Sure-footed, mostly

The first mule has yet to scale Half Dome or stand on Everest, but possible recruits have been identified in a mountain mishap in Yosemite.

Four pack mules carrying supplies to the park’s High Sierra Camp tumbled 200 feet down a granite slab off the Bunnell switchbacks July 9. The mules, roped together for safety, slid to a stop after reaching a ledge. The animals were largely uninjured but faced a steep ascent back to the trail.

The park’s search and rescue team descended with ropes and prepared the rookie mountaineers for their technical climbing debut.

They swathed the mules’ metal shoes with tape “to simulate ‘sticky rubber’ climbing shoes,” said a National Park Service incident report.

Once each animal was harnessed and clipped to a safety rope anchored from above, “three of four mules danced, high-stepped, and stumbled,” their way up the slope to the trail.

The fourth mule, weighing roughly 1,000 pounds, slipped but was caught by the belay system and reeled in to join the others. Rescuers re-packed the mules, and they were back on the trail.

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-- Bonnie Obremski