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One of my responsibilities as the VP of Student Fellowship is to plan social activities to promote building friendships within our cohorts.  This includes typical activities such as Thursday Night Out (a rotating social/networking night), group yoga classes and hikes, an annual trip to Coors Stadium for a Rockies game, tailgating at a ��������Ƶ football game, and finishing off the fall semester with an Ugly Christmas Sweater party.  This year, I wanted to plan something a little different to complement our normal offerings.

I spent the better part of Summer 2016 backpacking the Colorado Trail.  I encountered many other hikers, a lot of mountain bikers, some equestrians, and once….pack llamas.  I had been previously unaware that pack llamas were “a thing” in Colorado, but did some research and realized there are actually quite a few outfitters in Colorado.  Aside from carrying gear for backpackers, there is high demand for pack llamas during hunting season.  Ever since that encounter, hiking with llamas has been on my bucket list.

I worked with Jodi Nichols from to schedule a 3 hour outing with at a farm in Wellington, Colorado.  This event was open to 16 people and it sold out in less than a week!  Upon arriving, we spent about an hour learning how to “wrangle” six llamas, two alpacas, and two goats.  We learned how to groom, saddle a pack llama, and lead all of the animals.  Our 3 mile hike gave us the opportunity to interact with each kind of animal, get to know each other a little better, and was thoroughly entertaining!  We finished off the afternoon by stopping by Odell Brewery in Fort Collins on the way home.  This event was so popular it might become an annual trip!

Photos courtesy of Ethan Lake