Glenn Ryan talks to members of Colorado Parks and Wildlife who sold him hay for his mules at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan gets out of his truck while showing visitors around AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. Ryan manages one of the last pack mule trains for the U.S. Forest Service and has a lot of downtime after the summer work season ends.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

A 2005 Best Livestock award that Glenn Ryan won in Durango shortly after transferring to AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. Ryan has been a horse person all his life, coming from a family known for their Percheron Draft Horses, riding jumpers as kid, and working for the Forest Service or cowboying most of his adult life.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

A hat rests near the door of the lodge Glenn Ryan lives in at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Boots and coats sit near the door in the lodge that Glenn Ryan lives in at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan runs a mule pack string for the U.S. Forest Service, out of Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan runs a mule pack string for the U.S. Forest Service, out of Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan unloads a delivery of hay at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan looks at different mounting harnesses for the mules that he runs out of AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. His mules are used to haul supplies like gravel, lumber and tools into workspaces that trucks and ATVs can't reach.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan walks over to a shed where he stores a tractor and hay for his horse and mules at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan mulls over a question at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan looks out at AG Ranch, a property of the U.S. Forest Service, while showing visitors around in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. The Forest Service had many plans for the property when they acquired it, but now it mainly houses Ryan's mule string and gives fisherman public land access to Willow Creek.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan runs a mule pack string for the U.S. Forest Service, out of Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan laughs with men from Colorado Parks and Wildlife who delivered a load of hay for his horse and mules at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan gives his horse, Karmel, attention in the corral at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan runs a mule pack string for the U.S. Forest Service, out of Bailey, Colo. Photographed on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan runs his hand down Skid's nose at the AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. Skid is one of 11 mules that Ryan manages for the U.S. Forest Service, including bringing them to jobs as far away as South Dakota's Black Hills.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan pets Skid, one of the mules he manages for the U.S. Forest Service, at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. The mules Ryan manages are all work animals, bred to be a little stocky with thick necks and roman noses; the same kind that the U.S. Military would use during earlier wars.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan explains all the names for his mules in their tack room at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. Ryan named all the mules that he manages for the Forest Service and has had them all since he moved to the ranch in 2004.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan runs loads of hay from the back of a trailer into a small shed for storage at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan pulls hay of a truck at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan unplugs the tractor to unload a delivery of hay at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.


(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker

Glenn Ryan scratches the chin of his horse Karmel, while Skid, one of them mules he manages, stands in the background at AG Ranch in Bailey, Colo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. Ryan's horses are usually mares as they are easier for a mule train to latch onto than a gelding.

(The Gazette, Nadav Soroker)

110617MULEMANHorsesdepartment of agricultureforest servicemulesmulestringpack stringsoroker