Of an Encounter Most Curious with the Commercial Horsepackers of Sapphire Lake

[Bern Salzhaus]

So it transpired:

Having crossed the formidable Haeckel Col, I descended into Evolution Basin, the descent steep but manageable, until the path eased and I strode contentedly upon more level ground. My spirits were high, for the scenery was magnificent, the air pure, and my body, though weary, rejoiced in its freedom. Thus I advanced toward Sapphire Lake.

There, however, I encountered a most peculiar spectacle: a vast encampment of horsepackers sprawled across the entirety of the southern flats of the lake. No fewer than ten, perhaps twenty, tents cluttered the flats, the whole scene an affront to the austere beauty of the wilderness. Believing the camp to be deserted, I ventured forth, only to be suddenly accosted by a fellow clad wholly in black. He ran toward me, shouting with great agitation, “Private Camp! Private Camp!”

Startled, yet maintaining courtesy, I offered him a greeting. At that moment, a woman emerged from a large canvas pavilion and demanded, with suspicion, whether I was “merely passing through.” I responded with levity, suggesting that unless they intended to invite me to supper, I would indeed continue on my way. My remark, however, was met with confusion, perhaps even hostility. Their manner was unfriendly, and to encounter such discourtesy in so grand a setting struck me as strange indeed.

I ask myself now: did I err in traversing their camp? I have always understood these mountains to belong to all who approach them in humility, and I sought nothing more than passage. To detour around would have been an arduous inconvenience. Yet perhaps there exists some unwritten etiquette of the wilderness which I transgressed unwittingly.

I bear no ill will—only bemusement at this curious interruption to my journey. I should be glad to know whether others have faced such encounters amidst the noble solitude of the High Sierra.

[Mark Verber]

I would say one error and one remarkably rude response.

the etiquette I was taught was never to enter an existing camp without being invited it.

Offer a greeting like “hello in camp” and see what is response is.

the polite response is typically  “come on in”, often with an enquiry of how your day has been with extra hospitable people offering “warm up by the fire” or “would you like some ___ (snack, drink, etc)”.

If I was in the same situation I would have called a greeting and waiting for a response.  If they were grumpy as they seemed to be,  I would politely indicate I planned to pass through.  [I won’t want to stay near such unfriendly neighbors].  If I got no response I would feel free to pass through on my way since they were blocking me and I wouldn’t be disturbing anyone as I passed by.

Declaring public space in the wilderness, especially someplace like evolution basin,  a “private camp” is horse shit.

 

[Dan]

I’m not familiar with that particular area, but I have seen some permits for commercial outfitters taped to trees, where the Forest Service grants them exclusive rights to a particular area for an entire season. The places I have seen these are far off trail in wilderness areas, generally well-stocked off-trail lakes. If you can get a look at the permit, you will probably see that the area is pretty well-defined, and doesn’t extend to an entire meadow or lake.

TBH, I found it offensive, but I suppose it complies with the Wilderness Act, which even allows grazing rights to be sold in wilderness areas, which is totally inexplicable to me.

Usually it’s high-country cattle, but there is one wilderness area where there are always a few flocks of sheep. I ran into this massive group on the shoulder of Trapper’s Peak in the Flat Tops Wilderness last month, far off trail at 11,300′. It’s usually a place that I like to stop, relax, and have a snack, but not this time. They typically have some pretty aggressive protection dogs with the sheep, so I just moved on quickly.

[Mark Verber]

evolution is within kings canyon np.  to my knowledge all national parks only offer Commercial Use Authorizations (CUAs) and Special Use Permits (SUPs) which grant access but don’t offer exclusive use of an area.

[Dan]

evolution is within kings canyon np.  to my knowledge no national parks offer exclusive use of space, they only offer Commercial Use Authorizations (CUAs) and Special Use Permits (SUPs) which don’t offer exclusive use of an area, just access.

If it’s a NP, then I definitely wouldn’t expect commercial outfitters to be granted an exclusive permit. They were probably just trying to intimidate the OP into moving on. That’s really obnoxious. Personally, I think that commercial users of NPs should count themselves lucky they’re allowed to do it at all. And I don’t think that permits allow them to violate group size limits.

[Bern Salzhaus]

In the quiet hours since that most unseemly encounter, I have weighed in my mind the conduct of those commercial horsepackers at Sapphire Lake. At first I wondered if I had, by some unwitting trespass, erred against a code of mountain courtesy. But the more I dwell upon it, the clearer it becomes: it was they who stood in error.

The enclosed photo exhibits but ten tents; yet I must remark that several more lay concealed amidst the brush, swelling the encampment to an even greater magnitude. That such men should flog their beasts to haul the trappings of sloth to this elevation, only to sully the silence with their bazaar of canvas, is abhorrent. This was no fellowship with the mountains, but a carnival of desecration. They came not as pilgrims, but as parasites.

