I had wanted to take our llamas on a conditioning hike for a while. Tom got the trailer ready, and we were waiting to see what the weather would do this weekend. I really did not want to hike in a torrential downpour. It was sunny this morning with rain not forecast until the afternoon so we loaded up the llamas. Then I had the bright idea to bring the dogs too so they were also loaded up and off we went.
We decided to go on a short hike on Blanchard Mountain, near our home. Above is Tom, Oreo and two of our dogs on the trail. What was supposed to be a 2 mile hike turned into a 4 mile hike (8 miles round trip). We continued on the trail to Lily Lake (below).
Below are photos of the dogs and the llamas at the lake.
Then we headed back down. We switched off llamas so below is Tom with Walker and the dogs heading back down the trail.
On the way down, our beagle got the scent of some horses on the trail and howled and pulled Tom all the way down to the trailhead, acting like a beagle. We found out that llamas like to pee frequently so there were llama breaks on the trail.
Everyone did well. One llama and one dog slowed down toward the end but no injuries or incidents so our conditioning hike went great. The weather was perfect, and the forest beautiful.
What a fun day. I just can’t imagine my llama ever doing anything like that–he’s way to crabby and cranky. Maybe I’ll have to try and train bud, our new little goat boy, as a pack wether.
Thanks Teresa. it was a fun day except now I’m tired. It sounds like Bud will make a good pack goat.
Wow, 8 miles – that’s quite a walk. Sounds like everyone had a good time though. T.
Wow that looks like a challenge with both llamas and dogs in tow. Did the llama’s enjoy it?
It was quite a hike. Tom and I are sore and hobbling a bit, but the dogs and llamas are acting fine. So maybe it was a conditioning trip for us rather than the llamas. It is hard to say if the llamas enjoyed it. At times they would hum like they were nervous, but they never stopped (except to pee and poop). And they nibbled branches on the way.
That trip looked fun. You have gorgeous llamas, and cooperative too. When we got our first llama, there was still snow and we were snowmobiling to our place still. Marshall had to hike with Johnson the 4 miles up to our place. Johnson stopped frequently, humming and looking around (probably confused and looking for his buddies, poor guy). He even kushed a few times and wouldn’t get up till he was ready. It took 4 hours to hike him the 4 miles!
Jackie
It was fun. We were afraid we might have an experience like you did with Johnson. But that’s one reason we bought experienced pack llamas. Our guard llamas would have behaved poorly. We were still slow though. We hiked 2 miles per hour on the way up and a little short of 3 mile per hour on the way down. This is because the llamas did not walk quickly. When they are carrying packs I am worried they will be even slower.
What beautiful country you live in. I bet folks would pay good money to hike with you and your animals over that fantastic terrain.
Thank you. It is pretty here. And this time of year, especially when it is wet, the greens are so beautiful. But I am not sure people would pay us, especailly with some of the words Tom was using with the beagle!