Lumpy Home Pages: Llama Trekking

Megan and I love to camp and hike. But we like to get out into the backcountry. Car camping holds little attraction for us. Why not just stay home? With the kids, it's a little more difficult to do this as they are not able to carry heavy loads AND walk for long distances. Then one day we spotted an article in the paper about renting llamas as pack animals for camping trips. This also adds the novelty of having the animals along for the children to pet and even lead them and participate. So we looked into it and did it.

It was a great trip. We invited along another family from our block the Parrs. They and Megan's mother Barb and her sister Lisa along with us made 11 people. We rented 7 llamas to carry all the gear. We contracted with the llama owner to not be guided, but for us to lead ourselves and she was open to it. So she gave us a brief orientation in handling them and packing them, etc and away we went.We were out 3 nights and 4 days, travelling 12 miles total on the Colorado Trail near Kenosha Pass. The llamas made it possible to do a backcountry trip with the kids. Not only possible, but a great time.
The entire clan. Back row: Jeff Parr, Jackie Parr, Barb, Kerwin, Lisa, Megan. Kind of front: Jack Parr, Eva Parr, Harry Parr, Sam, Taylor. Don't know where Mandy is. Taylor leading a llama on the first day.
We ate and drank very well on this camping trip, at times better than we do at home. Each llama could bear 70 pounds, balanced carefully between the 2 panniers on its back. We had 7 llamas so we had 490 pounds of capacity. I even took along my cast iron Dutch Oven for making biscuits. This is definitely not something I pack along on every backcountry trip. Normally for hiking trips I carry a toothbrush that has holes drilled in it to save on weight.
Lisa, Megan's sister became the self appointed llama wrangler. Given her extensive experience with horses we gladly let her do so. She did a bang up job. Here she is working with Jackie to load one of the llamas. Each of them have a pannier that they are about to hang, simultaneously, on the padded wooden rack on its back. Megan's mother Barb and her sister Lisa with the boys and their long eared friend. Barb at 63 led the party for the duration.
Llamas are very alert, intelligent and nimble creatures that are well suited for travel in the mountains. I highly recommend them as a means of getting back into the hills, especially with kids. Give Mary at Timberline Llamas, based in Evergreen, CO a look if you are interested.