Trail Stories - The Burros Built it

About this episode

Shane Weigand shares his journey into the world of pack burro racing and the unique culture surrounding it.

Shane Weigand came to New Mexico from Montana with zero stock experience, tried to get a llama, met a llama, and bought a burro off Craigslist instead — and then, ten years later, found himself the unlikely guardian of one of the most distinctive subcultures in the American West. As the founder of New Mexico Pack Burros, Shane guides multi-day wilderness packing trips into the Pecos Wilderness, directs five races on the Southwest pack burro racing circuit, and works to bring a working tradition back to the backcountry that has been largely absent for fifty-plus years. This episode covers the history and wild energy of pack burro racing — a sport that has been running continuously since 1949 in Fairplay, Colorado — the case for the burro as the most practical and underrated backcountry companion available, and Shane's proudest moment in the sport: 150 miles of the Colorado Trail with a wild-adopted burro named Comet, followed by a race finish in Leadville that told him the burro was family for life. Hollywood says the horse won the West. Shane's version of history is more specific: the burros built it. The full interview with Shane drops Wednesday in two parts on the Hiker Trash…

People in this episode

Hosts: Doc, Bleav

Guest: Shane Weigand

Topics covered

• pack burro racing
• wilderness packing trips
• American West subcultures
• backcountry traditions
• burros as companions

Keywords

• pack burros
• wilderness
• racing
• backcountry
• tradition
• New Mexico
• Colorado Trail

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New Mexico Pack Burros

Places: New Mexico, Montana, Pecos Wilderness, Fairplay, Colorado, Leadville

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