High Country Adventures: Heart-filling hike with llamas in Westcliffe
WESTCLIFFE, Colo. (KRDO) - Sometimes the best way to relax and get some insight on life is by taking a hike – with llamas! That’s one Westcliffe family’s philosophy after spending decades in the llama business and now sharing the fun with others.
KRDO 13’s Julia Donovan met up with the folks who run Llama Trekking by Lookin Up Outfitters for this week’s High Country Adventures.
The company's founder, Brianna Evert, told KRDO she fell in love with llamas at the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo back when she was 11 and the rest is history, hung on the beams in her brand new trophy room she built just a couple weeks ago.
“It was very emotional,” Brianna recounted hanging each ribbon. “I would sleep out here if it didn’t get cold!”
Brianna came up with the idea of starting a llama trekking business way back then, but her dream didn’t come to fruition until decades later in 2019.
Since then, her two daughters have caught the llama bug, too – and her oldest is a mighty competitor!
“She’s outside playing with her llama getting ready for the next show so that she can beat… me,” Brianna laughed.
“She’s the one who taught me everything,” her daughter, Aubrynne, joked with Julia. “So, I feel like if I beat her, then I’ll be her trainer!"
Brianna says lots of people are switching to llamas for trekking since they’re more sure-footed than horses and mules, eat a fraction of the food, and they’re no drama llamas! They’re pretty low maintenance.
She says most people who come out to Westcliffe on an adventure with her company have never met a llama before, but they get attached quickly.
“They love the llamas, they all know their llama’s name and are just in love with them when they leave,” Brianna explained.
Brianna and her family have thirty llamas, go on dozens of treks per year, and have shown their animals hundreds (if not thousands) of times. It’s a sure bet they’ve learned a thing or two from this lifestyle.
For one – hard work!
That’s something the youngest is now catching onto, helping out with the shop inside their new trophy room.
“She’s out there sweeping every day," Brianna assured. "Making sure - you know, you don’t touch her stuff, you don’t move her stuff!”
And, of course, the circle of life comes into play here.
“That teaches kids, yes, about loss – and about gratefulness,” Brianna explained.
Gratefulness for the llamas... and for everything they have.
“When I look outside and I see all my beautiful mountains, I think that some people don’t get to ever see this,” Aubrynne reflected while gazing out at the Sangre De Cristo Mountain range.
Click here for more information on how you can go on a llama trek with Brianna and her family.
And, click here if you want to help name their newest baby llama!
