Mule Packing at Cal Poly and Beyond
Cal Poly’s 2024 mule packing competition teams were comprised of Mia Nash, Monica Siminski, Shaelyn Spencer, Madison Martinich, Madison Brackett, Milena Wilson, Claire Saydah, Kaileen Grace and Lea Thomas, advised by Animal Science Lecturer Lou Moore-Jacobsen.
By Lauren McEwen, fourth-year agricultural communication major
During the winter and spring quarters, as the sun quietly rose over the “P” on the eastern hills of Cal Poly’s campus, a group of dedicated students gathered at the Oppenheimer Family Equine Center at 7 a.m. each week, to learn a tradition that has been passed on for generations.
Sounds of stock braying and snorting while ropes and cinches are flung into the air and dust settling into the nostrils of the students gathered there, are a few indications of a practice enduring the test of time. The students and staff that make up the Cal Poly Packing Enterprise course are just like the stock – tough, strong-spirited and hard working.
Shaelyn Spencer and Madison Brackett work together
to tie a box hitch in competition at Mule Days.
Mule packing is a discipline that uses mules and horses to transport materials to the backcountry. In America’s modern day, this profession is especially important because stock can go where no car can rove and no helicopter or airplane can fly.
Mule packing has a long history in the United States, dating back to the Army using stock to carry ammunition, food and other necessities through rough terrain to soldiers on the battlefront. The National Park Service, along with outdoor enthusiasts, miners and travelers continue to use mules to carry camping gear and make deliveries to rangers in the backcountry. Tourists in America’s national parks also use mules for recreational purposes.
Mule Packing at Cal Poly
Madison Martinich and Lea Thomas finish tying off hitches
as Monica Siminski prepares to lead the pack string
in competition at Mule Days.
Lou Moore-Jacobsen, the enterprise advisor, is a lifelong packer. She said that mule packing is more than just a quirky class at Cal Poly. “Mule packing offers a different horsemanship aspect than other equestrian sports. It introduces the backcountry to younger generations and gets them outdoors,” she said.
At Cal Poly, the mule packing team began in 2016 with the help of Moore-Jacobsen’s husband, Rick Jacobsen, a professional packer, to encourage younger generations to preserve the value of backcountry packing and expand their horsemanship skills.
Students like Madison Martinich, a fourth-year animal science major, discovered the value of mule packing as a means of diversifying skills, improving interpersonal communication and appreciating the outdoors. “I fell in love with packing my freshman year,” Martinich said. “Now I am teaching others how to pack and it’s fun to watch my peers improve.”
Competitions at Mule Days
In addition to learning valuable technical skills, the Cal Poly Packers compete each Memorial Day weekend at Mule Days in Bishop, California, a fest that honors mules and their versatile capabilities. The event is also home to the world’s longest unmotorized parade, led entirely by mules and horses.
At Mule Days, intercollegiate teams compete in timed events that include gathering animals, placing saddles and organizing loads on the mules’ backs, mounting a horse and ponying (leading) a pack string behind them, all without error. Other competitions include speed packing, where individuals attempt to tie hitches around loads on the stock as fast as possible without penalties.
“You can’t learn to pack without touching a rope,” said Martinich, who competed in the box and diamond hitch competitions at Mule Days. “When I’m tying a hitch, I’m not paying attention to anything except that knot. Everything moves very fast and I get tunnel vision.”
Mule packing teaches students not only how to pack for a trip in the High Sierra, but teamwork and patience as well. “There was not a ton of conflict during competition,” Martinich said. “We experienced a lot of team cohesiveness and good communication.”
Packing for the Future
Lea Thomas and Milena Wilson are mounted leading pack strings
while Claire Saydah, Monica Siminski, Madison Martinich, Kaileen Grace,
Mia Nash, Shaelyn Spencer and Madison Brackett wave to onlookers
during the Bishop Mule Days parade.
Student and alumni interest in the Packing Enterprise continues to increase. “Our first year competing at Bishop Mule Days, we had four women form a team off the books,” Moore-Jacobsen said. “When we saw the positive response from alumni supporting our team, it was made into an official class.” This year, more than 20 students enrolled. “Watching team progression has been very rewarding. We’ve won two reserve championship titles, learned teamwork and made friendships with competing schools,” she continued.
It has also been a valuable experience for Moore-Jacobsen because the pack team “gives me variety,” she said. It is a fresh change of pace for the instructor who also advises several equestrian clubs and riding classes. “Oftentimes I am teaching techniques to the students because most haven’t experienced it before,” she said. “It keeps me organized and openminded.”
Martinich and her peers established a mule packing club for Cal Poly students, enriching the Learn by Doing experience by making mule packing accessible year-round, not just in the winter and spring quarters. The club will expand packing opportunities, such as going on pack trips in the backcountry, hosting clinics with professional packers and competing at intercollegiate events.
In the years since the enterprise’s beginnings, the mule packing class has opened opportunities for careers with the U.S. Forest Service and local pack stations, especially in wildland firefighting and ministering to rangers in remote wilderness.
“Learning how to pack as a whole has been the most valuable experience of mine,” said Martinich.
Follow more of the Packing Club’s endeavors on Instagram at @calpolyslopackers.
Visit Cultivate Summer 2024 to read more stories.