10 • Wednesday, October 6, 2010 The Valley Sentinel
Mountain Expedition: the Traditional Way
By Donalda Beeson Eight days, eight horses, four riders, three camps, countless skillets later, and the Parisi’s annual horse-pack trip into the Moose River was an, at times wet, and at times sunny, success. Borderline Ranch, Snowfarmers, Tony Parisi and his son Phillip Parisi, recently returned from the traditional trip up the only designated horse-use trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park. Trotting along was Finnish WOOFer, Steffi May, who has since returned to Finland to guide 400 sled dogs, and Videographer, Frank (François) Desrosiers of FD Productions in Revelstoke, who has been involved in countless wild projects making outdoor adventure films for seven years, and said it was “the best trip of [his] life.” It was a perfect opportunity to gather footage, as he’s interested in showing the world the adventures out there, and was able to gather the most footage he has ever shot. It was ranch-dog Morgan’s second trip, and first time trip for young horse Jasper, but as for the rest of Parisi’s horses on the trip, Boondock, Tangles, Slim, Robson, Sassy, Albreda, and Concho, are all veteran Moose River trail travellers. “We’ve been trying to open up the trails since the two burns,” said Parisi, who used to run successful trips in there more than 20 years ago. “One day we got a letter that said, because of the pine beetle, they were going to do a prescribed
burn at any time, so we couldn’t operate commercially anymore. When they didn’t burn right away we carried our parks-use permit for a few more years, then we had a trip booked, and the weather permitted a burn, and they burned it, so we dropped our permit.” It “took five years and a lot of cutting to reopen the trail, and we’re still doing that,” said Parisi, and, “it’s cut enough now to travel on…and we feel we can operate on it, however it’s a rough trail in places and still needs a lot of work.” He is thankful for all the people who have helped clear the trail, especially the parks staff, and a handful of local residents. Parisi feels the Government, “spent so much money on the prescribed burn and then nothing to reclaim the trail afterwards… they felt it was of no value to Valemount and they are very wrong, they never valued it as a resource.” Hence, Parisi is focused on the reclamation of the Moose River trail for commercial and private use, and as a result, more people will be able to enjoy the trail. There is “big history behind horse travel and climbing mountains,” said Parisi. “Travel on horseback goes back to early exploration of the Robson Valley. Explorers and fur traders used horses to cross the mountains, as did hunters, settlers, railroad men and loggers that followed. We think that mountaineers will want the traditional experience that the Alpine Club and the first mountain climbers had travelling by horseback and climbing to access the mountain,” and he adds, “This Valley has a rich tradition of Phillip and Tony Parisi making camp along the Moose River Trail.