By Sandi Pinkerton
From the Fall 2000 issue
When I was first asked to write a few words down about our llama hike up Taylor Basin, I was surprised and quite pleased. I was sitting on the ground on my Lounge Lizard (a small camping seat) next to my husband Geoff, sipping coffee and thoroughly enjoying the beauty of our surroundings. Many thoughts sprang to my mind! Geoff said I should write these thoughts down as they came to me (he was right!). I didn’t and I hope I don’t forget too many of them as I tell you about our very exciting and magnificent hike.
Geoff and I were invited to come along on a llama hike to the Taylor Basin, near Goldbridge in the Bridge River area of BC. Having never gone on an overnight trip with the llamas before, it was a real eye-opener. Only having 60 pounds in two small panniers was a challenge, but we managed to make do. It was a good thing that Geoff’s parents Brian and Jane were coming as they helped us out quite a bit even before the hike began. Clearly Geoff and I (or maybe just I) did not realize how much organization it takes to put an event such as this on. As I am on the topic of lots of organizing I feel it necessary to say a huge thank you to Marie Seabrook for all the organizing and preparation and help Marie put in to make this happen. THANKS!!!!
I guess by now you know that I was most definitely not an experienced llama hiker. In fact I have done very little hiking at all, let alone with llamas!
On with my story . . .
Geoff and I drove up to Marshall Lake (Brian and Jane have a cabin there) on Thursday night, where we met up with most of the hiking crew — Brian, Jane, Chris, Janet, Bill, Derry and Alison. We all went to bed early. Friday morning we ate a quick breakfast and by 9 am, we were in the trucks and heading for Petey’s (Cherie Breum) farm at the base of Taylor Creek. Petey is a friend of Marie’s. We met Marie and her dog named Catsy, Duanne, Dave, Utta, Dylan, and Colin, packed our panniers onto the llamas, and started up the mountain. It is important to note that the elevation at Petey’s is 3,750'.
The first leg of the journey was hot, sunny and very up hill! At 4,530', Duanne and Alison stopped and looked back at where we had come from and stated that they thought we were going the wrong way! They had been on this particular hike a couple of times in the past. Where we stopped was quite steep (in my mind) and it reminded me that it feels like hiking is always in an uphill direction. Marie walked a ways back and my first lesson in hiking
began. When the group is separated for any reason — like confirming the trail we are on is the correct trail — then Marie uses her whistle to signal us to turn around and head towards her. I was very grateful they realized we were on the wrong road so quickly. My second lesson in less than two hours of hiking was that it is a good idea to have experienced hikers.
We ate lunch shortly after we got back on track. Then it was more uphill in the sun (what did I expect?). Tourism BC shows happy hikers walking through
clear-cut, but we were hot and tired and there was very little shade. Once we got into the trees and away from the blazing sun and my muscles were warmed up, the hike began to get more and more interesting.
Sandi with Chimborazo, still looking fresh after the first few hills. Behind her, Dave is checking the panniers on Primo.
Utta and Dave took turns carrying Colin (four years old) on their back in a kid-carrying backpack while the other one walked with Dylan. These children were amazing little hikers.
Geoff was hiking with Duanne at one point and saw a clump of white lupines, which was very unusual. Duanne said that she had never seen white lupines in the wild before.
As we were hiking along, people mentioned a bridge that we would be crossing
soon. Well I was shocked when I saw what they called a bridge! My first heart attack. As a new hiker I did not know how we were going to get ourselves never mind the llamas across this 15' wide, 3' deep fast running creek. The bridge had seen better days. It looked like a broken down part of a roller coaster.
Janet sprang into action knowing exactly what to do and seemed very happy and excited to see what was in my mind our first major obstacle. In fact, my first thought was that we were going to have to turn back!
Janet told me (I do not know how I happened to be in the line of fire) to grab the rope that she had pulled out of one of the panniers. She told me to cross the bridge to the other side of the creek with one end of the rope. I looked at the bridge took a big gulp and started to head across it. It wasn’t under water or anything; it just looked quite broken down. In experienced hiking terms we set a line across the river and towed or led the llamas across the creek. I was on the receiving end.