At first I held my tongue, supposing perhaps I had transgressed some unwritten courtesy. Yet upon sober reflection, the truth shines clear as morning sun upon a glacier: the impropriety lay not with the solitary mountaineer passing peaceably through, but with the merchant-outfitters themselves. To annex the meadow as if it were their feudal estate is an affront both to custom and to the spirit of the hills, which belong to none but Nature herself.

Therefore I record here, without malice yet with firmness: let these purveyors of horse-borne commerce take a hearty supper of their own shit. Indeed, may they dine upon it liberally, until the taste acquaints them with the folly of their presumption.

[Paul Wagner]

You’ve raised another issue with this post:  In most cases there is a limit of no more than 12 people on any permit, and in any group. Scouts who hike are well aware of this.  It sounds as if your group was larger than 12, which  would at least encourage me to call the local USFS permit office and ask that question.

 

Meanwhile, don’t you hate when a group arrives at a destination and immediately assumes they can spread out to every available campsite?  I think if you bring a large group into the wilderness, you should try to keep your tents closer together, and leave some wilderness for others.

But that’s trial etiquette, not permit legalities.

[jscott]

nm

[David Thomas]

I’m guessing, mostly tongue in cheek, that it was the mountain division of a local militia and they feared you were an agent of the gobbermint.

Regardless, it’s very likely they had firearms

and that engenders both cockiness and paranoia.

[GW Hayduke]

I was there in late July and from a group of trail workers I spoke with I got the impression it was them camped at Sapphire back then.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

In 1980 I was a professional trail builder on teh Snow Creeksection of the PCT near, Wildwood, CA. We (Bell Brothers Trail Building) camped beside Snow Creek for our water and at that time were building the brand new PCT from scratch. We never treated backpackers with anything but courtesy.

What Bern encountered were likely not even the pro wranglers but idiots who thought they were “entitled”. Sad what greenhorns get into their heads. When in the mountains you leave territorial ideas back in the city.

But David, you may be correct in your militia take because I had the same thought. Our Sierra Club group met another backpacking group on a lower Grand Canyon trail that was definitely very “tactical” in dress, demeanor and unfriendliness. And only a few were “military age”, the rest in their 40s and 50s. So you never know.

[Roger Caffin]

Uncouth

[Tom K]

Having crossed Haekel Col myself back in 2013 I can empathize with your distress at being so greeted upon arriving at Sapphire Lake.  What an affront to the sensibilities of anyone sufficiently attuned to the Sierra to choose a route like Haekel in the first place.  I admire your forebearance while you processed the obscene transgression, as also your ultimate conclusion.  It was an egregious insult to all of us who wander in that magnificent range, as well as to the range itself.  May their karma be adjusted accordingly.

[Scott Nelson]

Back in the 70’s, you could commonly find the non-burned trash of big bottles, frying pans, and cans from horse packers in their large campsites all over the Sierras.  I rarely find that now.  I have observed some trail crews with large established camps, but they have always seemed friendly, dusty, and tired.

I went by a large horse camp on Bubbs creek that you couldn’t see, but you were tortured by the smell of their frying steaks…

A couple of years ago we were hiking from Cottonwood Lakes to Miter Basin with the first night at Chicken Springs Lake.  We had passed a group of about 15 hikers with daypacks that did a lot of whooping as they hiked.  We chatted with one guy who wasn’t sure where they were going. My buddy and I set up at the lake early in the afternoon.

Soon, the horse packers arrived and then the hiking group.  They set up 10 or more tents all round us and were yelling and calling out to each other, and walked right through our camp. It irked me enough that we moved camp a half mile away to the other end of the lake.  The group proceeded to scream as they dipped in the cold lake, sang happy birthday, and shouted their jokes and stories. At least they stopped around 11 pm.

We ran into the horse wranglers for the next group the next day.  The packers run trips to climb Mt Whitney from the west side and can send several groups down the trail at peak season.  I am sure they have set spots that they use each day.  The group that bugged me was organized and “led” by a guy who got enough friends and family together to book the trip.  The packers were not there to control their behavior.  We modified our camps to stay away from these groups from then on.

The packers have adopted LNT principles it seems, but that doesn’t mean that their clients have.

Scott

 

[Brad W]

I think you just encountered [redacted – mk]. I often drive to places to hike, sometimes a couple of hours. It’s usually near dawn and I can tell you many times someone has posted up either car camping, tent camping, etc. at the trail head, making it nearly impossible to get on the trail without going through their camp.    If no one is visible and no signs of anyone being awake, I pass through quietly. If it’s later in the morning I call out long before entering – 100ft off and continue until I get a response. ‘Just passing through’. I have gotten friendly responses, grumpy responses and just stink eye. If you choose to block access with your ill located camp, expect people to pass through.

That being said, I wouldn’t pass through a camp unannounced save for the scenario I described.  I don’t know the exact area you described, but if it were possible, upon seeing the camp, to go around or give it as wide a berth as possible, I would do that. If it was not possible-then calling out again would be a courteous option.

[Author]

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