Mules Rule

It's been a crazy last few weeks.  To kick off the season Jeff and I had the pleasure of working with U.S. Forest Service Packer Glen Ryan and his stellar team of mules. 
After spending three days wrapping and balancing loads of tools and basecamp equipment the crew met up on a blizzardy Monday morning only to huddle together for warmth while we waited for the storm to pass.

Finally, mid-morning brought clear skies and we were able to weigh down each of Glen's six mules with the gear that most assuredly would have broken our backs.  After shoveling snow from a good portion of the trail to basecamp the mules were able to drop off our first load of equipment.

The next few days brought much improved weather along with a few new challenges.  Tuesday morning, Glen arrived at the field once occupied by his mules, only to find that they had vanished overnight.  Eventually, we tracked them all down not too far from home and had them back on the trail in no time.

By late Wednesday afternoon the mules were relieved of their duties while Jeff and I were faced with the challenge of McGyvering together a 100 lb. wall tent not meant for the frame packed in, as well as the set up of a solar powered bear fence that niether of us had ever set up before.

Despite the many unforeseen obstacles throughout the week, Yale Crew basecamp is up and operating.