Janet told me exactly what to do and they started coming across one by one — it was magnificent! We tied the rope to the first llama and tied a lead line from the first to the second llama so we could get two across at a time. Very soon, they were all across and we were all quite charged up.
Marie’s llamas, T-Beau and Harry, were experienced at crossing creeks and showed the others just how to go about it.
We carried on after much laughing and after checking that the gear was still steady on the llamas. After a couple of hours of hiking and passing lovely colorful hillsides of wild flowers, we arrived at the Taylor Creek Cabin (6,140') which was were we set up camp.
The Taylor Creek Cabin was not what I had pictured in my mind. It was an old Trapper’s cabin that has been slowly restored by many visitors (hikers, hunters, cyclists, you name it). I am a wee bit claustrophobic, so I did not spend much time in it but it would have been be perfect if the weather had turned ugly. It had a little stove and table and even a couple of beds. Most of the people thought it quite lovely.
The llamas were quite content to relax in the small meadow by the cabin.
We all set up our tents and were soon eating our first dinner at the campsite. Just this little meal alone took a lot of up-front organizing to ensure we (a group of us chose to share our meals) would be eating in a reasonable amount of time.
Our hike up was approximately seven hours. The scenery was breathtaking. We were surrounded by mountains and had a creek running beside the site. It
was peaceful and quiet — so very different from the life we lead living in New Westminster and working in downtown Vancouver! We ate our first supper looking up at the mountains.
I forgot to mention (and I don’t know how I could have forgotten) that our dog Chelsea came with us on this hike. Chelsea is a Border collie crossed with Australian Sheep Dog. The reason it is so surprising that I forgot her is that she has a nasty habit of finding sticks wider than the path we were hiking on. The llamas were very good and did not stomp on her, much to my surprise.
We watched the sun set over the western side of the valley. The two Adirondack chairs needed a few nails, but were very comfortable. An early night for tired bones seemed to be the order and everyone retreated to their
tents after providing the short-lined llamas their evening meals of grain, water and alfalfa blocks.
Just before I go on to the next day I must tell you how Marie introduced us to the campsite. Marie pointed out the amenities — the creek for water and washing, and then pointed in the distance to the outhouse. “Oh My God!” were the first words out of my mouth upon inspecting the loo. It was an open-door shack with a rotting floor and two poles crossing the building. One pole, covered in plastic pipe, was, one assumes, the seat. The other was the backrest for the hardy souls who had time on their hands and wanted to sit back and enjoy the atmosphere. An open pit was behind. No cute plastic seat, no moon on the door, no toilet paper. Rustic is a good word for it.
We woke up to clouds and recalled why it is a good idea to pick a flat spot. We didn’t, as evidenced by our creaking joints. Chelsea only lasted two barks outside tied to a tree before we let her into the tent, gave her a thin foamy and she ended up sharing my air mattress. Granola and coffee woke everyone up and Marie led us on a hike up the south end of the valley.
We left the llamas to graze and Duanne kindly stayed behind to tend to them.
We hiked up to 7,100' in a couple of hours. The grizzly bear tracks in the mud a few hundred yards from our tents woke everyone up to the wild nature of the valley. My immediate thought was “we are quite far from any hospital”. Marie reminded me a couple of times during the next couple of days that the llamas will know there is a bear around long before I run into one.
Beautiful views accompanied a lunch high in the valley. We laughed and carried on for a bit and were very surprised to meet two guys on mountain bikes just cruising through the valley — they definitely had more energy than we did! Upon returning to the camp, we found four more mountain bikers sitting in camp chatting. The valley sure is popular!
This photo, taken the next day, shows Janet and Sandi walking up a high ridge, far from where the mountain bikers ventured.
It started to spit rain on the return trip, so everyone huddled in their tents or the cabin. Brian lit the stove and started the creation process of “Taylor Sunset” — red wine, over-proof rum, spices, warmed gently over a Coleman stove. It kept the creators warm until dinner. A fine dinner satisfied the ravenous hikers.
It rained through the night, but not too hard. Bill and Derry have an option on their tent that allows them to collect rainwater — inside their tent on the floor!
