camp in Idyllwild that included such trips to Tahquitz Peak and Mt. San Jacinto. Unforgettable times.

Luckily, we had campfires for our marshmallows. Thank you for the photos, the description and the memories.

Jeanne Heller

West Los Angeles

Reynolds writes that he’d “never felt as close to this rugged, pristine high country” in his article describing his first camping excursion by horse, with packers guiding his group.

But he also complains about the Forest Service ban on campfires — “for safety’s sake” — at Davis and eight other lakes along the Eastern Sierra’s Hilton Creek: “Nobody dreams of … staring at the cold dirt where a fire should be.”

Campfire bans are not just about fire prevention. Over the decades, careless backpackers and other campers, coveting their roaring fires, have decimated much of the fallen deadwood needed for natural wilderness renewal, even hacking off growing tree limbs only to learn that green wood doesn’t burn.

As someone who started backpacking nearly 40 years ago, I’ve seen that damage firsthand in the Eastern Sierra and other mountain regions around the country.

Giving up a comforting campfire seems a small price to pay to help preserve that majestic high country that offers wilderness travelers so much in return.

John M. Wilson

West Hollywood

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