Hikers in the Boise Foothills of Idaho who’ve enjoyed a free cup of coffee handed out by a guy and his mule will be glad to hear that they’ll get keep operating on private land after tackling a few regulatory hurdles.

In what sounds like a delightful experience, the Idaho man has been hitching up his mule, Richard, to carry his gear, and heading out on the Ridge to Rivers trail system to give free coffee to hikers since May, reports the Idaho Statesman.

He originally tried to get permits from the federal land agencies that own much of the land in that trail system and was denied. Undeterred, he began serving coffee to a maximum of 73 customers per day to stay under the U.S. Forest Service’s 75-person limit for a non-permitted event. But even that wasn’t allowed, the Service argued.

He’ll now be operating on private land, after two landowners gave him permission to serve free drinks at three locations on the trail system. That means no more limits on how much coffee he can hand out — and he can accept tips and donations.

“It’s great to say it’s on the house,” he told the Statesman. “People have stayed 15-20 minutes to talk. They get in conversations with other people. It’s just a rewarding experience. If I started charging, I would lose people who just happen upon us. I’d be not as inclusive and lose some of that community element that’s been kind of cool.”

Café Mulé finds private land to serve coffee in Foothills [Idaho Statesman]

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