Heritage Trails August Ride

[Nancy DuPont <Htrails@Earthlink.net>]

we cannot get into the Yosemite because the way the reservations are 
configured, we cannot make a reservation for a group of 25 riders.  So we 
have moved the ride to this:

Heritage Trails
Invites you to our

2001 Exploratory ride
 From August 9 to August 17
Our 20th year!

Revisit The Pioneer Trails of the 1800's

We will start at Aspen Valley and ride to the site of Gianelli's cabin 
below Burst Rock.
Not far from Duckwall Mountain named after the Duckwall Party, you will see 
bolted to a granite rock a metal rim from a wheel of their covered wagon 
where the Duckwall party came to a crashing halt at the foot of East Flange 
Rock attempting to climb into Upper Relief in 1853.
Relief Valley got its name because the merchants of Sonora established a 
supply of provisions here in mid 1800's to succor the Emigrants struggling 
to get through this very rugged terrain.
Ride the Wilderness areas of
The Emigrant Wilderness
The home of the Bennett Juniper, the oldest living thing in the world at 
6000 years old!
Ride over Sonora Pass at 9600 feet with St. Mary's Pass on the left. You 
are now on the Pacific Crest Trail and entering the Carson Iceberg 
Wilderness.
A glaciated area of rugged peaks, granite domes, glacial lakes and valleys, 
mountain meadows and scattered patches of subalpine coniferous forest with 
over 100 lakes. Elevations from 5000 feet near Cherry Lake to 11,570 feet 
at Leavitt Peak.  Most of the trails will be between 5000 to 9000 feet.
Carson Iceberg Wilderness
Straddling the Sierra Nevada range, the Carson -Iceberg high country 
represented a formidable barrier to trappers, explorers and settlers.  The 
first crossing of the Sierra in this area by people other than Indians was 
in 1827 by Jedediah Smith in 1825. The earliest emigrant crossing was in 
1841 by the Bartleson-Bidwell party.
The Carson River is named for Christopher "Kit" Carson a noted scout who 
traveled through this territory.
Ride requirement: You must provide your own horse and be able to ride about 
15 miles a day (at a walk) in ascending and descending mountainous country. 
Horse should be trained to cross streams and creeks and be in a picket line 
at night.  No stallions. Participants share night watch in rotating order. 
Limit 25 riders. We ride through Wilderness and camp outside of Wilderness 
where we are supported by our caterers and vehicle that transports our gear 
each night.
Ride Fee $850 per person includes catered food for you and your horse. Our 
Caterer, Rebecca Mapes is a graduate of the San Francisco Academy of 
Culinary Arts. Our ride leaders are seasoned mountain riders. Trail Leader, 
Owen Cardinet. Ride coordinated and directed by George Cardinet.


At 01:38 PM 6/2/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Nancy,
>
>How are the plans for the August ride?  The reason I am asking is just
>out of curiosity.  I received a Trail Blazer magazine today with an
>article in it about George.  The end of the article reads:
>
>"George, accompanied by Heritage director Harriet Merritt of danville,
>made another round trip on February 16 to again meet with David's
>assistant, Laurel Boyer, and discuss plans for taking a group of riders
>over Virginia Pass and down into Tuolumne Meadows for a ten-day ride in
>Yosemite.  Although the Superintendent has since seen fit to ban
>overnight horse camping in the park,  at the time Laurel greeted George
>with a big hug and gave him full support of his adventure."


DRAFT OF CAMPSITES OF AUGUST RIDE, SUBJECT TO MINOR CHANGES

So many of you understandably want more information.  I implored George to 
share with me what he and Owen have planned after pouring over maps all 
day.   We did this ride a couple of times several years ago and it is 
awesome!  Our caterer, Rebecca Mapes and her mom and dad actually rode with 
us so she knows the area well.  At Kennedy Meadows there is a pack station 
with a cute restaurant that has the best Prime Rib in the world and 
definitely showers.  If you are lucky to reserve early you could have a 
cabin!  Since Owen has not pre ridden this yet we have not firmed up the 
sequence of the camps and will not know for sure until we see first hand 
how the country is this year.  These things are subject to downfalls, 
erosion, avalanches, distance to ride and camp availability.  I encourage 
you not to miss this ride but have a steady horse because there is much 
climbing when you ride at 10,000 feet!  We will be on the Pacific Crest 
Trail a few of the days.
Here are the names of the camps we will stay in for the ride:
Camp 1  Kerricks Corral
Camp 2  Gianelli Cabin site
Camp 3 Eagle Meadow
Camp 3 Eagle Meadow
Camp 4  Kennedy Meadow - running water, showers
Camp 5  Leavitt Meadow
Camp 6  Sonora Pass
Camp 7  Clark Fork
Camp 8 Clark Fork (Transfer rigs to Ebbetts Pass)
Camp 9 Ebbetts Pass

Alternate plan at the moment

Camp 8 Eagle Meadow
Camp 9 Gianelli Cabin site