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From Mike Maughan, whose family trekked in Yellowstone for the second year in a row with Utah Valley Llamas.
Chris,
We got in a little late last night and I didn't want to disturb you, so I just put them where you had instructed me to put them from our trip last summer. I hope that was okay.
We had another great trip. The mosquitoes and horse flies were out in force and were a constant nusiance for the llamas. They weren't as much of a problem when we were moving but when we stopped or camped they were there. Most of the time the llamas were tethered at camp they would be laying down to protect their undersides and were constantly rubbing their heads on the grass or nearby bushes. Of course when hiking they liked to rub their head on the back of our packs too.
Wind was his usual self. He was always in the lead of our group and he was great. Wherever he went the other llamas were willing to go.
Rama did well too. He was always full of energy and perky. Two years ago when we had him he tended to jump alot over logs, streams ,etc. He has improved alot and does much better at stepping over obstacles rather than leaping over them. My wife led him most of the time and he was good for her.
Pride was our surprise this trip. He had carried our daughter about two miles the first day and then suddenly decided to lie down to get rid of the horse flies on his underside. We traveled seven and a half miles that first day and Pride probably laid down in the trail ten times. It scared our daughter and it took a little coaxing to keep getting her back on each time. It acutally worked out well for us becauase this encouraged her to walk more, which is what we were hoping. Each day she rode less and less and on the last day she walked all six and half miles out without riding at all. She told me that she is a big girl now and next time we won't need a llama for her to ride.
Juggernat also did well. We could tell that he hadn't packed as much as some of the others or wasn't as wise to the outdoors but he learned as our trip progressed. For example, on the first day when we were weaving through trees he sometimes wouldn't leave enough clearance and the pack would hit the tree on one side or the other. By the end of the week he had improved and did this much less. He was the jumpiest of the bunch when it came to small streams, logs or rocks but on Friday I noticed that he was stepping over things he was hopping over earlier in the week. He wasn't as wise as the others in laying down when we got to camp for the first few days. The others would be laying down to deal with the bugs but Juggernat would stand up and dance and shake and rub against the bushes or trees for hours while whe the other llamas we laying down. By Thursday he had it figured out and was laying down too. We felt he walked a good pace and was a faster walker than Windstar. We would have no qualms using Juggernat again. We liked him.
We found the best order for our group was Wind, Rama, Pride and Juggernat. If Juggernat was in front of Pride, both of them would slow down. Juggernat would try to keep an eye on Pride and Pride seem to want to stay away from Juggernat. Once we found our best order things went smoothly. Several days we were able to travel at about 2.5 miles per hour which we were pleased with given the terrain and elevation.
Taping the clasps on the tethers worked well. We didn't have any of them get off their tether at anytime.
The packs worked well, no problems with equipment other than one of the rear clasps on one of the boonie pack frames would release or not hold if when you tried to tighten it and sometimes release if the llama jumped. We just used the other side and clasps to tighten it once we identified the problem.
Thanks for helping us have a great trip. We hope to do it again in the future.
I will send you pictures.
MikeTranslate : Print : Email
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