Ken and I are leading a field trip as part of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition Annual Meeting being held in Cody in June. We will be taking approximately 20 people on a llama hike along the Beartooth Front. We thought we would do a dry run on Sunday to make sure the llamas were comfortable with the route and that it was going to take the allotted amount of time. We picked up our friends Mary and Luis about 10am and headed to Hogan Lake to start our trek. The purpose of the field trip is to expose people to the area and to impress upon them its beauty and the value in keeping it as open space. Much of the Beartooth Front is being threatened with oil exploration and we are trying to convince people it is more valuable as wild land. The trail we will be hiking offers spectacular views in all directions. The photo above shows one small snapshot of the area.
The llamas all did great despite the 90 degree temperatures and the round trip hike took us about four and a half hours which will be perfect.
On the way hom
e we stopped at Mary and Luis' place for a little while. Their ranch is a sanctuary for wildlife of all kinds and this time of year is really active with elk and antelope giving birth and all sorts of birds nesting in their fields and trees. They have about a dozen pair of nesting curlew living on their land. They look like shore birds and it is always a surprise to find them in the fields and plains of the west. The birds often hang out near the irrigation ditches and so have become quite accustomed to people walking close by. I was able to get within a hundred feet of this pair to take their picture. Aren't they the most amazing looking creatures? Their bills are perfectly customized to allow them to go after their primary food source. The first time I saw a curlew up close I thought it must have come from outer space!
e we stopped at Mary and Luis' place for a little while. Their ranch is a sanctuary for wildlife of all kinds and this time of year is really active with elk and antelope giving birth and all sorts of birds nesting in their fields and trees. They have about a dozen pair of nesting curlew living on their land. They look like shore birds and it is always a surprise to find them in the fields and plains of the west. The birds often hang out near the irrigation ditches and so have become quite accustomed to people walking close by. I was able to get within a hundred feet of this pair to take their picture. Aren't they the most amazing looking creatures? Their bills are perfectly customized to allow them to go after their primary food source. The first time I saw a curlew up close I thought it must have come from outer space!The surprise of the day came when we got home. We had convinced ourselves a while ago that Alexis was not pregnant but she proved us wrong. This little guy was 
waiting in the pasture as we drove up. Since he took 367 days to come into this world - almost three weeks longer than "normal" - we decided to name him "Tardy". So now we have three baby llamas running around; two boys and one girl. The funny thing is all three of them have different fathers and yet all three have more white on them than any other llama we own. At least now we know we are done with babies until September.
waiting in the pasture as we drove up. Since he took 367 days to come into this world - almost three weeks longer than "normal" - we decided to name him "Tardy". So now we have three baby llamas running around; two boys and one girl. The funny thing is all three of them have different fathers and yet all three have more white on them than any other llama we own. At least now we know we are done with babies until September.
1 comments:
The only thing that makes 90 degree temperature bearable in Peoria, IL is the 45 percent humidity. How about that day?
Your moose quilt looks great. Sally on quiltart
http://sallylsmith.blogspot.com
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