Mountain Mules Are Bringing Hope to Appalachia – Garden & Gun

hurricane helene

Aided by Cajun Navy 2016, relief is arriving in Western North Carolina by air, foot, and hoof

By CJ Lotz Diego

October 1, 2024

Photo: cajun navy 2016

A pack of mules and the Cajun Navy 2016 are bringing food, water, medicine, and hope to the mountains of Western North Carolina. Immediately after Hurricane Helene ravaged a huge swath of the Southeast on Thursday and Friday, the pros at Mountain Mule Packer Ranch in Mount Ulla, North Carolina, sprang into action.

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“They call them beasts of burden, we call them our beloved mules,” the group posted on Facebook, introducing the pack, whose names include Vader, Lil Wayne, Jeb, Max, and Smokie. “They are capable and willing to work in many conditions most won’t. They are not stubborn…they are wise, and require respect. They have had many roles in their careers, from hauling camping gear and fresh hunt, pulling wagons and farm equipment; to serving in training the best of the very best of our military special forces, carrying weapons, medical supplies, and even wounded soldiers.”

Emergency supplies have been arriving to washed-out portions of Western North Carolina by private and military helicopters, and a C-17 with relief supplies from FEMA landed yesterday in Asheville. But entire mountain communities are unreachable—except perhaps by sure-footed mules.

Mountain Mule Packers asked followers to post requests for specific needs. Cell service is still spotty and power is out in much of the region, but the responses have poured in: “We are in Bat Cave off 74 and Middle Fork Road,” one commenter typed. “Our community is working on a way to clear a land/mudslide above us…If that can be cleared your mules could bring in supplies since our roads are washed out below along with a bridge.” Another wrote: “If groups bringing in supplies could bring just a small amount of insulin in case they come into contact with those who need it, you might just save a life.”

Over the weekend, the crew loaded two trucks full of donated and purchased supplies and secured the animals in twenty-foot stock trailers. Then the Mountain Mules headed west. Led by Mike Toberer, the team set up a staging area in the mountainous town of Montreat on Monday and Tuesday. They linked up with Cajun Navy 2016, a nonprofit search and rescue group from Watson, Louisiana. By truck where they could, but mostly by foot and hoof, the joint team hauled supplies toward Black Mountain, which was devastated by flooding and landslides. Nearly all roads in the area are impassable by car.

“One of the first families helped yesterday was in desperate need of insulin, and Mountain Mule Packers was able to get it up this otherwise impassable road,” the Cajun Navy 2016 shared.

Another story of a person reached: Sarah Haynie had fled her home in Swannanoa to reach her parents in Black Mountain. She was outside with her family, surrounded by downed limbs and debris, when a member of the Cajun Navy 2016 approached. “They walked up through the trees that had fallen over our driveway and asked if we needed food or water. And then they saw my two boys,” Haynie says. The volunteers returned with a chainsaw to start clearing the downed trees, and stuffed bears for each child.

“My boys lost all of their toys in the flood, we lost everything,” Haynie says. “The only thing they have are the clothes that they left in.” The volunteers handed Haynie $40 in cash, bottled water, and bags of food. “He told me he noticed our spot up on Ruth Street because his grandmother’s name was Ruth. As he was leaving, he had tears in his eyes and said, ‘This one’s for grandma.’”

On Tuesday, the mule team posted their plan for restocking: “We appreciate the huge outpouring of requests on how to get supplies to us. Because of the conditions in the mountains and the way the team will be moving around, that is hard to coordinate.” Both the Mountain Mule Facebook page and Cajun Navy 2016 Facebook page are posting updates about how to support them best.

Find more ways to help here.

CJ Lotz Diego is Garden & Gun’s senior editor. A staffer since 2013, she wrote G&G’s bestselling Bless Your Heart trivia game, edits the Due South travel section, and covers gardens, books, and art. Originally from Eureka, Missouri, she graduated from Indiana University and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she tends a downtown pocket garden with her florist husband, Max.

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