Driving south from the Lewiston Roundup Grounds through Grangeville, Idaho, for three hours and 107 miles puts you at Moore's Station in the Gospel Hump Mountains. The scenery from these granite peaks is something everyone needs to see and enjoy.

Moore's Creek Railroad Tie Packout was to be a 2005 project (signed in 2004) but because of fires it had to be postponed until 2006.

Nez Perce Forest personnel allowed us to use the cabin to rendezvous at and headquarter out of.

Saturday morning found the crew throwing saddles on mules and horses with a few tools thrown in. A half mile back down the road is the trailhead for the Moore's Creek Trail (#312). We were to off-load the ties at the trailhead and the Forest Service would truck them out.

This trail is in pretty good shape and starts with a series of switchbacks, fairly open which renders some beautiful views of the valley and surrounding hillsides. You just know there's a moose in that swampy meadow where Moore's Creek originates.

Leaving two people on top to off-load the rest of the crew wound its way down the hill to the creek crossing. The railroad ties were used as a puncheon crossing but when the creek moved, they were left high and dry. Sixty-eight four-footers and eight full-length ties were piled up for us. Quickly weighing enough of the short ties to make a go-around, the confusion started. First, the hitch had to be determined. The barrel hitch won by a wide margin. Because of the steepness of the trail and the multiple trips we only packed two ties per animal. Dave Favor brought a scales that topped at 120 pounds and many of the ties went over that.

Don Uhlman and Dave Favor have developed a unique pack bracket for packing long posts, planks and, in this case, railroad ties. The units hang on each side of a decker saddle. Balanced on protruding posts, they are secured by a binder on each side. By the end of the packout, the off-loaders said, "We're only going to unload the binder loads instead of all the rope cocoons!" They do an impressive job of securing and holding a load with a minimum of effort. They also allow you to drop singles from multiple loads without a lot of untying.

Once the first load left with some support riders, three of us weighed and marked the next loads. Getting down to the full-length ties produced the 'misery whip.' The generation gap showed as the older guys did well but the younger fellows followed such advice as "Quit bearing down," "Don't jerk it," "Slower," "Let the saw do the work," and "Quit pushing."

The job was estimated to take two days but with the number of pack animals and the enthusiasm of the group, it took less than one day.

The crew was treated to a steak dinner, potluck and dutch oven Au Gratin Potatoes by Rick Wilkens.

Sunday, rides in all directions. Moore's Lake was visited; Plummer Point gave a great view of the Salmon River drainage. A group was going to make a loop of 383-305 and 312 but it took a little longer as they got lost! I think getting lost should be rated the same as a "buck off," which means PIZZA!

The Forest Service spent a bundle on improved, hardened campgrounds. They have nice toilets, hitch rails and meat poles. When I first saw them, I thought they were a little tall for high lines.

This area lends itself to a lot of good riding. The road does require a four-wheel drive rig if you're pulling much of a load but there is another way to get your stock to the top. Off of road 444 is a trailhead for trail #313. This trail goes by Slate Lake and up a grade to 444 again. Part of this is the historic road to the mining district at the Humps. It's approximately 6-7 miles long.

Hats off to the crew for a very successful project.

Bill Correll

P.S. Two factors that led to a quiet orderly job were Larry Taylor bought a nice, well-trained mule and Rod Parks and his mule, Bebe, had somethin