On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
lashonharangue
Some of you may remember my OTRs about our three llamas. Several years ago my spouse and I retired and moved away from California. Our new location would not accommodate us using the llamas for hiking in the mountains. The animals were still in their prime and we found a good home for them with an outfitter in Montana. The deal we made was that he would get the animals and our gear for free. In exchange he promised to take care of them when they were too old to pack on the trail.
In August I went on a hiking trip in Montana where I got to see two of the llamas, as one had indeed been put out to pasture. The group included six guests, two wranglers, and nine llamas. The group met up in Melrose, a tiny town south of Butte, the night before our entrance into the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
Early the next morning, we drove to the west of Melrose for about an hour and a half to get to the trailhead. Along the way we stopped to take pictures at the abandoned Canyon Creek charcoal kilns. The charcoal was used in a nearby smelter to produce tons of silver, lead, and copper in the late 1800’s. I tried to imagine the number of trees that were cut down to feed these kilns.
It was a five hour hike to our first camp. We stopped a few times along the way. This is one of the pack llamas during a short break. Strapped on top is a mandolin banjo that one of the guests played.
Our destination was Lake Abundance. We would spend two nights there.
Here is the other end of the lake.
The next morning we day-hiked to two nearby lakes, Crescent and Canyon. This is one end of Crescent Lake.
The group split up after relaxing at Crescent Lake. Some people went to see an abandoned cabin. I headed back to the camp by way of Canyon Lake. You can see the mountain overlooking Crescent Lake in the background.
Rather than take the most direct route back to camp, we hiked up the ridge above Lake Abundance. This is the view looking away from the lake.
The following morning we packed up and headed southeast towards our next camping spot – Lake Tahepia. As usual, I was walking with the small but mighty Gypsum. He was a great companion for the entire trip. The 9000 ft. pass above Crescent Lake that we had to cross is in the upper right of the photo.
This is on the way up to the pass, looking back from where we had been. Crescent Lake is in the foreground and Canyon Lake in the background. Lake Abundance (not visible) was below the light colored ridge.
Next up: Lake Tahepia and moar llamas!
Sherparick
What an amazing place. Thanks for sharing & the cool llamas.
raven
Really cool!
J.
Breathtaking! Looking forward to more llamas. :-)
Barbara
Those are stunning, but that picture of you and Gypsum is the best.
eclare
Amazing photos! I’ve never been to that part of the US, thank you.
Subsole
Those are beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing them. I have only a foggy concept of the region, so it is always nice to see pictures of it.
It’s a small thing, but I never pictured Montana as being so heavily forested, for example.
lashonharangue
Sorry. The text for Canyon Lake is wrong. It should say:
The group split up after relaxing at Crescent Lake. Some people went to see an abandoned cabin. I headed back to the camp by way of Canyon Lake. You can see the mountain overlooking Crescent Lake in the background.
kindness
Did your old llamas recognize you when you met up with them again? Many critters would but I don’t know llamas so I can’t say.
mvr
Thanks for these and the story! Hiking with llamas sounds luxurious! It has been years since I have backpacked rather than day hiking and/or car camping, but having a llama to carry gear sounds like a good way to go.
It seems like a beautiful area. I’ve only hiked in Glacier Park in Montana so it is nice to get a sense of the other areas in that (very large!) state.
way2blue
Gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
BigJimSlade
Looks and sounds like a wonderful time!
lashonharangue
@kindness: The outfitter picked me up at the Butte airport when I arrived. He was pulling a trailer with all nine llamas in it. Gypsum immediately recognized me when I went over to the trailer.
kindness
@lashonharangue: Very cool. Thanks.
Mom Says I*m Handsome
A mandolin banjo, aka a banjolin! I had a major musical epiphany playing one of those at a jam session many moons ago. It was very much not anything to be wowed by (a fly on the wall would’ve said, “Meh, I’ve heard better”) but in that moment there was a confluence of fingers, ear, rhythm, and flow, and I’ve been a semi-serious musician ever since. Be a radical & make your own music!
And tremendous photos too.