Llama Trip: Day 2&3

The next morning we ate breakfast with a southern small-town diner theme. At the "Llama Diner," "We believe in costumer service, so therefore our costumers serve us." At 11:00 am, we set out again, this time for Bob's Lake. Around 2:00 pm we got our first view of the backbone of the Wind River Mountains (at right), followed by the first river crossing (below). We continued down into the vast meadows around Bob's Lake and the countless others in the near vicinity. We arrived at our camp a few hours later and had dinner, only to settle in again for an eventful night of sleep.

A little before midnight we were awoken by the alarm call of a llama followed by thundering hooves. My dad went running outside in his underwear only to come back in cursing about the cold and how he forgot his bear spray. It soon became apparent that we were missing four of the nine llamas, the result of a wandering deer that spooked them. A search party was sent out, soon finding that they were not anywhere in camp. After broadening the efforts to include the areas further out from the immediate vicinity of the camp, three of the four llamas were found about a quarter mile away, and the search party returned. The fourth llama, named 525 (my llama!), would be searched for in the morning, due to the impending thunderstorm.

That morning, my dad and I, and a llama to lure the missing the missing one in, set out across the far side of the meadow, where he was able to get a desperate text out to my mom who was nursing a ruptured Achilles tendon at home. She was able to contact the llama company, and they began to orchestrate a rescue mission. Meanwhile, another party of two (my uncle and cousin) went down the middle of the valley/meadow, with a third (another uncle and cousin) headed along the near side. At the lunchtime rendezvous, none of the parties had turned up anything, despite the beautiful hikes. Upon returning to camp, we discovered my sister, younger cousin and aunts had been informed by a group of passing horseman that the llama was "just over yonder." Thinking the llama was close, they had, naturally, taken off in that direction, with only an assortment of flip flops and Crocs on their feet and none of the essential head nets and bug sprays needed for repelling the increasing number of mosquitoes. After six miles of hiking (some of it through a hail storm), they returned having found 525 with his lead rope tangled to a log. Another desperate text was sent in the extremely spotty reception, this time saying that the search team that had been being arranged was no longer needed. Finally, we slept soundly that night.

Coming Soon: Llama Trip Day 4 & 5

Wind River Llama Trip

Over the past week I was on a llama pack trip in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. The trip started out with "llama school," (basically a two and a half hour lecture on llama husbandry, with extreme emphasis on toiletry habits of the animals, followed by learning to saddle and pack them). We then were instructed to meet one of the assistant llama people at the trail at 9:00 am the next morning. The next morning after being each assigned a llama and after two hours of "Oh my gosh, isn't my llama cute?," and "Wait, wait, wait, this random piece of equipment needs to go in this llama bag, not that one!," and me almost being stepped on by by my llama, we were off.

The first adventure happened a few miles down the trail when a llama named Lucky started to be uncooperative due to the fact that he did not appreciate the fly rod cases that he had been assigned to carry. We moved them onto a llama named Stretch, thinking the problem was solved. However, it caused Stretch to go on a wild rampage, causing screaming people and llamas. After the first minor catastrophe of the trip had been sorted out, we continue up the trail for a few miles and then stopped for a not-so-quick lunch at a small unnamed lake. The llamas were fed some of the many pounds of llama cookies that we had brought for them, we had  some of the too- few pounds of cookies for us. That night we made our camp at Little Divide Lake and settled in for what was for me at least, an awful night of sleep, although one that the rest of the trip completely made up for, as you will see.

Coming Soon: Day 2&3 of the Llama Trip!

Lama Packing

About to embark on a lama pack expedition in the Wind River Range. The idea is the lamas carry everything except your small day pack. We'll be gone for five nights, with a peak elevation of ten or eleven thousand feet.

Short MTB Vid

Just a few clips from the past couple days of riding:

Owned by a TRAIL!!!!!!!!!!

I don't get to the point of being sickishly tired that often, and it never gets to the point of me puking, until yesterday... The idea was to ride up the Sourdough Trail and the cut up over the top and down into Hyalite Canyon.

So we ride up the first nine or so miles, and then reach the one part that no one in the group had been on before. According to the Android GPS App (and a large amount of estimation), there's a killer climb to get over the top, but only for a short while. So we start up the climb, and are soon reduced to pushing our bikes uphill. After ten or so minutes of pure pain and want of cold liquid, we realize that the "hill" (more like Mountainous Peak of Suffering and Doom) does not actually continue for a "short while," in fact, it continues for more of a hellish eternity (it turned out to be around 1,100 feet). While the most fit member of the group elects to suffer on through the mask of pain and death, my dad and I decide to descend the way we came and forget we ever saw the Awful Mountain of Death and Destruction.

Now for the puking part. I woke up slightly sick, but felt 100% better in time for our Outing of Death. However, just as we started up the Lofty Peak of Hell and Disembowelment, I started to feel it again. I had also felt sick when we stopped before we reached the Summit of Fear and Loathing, but that was always fixed by resuming our ride. Now, here's the crucial element: That whole time we were going up, so I was working. On the way down, it was all a big descent, which was basically just like standing still, except at 20 mph. So I was bumming on the way down. When we got home, I was lying on the couch and feeling pretty awful.
Me: "Dad, I think I'm gonna barf
My Dad: "No, you're alright, just sick."
Me: "BLAAAAAAA!"
My Dad: "Jeez, you really did puke"
So yeah... You get the picture.

Nationals Pics

 

2011 USAT Natonals

I was 16th in forms at Nationals. Even though it's not as good as I usually do at tournaments its still good especially in such a big field of competition. I lost the first match in sparing 4-3. I was ahead from an early head kick but let down my guard in the last round and got hit by a few shots I could have avoided. Bummer. Better luck next year, but looking forward to possibly going down to Jimmie Kim's Open Tourney in LA in October. Nationals pictures coming soon.