Mules West

About Brick

The other day, months after I should have done it, I introduced you to my mule Cracker. Today, I’m going to introduce you to Brick.

Brick and Cracker on the road (outside Shawnee, Wyoming)

Brick

I know Brick’s mom was a horse but I swear it was a white-tailed deer. She’s long legged, wasp waisted and has jumped a 4-foot steel gate from a standstill. Twice. Uphill. Electric fencing doesn’t stand a chance.

Busted: Brick caught in the act… Continue reading

About Cracker

How rude of me. I never introduced you to my mules Brick and Cracker. With apologies to you and the mounts who have carried me so far, may I introduce mules Brick and Cracker.

Brick and Cracker: usually Brick (L) carries a pack saddle. On this occasion, we saddled her with a riding saddle so my wife Julia and I could take the 2 on a ride in the Sand Hills of Nebraska (Hyannis, Nebraska)

Let’s start with Cracker. We’ll… Continue reading

After 20 Million Steps: First Sight of the Rocky Mountains

I stood before them crying in the wind. Memories of kissing my wife Julia good bye, riding mules Brick and Cracker out our front gate and now we stood before them. We had arrived at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.

My first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, specifically the Wind River Range between Lander and Pinedale, Wyoming.

I sat in my saddle facing the snowy peaks and rewound the mule journey of 1,600 miles. I thought back on the… Continue reading

“Man and His Mules Cross America on Path Set by Dental Floss” Douglas Budget (Wy) Newspaper Article

Here’s some Sunday reading for you. It’s a story that Mike Moore of the Douglas Budget wrote about our current mule voyage. Thanks for the great article Mike (links to article below).

  • By Mike Moore Glenrock Independent Via Wyoming News Exchange
  • Aug 31, 2019

GLENROCK — A sizeable chunk of Bernie Harberts’ year was determined solely by – what else – a single strand of dental floss.

muleman
North Carolina long rider Bernie Harberts receives a playful gesture from his mule,… Continue reading

Cracker Recovery

Last night I was sitting in the Split Rock Bar and Cafe celebrating my arrival in a busted uranium town when a man walks in and says, “your mule is over at Isabel’s house.” Isabel owns the bar.

Eastern Wyoming: a hell of a place to loose a mule….

I put down my beer.

Oh.

So I climb in to the man’s car and he drives me out in to the night and we go down a long driveway and… Continue reading

Rainy Day Hole up at the Monk King Bird Pottery

The Wyoming wind blew the snot from my nose in to my eye and I steered the mules for the sign that looked mis-spelled: “Monk King Bird Pottery”. I blamed the snot but sure enough, there was an “N” in the name where I would have expected a “C”.

The Monk King Bird Pottery. Owner Byron is on the left. (Jeffry City, Wyoming)

Pulled the mules to a halt in front of the storefront. Out of the wind I wiped… Continue reading

Independence Rock (Wyoming) and Musings on Letters and Humanity

A lady in too-tight pajamas is smearing peanut butter on white bread. Off in the distance, my mules are grazing. Travel has gotten easier in the past 200 years. The mules and I have arrived at Independence Rock, Wyoming.

Cracker ponders the 1,650 miles he’s traveled to reach the Rock. This is considerably farther than many migrants’ mules that would have started their journey in the mid-West. Not that life was easier then. Dysentery killed many travelers heading this route.… Continue reading

Camper Fantasy Musings

I saw this camper and knew that if I took it home and fixed it up I could drive it back in time to when someone lived in that abandoned stucco house in Shawnee, Wyoming. Actually, I yearned to drive it farther back in time than that.

Mystery Camper (Shawnee, Wyoming)

After I fixed it up, that camper would take me all the way back to when the days moved slowly and I wanted to chop out great big chunks… Continue reading

To Bivy Bag or Not to Bivy Bag

My brother Christian recently asked me in the Comment section, “sleeping question for you: when do you set up the bivy, as opposed to the big tent? Is weather a factor, time?”

Bivy morning. from an article I wrote Hay Field Breakfast about starting the day in a bivy bag. The bivy bag is the blue, sack-looking thing Cracker is staring at.

Here are some answers bro.

The Bivy

A bivy (bivouac) bag is just a sack that keeps the… Continue reading

Casper, Wyoming Arrival – and Departure

Hello – and goodbye – from Casper, Wyoming.

Casper, Wyoming arrival. Thanks Melissa for taking my photo
Liong says howdy. I met fellow traveler Liong pedaling his bike up the road. He left New Jersey 30 days ago.

The mules and I arrived in Casper Tuesday evening. We hope to set out toward Muddy Gap today.

Muddy Gap’s sort of a misnomer given that it’s smack in in the middle of Wyoming’s best dusty dry land. The good news is… Continue reading

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