EPISODE · Jun 13, 2026 · 23 MIN
Trail Stories - The Burros Built it
from Hiker Trash Radio · host Bleav + Doc
About the Guest Shane Weigand is the founder of New Mexico Pack Burros, based outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. A former wildland firefighter and wildlife biologist who spent his career managing public lands, Shane picked up his first burro off Craigslist about ten years ago and has since built a community-driven business around backcountry packing trips, wilderness clinics, pack burro racing, and the book Backcountry Burro: Your Guide to Packing Burros and Donkeys in the Backcountry. He currently owns six burros of all three size classes — miniature, standard, and mammoth — and directs five races on the Southwest pack burro racing circuit. New Mexico Pack Burros is in its first year of guided multi-day expeditions in the Pecos Wilderness. Episode Highlights The Craigslist Burro Donkey, Burro, Mule — The Definitive Guide Why Burros — The Practical Case Pack Burro Racing The Guided Expedition The History the Horse Didn't Write The Water Stories Comet — He's Family Links & Resources New Mexico Pack Burros — Website: https://www.newmexicopackburros.com New Mexico Pack Burros — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newmexicopackburros BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro Backcountry Burro: Your Guide to Packing Burros and Donkeys in the Backcountry — Shane's book. Available on Amazon or order signed with a sticker from newmexicopackburros.com. Unbranded — Adventure documentary following a group of men who trained wild mustangs and rode from Mexico to Canada. Available free on YouTube. Shane's media recommendation. Strong cinematography and a fair treatment of the wild horse and burro issue on public lands. Pack Burro Racing — Key Events Fairplay, Colorado — Birthplace of pack burro racing, 1949. Annual race to the top of Mosquito Pass. Part of Burro Days festival. Leadville, Colorado — Flagship race. Centerpiece of Boom Days. Shane completed 150 miles of the Colorado Trail before racing here with Comet. Tombstone, Arizona — One of Shane's favorite venues on the circuit. Ruidoso and Silver City, New Mexico — Fall circuit races. Full circuit — 20 to 30 races annually across the Southwest. Season runs January through fall. A race ran in France two years ago. Connect with Hiker Trash Radio Email: mailto:[email protected] Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio. The full interview with Shane drops Wednesday in two parts. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What this episode covers
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 Radio feed.
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Trail Stories - The Burros Built it
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