Screw the pooch, get a llama
They haul gear and repel bears. My kinda service animal.
http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/co...commended_pool
From talking to a few different people that have actually used Llamas, they have a limited range. I don't know if they can be trained/conditioned to hike longer distances. But, apparently when they reach their limit, they simply lie down. If I'm not mistaken they all indicated that 8-10 miles was the Llamas' limit.
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
Not a service animal in the ADA sense. Also, as pack animals, not welcome everywhere. Some are cranky (I owned one), and horses spook at the sight of them if not familiar with llamas. They are beautiful, sure footed, and can carry a load.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
...and they can spit with the best of mountain folk.
I don't know the lady personally, but I have heard Cindy's Ross speak -- perhaps at an ALDHA gathering (which even for anti-social, "non-joiners" like me has its place):
https://www.amazon.com/Scraping-Heav...=UTF8&qid=&sr=
If you know how to train them they won't spit.Originally Posted by rocketsocks
NOT SENT FROM MY IPHONE USING TAPATALK BECAUSE I HATE STINKIN' IPHONES.
well I know how I'd do it
Man... and to think I thought this post was about Alpackarafts, Denali Llamas. I was starting to get excited.
What a bummer WB has become. Long gone are the HC crew.
Oh well, back to planning my Bob Marshall route this year.
* Warning: I bite AND I do not play well with others! -hellkat-
Back to llamas. My daughter spent a few summers as a Llama wrangler/guide for a pack outfit in Lander, WY. She loved it and really got to understand their abilities, quirks, and charms. At the end of her second summer my wife and I joined her for a multi-day trip into the winds with a few llamas. We loved the freedom of slack packing while the llamas carried most of the weight.
Just stake them out in a grassy patch at night and they're happy. We brought a few oats for treats, but they mainly foraged for themselves, both along the trail and at night.
We did have to stake them out at 11,000 feet before we summited Wind River Peak. They aren't goats after all and don't take to bouldering.
All in all, we loved having them along.
If mileage is an issue, check out the specially trained long-range llamas in West Virginia's Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. During the polar vortex two years ago, several became frostbite cases and had to have grafts of facial features from alpacas. Some of the Dolly Llamas have Alpaca Lips Now.
wheres photochop when ya need one.
2 things! 1) Never argue with a llama. 2) They usually only spit at you when you really deserve it.
Nice animals!
We've passed them several times carrying supplies up to Mt. Leconte and they seem friendly enough, usually a single wrangler and a train of five or six, at that rate you could finance your hike slack packing a whole group!
"every day's a holiday, every meal a feast"
1/2 a push me pull me
I know a guy who hikes with goats out in Colorado. That looks to be the way to go. They can carry 30 pounds and scale vertical cliffs.
Follow slogoen on Instagram.
There was a llama trekking firm in the whites for several years. It was commercial operation so the FS would only let them use the Evan Notch area. They did at least one trip up to Unknown Pond in the Kilkennies. Unfortunately they don't like rocky trails and can suffer severe injuries if they step wrong. They are much better on old roads and railroad beds.
someone get to the important part: how do they taste???
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