We weren't 20 minutes from the trailhead when one of the mules freaked out and nearly rolled off a steep embankment. The mules are strung together with ropes that will break if enough pressure is applied, so the whole string won't go tumbling over a cliff. Fortunately the crisis was averted, but packing mules into country this wild is fraught with peril. It's said that there are plenty of horse and mule bones along the trail from previous disasters.