Patient packers: Outfitters rely on llamas for trips into the wilderness
<p>A guide for five years, Chris Schuler points to landmarks during one of the breaks on a llama trek on July 24 in the Swan Mountain Range.</p>
<p>Llama trekking guide Chris Schuler says llamas need a short break for every eight minutes of hiking. A llama will stop and lay down if it is overworked and over heats.</p>
<p>Llamas can be packed with a load up to 80 pounds while on hikes. Swan Mountain Outfitters try to keep the load to an average of 40 pounds per llama.</p>
<p>Swan Mountain Outfitters guide Chris Schuler unloads llamas for a trek on July 24 in the Swan Mountain Range.</p>
<p>Ashley Arment leads a llama along a day hike with the Mission Mountain Range in the background on July 24 in the Swan Mountain Range.</p>
<p>Swan Mountain Outfitter guide Chris Schuler leads a group of hikers along a day hike with four llamas packed with lunch. A number of different llama treks are available through the Swan Mountain Outfitters.</p>
<p>Lunch is provided during day hikes by the Swan Mountain Outfitters and gives the llamas a break and time to snack themselves.</p>
Bridled, the llamas followed dutifully along on a day hike from Napa to Inspiration Point at the western edge of the vast Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Under a bright blue sky, the rocky path led through fields of mariposa lilies, asters, paintbrush and penstemon with panoramic views of the Swan and Mission ranges on either side of the ridge.
“Mostly it’s just like walking a big dog,” said Chris Schuler, a guide with Swan Mountain Outfitters who was leading the llama trek. “You hold the lead rope and you don’t even know they’re there, until they hum in your ear.”
And hum the llamas did.
They hummed to one another as we walked. They hummed whenever we stopped to give them a short rest and let them cool down.
Rosie, Rooster, Fitzsimmons and Dude all were closely shorn except for some longer, woolly hair left around their feet, tails and heads. Each looked like some strange cross between a small camel and ridiculously oversized poodle.
Their lower teeth tended to catch their lips in unflattering ways after a snack of huckleberry leaves or pine needles. And the llamas sometimes would keep a long, single piece of grass protruding from their mouths as they walked. Whether that was by accident or not, none of us could tell. But it gave the animals a contemplative air as they walked along or gazed off at the scenery when they stopped.
Their heads sat at the end of long, muscular necks, about six feet above the ground. On top of their heads were wild shocks of hair and long, perky ears.
On their backs, our good-natured llamas hauled food and refreshments, some camp chairs and a foldable table so we could walk unburdened and still enjoy a lunch at the end of our hike.
The llamas didn’t complain or resist. They gave us patient and curious looks as we led them along. Best of all, no one got spit on. The animals seem to have gotten something of a bad rap for that.
“Everybody always asks, ‘Llamas spit, right?’” Schuler said.
Some of us were nervous about it. Their frequent and noisy stomach rumblings and some unexpected sneezes at first had us wincing and ready to take cover.
“Yes, llamas spit,” Schuler said. “But they’re not spitting at you. They’re spitting at each other. It’s kind of a dominance, hierarchy thing.”
Don’t get caught between two feuding llamas at the wrong time and you should be safe. So says Schuler, a man who has been spit on by a llama.
“The whole side of my face was green. My hat was green. My shirt was green. It used to be gray,” he said of the unfortunate experience.
But we didn’t see any spitting, or any hint of a serious feud developing among the four animals.
Llamas have a long history as work and pack animals in the Andes.
They can haul about a quarter of their weight, 60 to 70 pounds easily. They’re docile, tough to spook and light on trails. And as camelids, they can go much longer without water than horses or mules.
They are trainable, eager to please and even can serve as guard animals.
Schuler said Pat Tabor, the owner of Swan Mountain Outfitters, came out of the house one morning to find the llamas circled around a tree. They had treed a black bear that got into their corral during the night.
Swan Mountain Outfitters offers a variety of llama treks. They range from three-hour wine-and-cheese hikes to half- and full-day hikes and even five-day trips.
The outfit leases the llamas from Great Northern Ranch in Columbia Falls. Great Northen had outfitted llama trips for decades in Northwest Montana.
“This is our third season,” Schuler said of the llama treks. “The first year we got them, we didn’t really do a lot with them. ... Then last year it took off a little, and this year it just keeps on growing.”
Tabor said the llama treks are proving to be a popular, family-friendly way for people to try something new and get out into the mountains.
“A lot of folks who come to Montana want to get up in the mountains but aren’t horse people. Maybe they’re intimidated or too young or too old, but still like going up into the mountains,” Tabor said.
“And a lot of people grew up backpacking and love doing it, but the thought of bringing a 60-pound pack on their backs isn’t so appealing.
“The beauty of the llamas is it gives them access, gets them up into the mountains but lets somebody else carry the gear.”
People always are fascinated by the strange animals, which add a novel aspect to the trips. And a day hike or overnight trip can get people out into some pristine wilderness areas.
“In all the years I backpacked as a kid as a Boy Scout, we always had to eat dry food, and it was just kind of like austerity. Here we bring nice meats and cheeses and elaborate meals. It’s just like luxurious backpacking. Folks just love it,” Tabor said.
For more information about the llama treks, visit www.llamatreksmontana.com.
Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.