Chapter Nine:
Walk with a Llama
[Page 2]
Another afternoon, we took Tumbleweed out for a hike on the Pacific
Crest Trail, which passed near our ranch. Tumbleweed was a steady,
reliable hiker. On the trail, there were a number of stream crossings,
something new to him. He took them with flying leaps, so I stayed
well to one side and kept my eye on him as we hiked for a couple
of miles.
On the way back, Kelly took Tumbleweed's lead rope. At the second
stream crossing, Kelly had given Tumbleweed plenty of rope, and
he was well ahead of the llama but not watching. I was behind them
both, and I saw Tumbleweed leap across the creek, high and wide.
I saw him knock Kelly sprawling. Kelly held onto the rope as the
llama sailed over him. Then they were both further down the trail,
the rope twisting around the llama's legs. He was struggling, and
stepped off the path onto the steep hillside. There was confused
motion as the man and the llama rolled eight or ten yards down the
hillside, intertwined, until they finally came to a stop.
I ran closer. "Are you all right?''
"Yes.'' Both Kelly and Tumbleweed were breathing heavily.
They untangled themselves and climbed back up the steep slope. Kelly
was hardly even dirty. Tumbleweed had a wild look in his eye. "Let's
start walking,'' I suggested. "I think he will feel better
than if we just stand around. ''
As we continued down the trail, Kelly said, "When he knocked
me down, I half expected a foot to land on me. But I guess he was
watching out to that extent. It's funny, though--I trusted him not
to jump into me like that.''
"He seemed pretty distracted about the creeks,'' I said. "I
would have let go of the rope myself.''
"I didn't want to. Then we would have had to catch him, and
we're not that close to home. I never really felt in any danger.
It's hard to describe, but I felt like Tumbleweed and I were flowing
in an unfamiliar dimension. There was a kind of unity between us,
as though we were suspended in time and space together.''
The llama was soon back to his steady rhythm of hiking. He took
each of the remaining stream crossings with increasing confidence
and smaller leaps.
We planned to use Tumbleweed, Levi, and Whiskers on the hikes.
We also bought three more llamas. Poco was another small male, exceptionally
friendly. He'd already had a season of hiking on a packstring in
Colorado. And we'd bought Romeo, a large male, because he came with
Juliet, a bred female we'd managed to find. She wasn't small herself,
but at that time it was a real coup to find any females for sale.
Besides, as we became more accustomed to working with the llamas,
we cared more about temperament than about size.
Romeo was less sure of himself on the trail than the others, so
we began walking around the land with him. One day we took him down
our new trail to Boulder Hollow. Just before the picnic area, there
was a place where you had to step between some boulders and down
some rock steps. The llamas didn't mind it going homeward, when
it was uphill, but none of them were comfortable with the downhill
direction until they had done it several times. Mindful that our
guests would usually be unfamiliar with the ways of llamas, and
remembering Kelly's tumble with Tumbleweed, we were giving all the
llamas plenty of opportunities to get used to the trail.
Kelly walked down the trail with Romeo. Levi and I led the way,
and we negotiated the steps easily. Kelly came next, giving Romeo
lots of rope and watching him. Romeo balked. Kelly tugged on the
rope and coaxed with soft words. Romeo sat down. I took Levi back
up and down again so Romeo could learn from him. Romeo's fear was
too great, so after a while we made a broad detour around the rock
steps and came out on the trail below them. Romeo went up the steps
toward home, taking quick small steps and looking around nervously.
But when we turned around to take him down the steps, once again
he balked. We coaxed for a while, but he refused to budge.
We went on back home, thinking that we'd try another time. But
there was always lots to do, and Romeo ended up being prepared just
for our other, easier, trail.
The Boulder Hollow trail dropped some three hundred feet in its
half-mile length, which made it too strenuous for people with very
small children as well as for people who weren't in good condition.
We also cleared brush and created a picnic area in a favorite spot
out near the end of Llama Lane. This hike was also about half a
mile from one end to the other, but far easier. Romeo was happy
enough with it.
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