Palmdale native joins parade
Kosch walks with Forest Service team in Pasadena
PALMDALE — Smokey Bear and his friends from the US Forest Service Region 5 Packstock Center of Excellence marched down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day in the 135th Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena.
Allison Kosch, a 2009 Palmdale High School graduate, was part of the group. Kosch works as an apprentice at the Packstock Center in the Inyo National Forest.
“We came to the Rose Parade this year for Smokey’s 80th birthday,” Kosch said.
They brought two strings of mules, two wagon mules, three flag mules and an outrider. Kosch walked in front of the flag mules.
“It was great; we really represented the Forest Service, and I hope a lot of little girls saw me and felt that they could become a ranger or a packer or join the Forest
Service in some capacity,” Kosch said.
Kosch was in the Health Careers Academy at Palmdale High. She attended college at Fresno State University. When she was in college, Kosch thought she would work in the racehorse industry. She needed a summer job prior to starting an internship working at a
high-dollar thoroughbred farm in Kentucky. She got a job in Yosemite as a pack mule leader.
“Every morning before work, at like 3:30 a.m., I would show up at the pack dock and try to learn and mostly get in the way,” she said. “I just kind of bothered them until they gave me a job.”
Kosch worked at Yosemite for a long time. She is now working for the Forest Service.
“I just thought there was more opportunity in the Forest Service for advancement, so I ended at the Forest Service,” she said.
She also wanted to work for “super packer” Lee Roeser.
“He’s kind of a legend in this world,” Kosch said.
The Packstock Center mules bring supplies to remote locations to support fire and trail crews, botanists, researchers and archaeologists.
“Anything that needs to go in the backcountry for those purposes it will usually go on a pack mule,” she said.
The Forest Service mules spent about two months getting ready for their march down Colorado Boulevard.
“They did so good,” she said. “We spent two months kind of desensitizing them for the purposes of the parade. Some of them are veterans and they did it five years ago when we went. Some of them really love the attention and they were pretty happy.”
She added: “If there’s any little girls who love horses and the outdoors, this might be the job for them. It’s hard, dangerous work, but I wake up every morning feeling lucky to do what I do, and there’s not a lot of people who can say that.”