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Mt. Whitney
and the Eastern Sierra crest as seen from Thunder Mountain.
(Photograph
by Mike Porter - 1977) |
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Attention
all of you High Sierra packers!
Sun Dog
Days is book
you DO NOT want to miss reading. Slim Randles has masterfully
captured the life of two Owens Valley packers, Buck and Smokey,
and their adventure, not only in the Coso Mountains but their
adventure in life. It is a heartwarming story which will challenge
your emotions as you reflect on those days when you were once
a packer yourself.
Slim has informed me that he is working on the screenplay to
his book and it will soon be made into a motion picture. When
it is, I hope that all of you former and current packers will
do the High Sierra packing business the honor of seeing the movie.
Sun Dog Days is available at www.amazon.com
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All
photographs are from the archives of the Pigmy Packer unless
otherwise noted!
This site is graciously being hosted by the owner's of Shocking.Com
- Stop by and pay them a visit and express you thanks for their
generosity. Without their generosity, this site would not be
possible. |
Mt.
Whitney Pack Trains [pdf]
by Charles Morgan
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Mt. Whitney
Pack Trains
History |
Owens Valley
History |
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Vintage
MWPT photos of the Mt. Whitney Trail |
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In search of
Owens Valley Ancestory? The following Inyo County website might
be your answer.
Courtesy of Pam in Bishop, CA |
 Inyo County Gen Web |
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Golden Trout,
A Packer's Delight
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Many thanks
to the Backcountry Horsemen of California for their continuing
efforts over the decades to help preserve the Sierra Nevada and
keep it open to livestock. They strive to promote conservation
and the awareness of the benefit of livestock in the backcountry.
In addition I, in particular, am thankful that they strive to
keep everyone appraised of those, who through misguided legislation
or self interests, would try to ban livestock from the mountain
range packers not only opened to the public, but who also made
us aware of the importance of preserving that same country. It
is indeed ironic that it has been those on two feet with easy
road-end access to the Sierra, and not four, who have contaminated
nearly every stream and lake in the Sierra with giardia. |
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Many
heartfelt thanks to all of the packers, Owens Valley pioneers,
and friends who have so generously contributed to this site in
pictures and words so that others might share in the experiences
that God has so graciously granted to them! |
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Is
the above back country vista familiar to you; and how about these
golden trout? You can almost taste them as they're frying in
the pan. Have you ever been to Golden Trout Camp? Wonderful times
and great people with many an interesting story to tell. Names
like Frank Chrysler, Ted Cook (see their 1940's Mt. Whitney Pack
Trains brochure), Ike Livermore, Bruce Morgan (once a driver
of the famed Borax 20 mule team and manager to the Tunnel Air
Camp), Tommy Jefferson, Charles Morgan, and a host of other packers,
private party guests, and Sierra Club cooks, commissary and club
members. Let's not forget those Trail Riders, hunters and forest
service trail crews which were packed in over those many years.
Many have been lead home gently by our Father but many are still
with us. Some, like Irene Kritz, are still in the saddle and
packing every season. All encompass an exciting group of people
which time and the trails will never forget. |
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How
many times have we all seen this trail sign? It has either meant
hours in the saddle pushing cache or more hours on foot finding
out where the packers left everything. Whatever the means of
one's getting to the next camp, you could always be assured of
a good cold stream bath and warm dinner at the end. Let's not
forget those evenings of back country stories, guitar pickin',
campfires and practical jokes. The Sierra Club girls were always
beautiful and just waiting to make the packers a lunch for the
trail and/or steal your heart away. What an exciting time it
was for all of us at Mt. Whitney Pack Trains from 1946 through
1972. |
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If you have
pictures of people/places which you would like posted on this
site please e-mail me for posting instructions. Please try to
include the following information with each picture or story
(if you can recall):
- The date
the picture was taken (month/year)
- The place
the picture was taken
- The names
of any people in the picture
- The type
of trip you were on (Sierra Club, Trail Riders, private party,
hunting, trail crew etc.)
- The trip
leader and cook's name
In addition
to pictures, if you have a particular trail story, humorous or
serious, which you would like to share with everyone please e-mail
it directly to me. If you e-mail the file, please send the file
in either Microsoft Word, if possible, or as a pure text file.
Remember
- there are a host of folks out there waiting to blessed by your
High Sierra or Owens Valley story. Don't disapoint them, or yourself,
by failing to share your experience.
Thank you, from everyone, for obeying that still small voice
within you and sharing your heart and experiences with everyone.
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Owens Lake
in 1911 before it was drained dry by Los Angeles
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Navigation
Bar
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Golden
Trout Camp in the High Sierra |
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Chrysler
and Cook's Mt. Whitney Pack Trains |
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Panoramas
of the High Sierra |
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Sign Guest Book |
The Pigmy
Packer (1970), with his horse - Quarter Boy, and two guest from
New York on New Army Pass. Mules were Nigger, Bart, and Dan. |
View Guest Book |
The Pigmy
Packer (1997) |
The
Pigmy Packer |
The Pigmy
Packer (2001) |
 This
page was last updated on 24 December 2007 |
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By Paul Sebesta |
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This RingSurf THE
GHOST TOWN WEBRING Net Ring
owned by Mt. Whitney
Packers and Owens Valley History.
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