Granola and lots of coffee got the crowd mobile and psyched for a hike to the west with four llamas (Bill & Derry took two and Brian & Jane took two) and a pile of people (Geoff, Chelsea and I, Chris, Dave, Utta, Dylan, Colin, Alison, Janet and Duanne).
Shandy took a great leap over this small creek.
It was a steep and steady hike with Duanne displaying her botanical prowess and identifying the numerous alpine plants that we passed. There were fields of Dr. Suess plants (Anemone) and lupines. We passed a number of snow patches which the dog and kids loved. After pictures at a small lake (called a tarn) at the base of the meadows and a rest after a very steep section, we stopped for a half hour break to let everyone catch their breath and admire the view.
Another 45 minutes of hiking and taking pictures of wildflowers, we came to a barren ridge with small scrub trees, lots of small wildflowers and lots of wind. The lunch horn sounded in everyone’s stomachs. Janet checked her altimeter and it read 7510' — an elevation gain from the cabin of about 1400'.
The views were magnificent when we stopped for lunch, but the wind came up later and was bitterly cold.
A few energetic people — Janet, Geoff and I, Derry, Dave, Utta, Dylan and Colin pushed on to the next ridge. The lunch camp was at the tree line. Utta made it to the first ridge with Colin in her pack and decided that was far enough. Dave meanwhile, was far above heading for the peak. Not to be outdone, Janet and I along with Chelsea followed. Geoff, thinking “That looks like a struggle”, followed grudgingly along with Derry. Approximately 45 minutes later, we reached the peak at 8161', what a magnificent sight! I couldn’t believe the amount a space around us. Just sky, mountain tops far away, and lots of open space. There was no way to climb any higher than we were. Just the beautiful fresh air and the sound of the wind. We all placed rocks on the cairn, shivered in the wind, took a few pictures so we could try to capture some of what we experienced on film, and retreated down the mountain. Bill met us part way up and we all descended for lunch. As Geoff and I were making our descent we were very surprised to run across what looked very much like a bear den so we left the area quite quickly!
Brian had gone up another section of the mountain and had brought back some quartz crystals. After a bit of convincing, he succeeded in getting the
crowd to follow him and we spent a half hour scouring the hillside for treasures. Dylan & Colin came back with their pockets full and big grins on their faces.
Janet and Pizarro leapt over a small creek as we started back down to the valley.
A quick descent brought us back to the cabin, which we had seen throughout the trip and even from the peak so far above. A cup of tea and a soft seat were sure welcome. I was exhausted. We looked way up and saw where we had been just a few short hours before. Geoff and I went to bed early — again.
On the fourth day we woke up to a heavy dew, but no rain. We had coffee and breakfast and looked in awe at the mountain that we had climbed the day
before. I for one was pleased we didn’t have to do another hike like the one yesterday.
We packed up, weighed the panniers, took a group picture, and managed to break camp just after 10 am. Dad took a pile of pictures on the hike home. It was a nice direction to hike — down! Again, I was relieved. The llamas knew we were heading home too and kept up the pace.
The river crossing was an event — this time we lost one set of panniers into the water. A few llamas went across on without lead ropes, but others were
tied together. Bill and Derry did a bit of extra training with their llamas, taking them back and forth until they were used to the water.
The clear-cut was a slog — a few miles of hot hiking and sore feet. Chelsea was really limping by the end of the hike as she had gotten a blister on one of her pads the day before. Janet felt so sorry for her that she even carried her for a while.
During the course of the few days that we were all together I feel we got to know each other better than we did before. The group really made Geoff and
I feel very welcome even though we were not too experienced and our dog was on the brink of driving everyone to drink! Janet is from the United States and also is very experienced in llama hikes and was very helpful to me on this hike.
The drive home to New Westminster was exhausting after the hike. We had dinner in Lillooet with about half the crowd and then went our separate ways. Boy was it nice to sleep in a comfortable bed! Chelsea slept for two days.
This experience was one I will not soon forget and quite hope that Geoff and I will be able to go on many more hikes in the future. The first time was a bit stressful for me at times but I learned a lot and saw territory some people never get the chance to see. A few weeks after the hike I had the opportunity to take a couple of llamas for a walk down the street and I felt a confidence I didn’t have before our four-day hike.
Thanks to all the gang for making our first trip a memorable one!
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