When I heard there was a mule packing coffee (Café Mulé) into the Boise foothills, I knew I had to check it out! I immediately started following Café Mulé on Facebook to see where they would be next!
It turned out that Richard The Mule and Café Mulé would be in the Boise foothills on my birthday, so it was a done deal! We would wake up and hike our way to cold brew coffee and a new mule friend! We parked at Camel’s Back Park, which actually turned out to be a little bit further than we planned on hiking, but that made the prospect of meeting Richard and getting some coffee that much sweeter!
We made our way to the intersection of Crestline and Red Cliffs trails, and we saw Richard the Mule! He was staked out on a picket line, meaning he had one hoof hobbled that was attached to a line. The line was connected to a stake in the ground. He basically had a circular area where he could walk around and munch on grass. He was as cool as a cucumber, even with mountain bikers, hikers, other horses and TONS of kids running around. He accepted doting hugs and pets from people of all ages, and he was clearly a Boise foothills celebrity!
What About the Coffee??
After fawning over Richard for a good couple of minutes, we made our way to the coffee! Café Mulé was all setup with a table, and there was FREE nitro cold brew coffee and doughnuts. I have never been a cold coffee drinker, but I might be converted after trying Café Mulé’s! It was smooth and delicious, and it gave us the energy we needed to hike all the way back to Camel’s Back Park! If you want to try the coffee, but can’t make it to one of their trailside services this summer, you can find it at Albertsons at State and 16th Street and on Parkcenter.
Talking About Mules
Of course, I always want to hear all about horses (and mules) and how people met them and generally just ALL about them! It was a super busy day on the trail, but we were able to talk to Matt for a few minutes about Richard. The short story is that Richard was a craigslist find, and he is likely somewhere around 20-25 years old. Richard’s clearly all business and takes his job as coffee-pack-mule and local foothills celebrity seriously. He poses for selfies and greets everybody he meets with a calm and quiet demeanor. He hardly bats an eyelash until he sees Matt approaching and you can tell they share a special bond. Also, he’s barefoot, so that’s pretty awesome!
****On a side note, I’m always really interested in the names of horses and mules, and I forgot to ask if Matt named Richard Richard or if he was Richard when they met.**** That might be a question for the next Café Mulé trailside visit!
If you’re in Boise, check out Richard the Mule and Café Mulé the next time they’re in the foothills! Until next time, Happy Trails!
Idaho suits you!
It’s a horsewoman’s paradise!
Best cold brew I’ve ever had! And what a cool way to get it:)
I wanna go!
Make sure to like him on facebook to see where they will be next!