How did it compare to trails in the Wind Rivers? It seemed as though on the Fremont Trail (the section from Big Sandy Opening to Marms Lake) there were more horses than people. Slightly less horse traffic on the Hailey Pass and Shadow Lake trails (Shadow Lake was as far as I got)--a few more people than horses, but still a lot of horses. Of course Wyoming is cowboy country. The trails were built by horsemen for horsemen; and banning horses is probably unthinkable. There are a lot of restrictions on horses, which are followed to the letter by the outfitters (whose livelihood is at stake). I noticed, for example, that camps or even where horses were tied on day trips were far from trails, from water sources and from where hikers would be apt to camp. The ones I've noticed breaking the rules (both in the Winds and out here) were individual horse owners. Of course there are hikers who don't follow the rules, too.

I'm a bit torn on this subject. I love horses. I grew up horsepacking, but back in those days there was hardly anyone else out in the wilderness. I don't remember seeing more than a handful of hikers during 11 years of horsepacking in the northern Colorado Rockies. Maybe 2-3 times in a 6-8 weeks' trip we'd run into an outfitter guiding a group on horseback, or a sheepherder with his flock. Compare that to the usage today! It is definitely true that a 1200 pound horse with iron shoes is going to tear up the trails far more than the equivalent weight of backpackers. And with the amount of use today on popular trails, something's gotta give.

I, too, was wondering why I went to such lengths to bury my and my dog's poop with all that horse poop lying around. However, I find horse poop far less obnoxious that that of dog. Within a day or two, horse poop has dried up, started to disintegrate and has lost its odor. It takes a lot longer for dogs and people.

On the other hand, at least here in the Pacific Northwest, the Backcountry Horsemen group does a considerable amount of volunteer trail maintenance. Because they have pack horses to carry their tools, they can get much farther into the wilderness than groups on foot can manage. With Forest Service budgets cut to the bone and beyond, a lot of trails would be lost if it weren't for the horse folks.

The worst situation, of course, is encountering the leavings of the cow. I can't understand why other ruminants (deer, elk, sheep, goats) leave relatively unobtrusive poop behind, while the ubiquitous "cow pie" has to be jumped over (using caution not to land in another one!), sticks to everything (boots or worse) like glue, and remains liquid inside for weeks. Part of my Colorado trip was in a cattle grazing area, and the first and last days were horrible!