The Great Llama Ranch Vortex

This morning everybody got up around 6:30am. I slowly packed up and got ready to go. Then I ate some breakfast before we began hiking. Surprisingly when everybody got up we realized that Tripod had already packed up and left for the morning. He didn’t say anything to us and just headed out to start hiking.

While we were still at camp, we were looking at our options for water over the course of the day. It was looking like it was going to be a 20 mile water carry to start the day off. But while searching through some comments on FarOut, High Profile actually found a fantastic alternate route. Not only did it bring us to water a lot sooner, it also took us to a llama ranch. We still had to do probably just as much elevation gain over the course of the day, but at least we would get to have a fun experience in the afternoon when we got to the ranch.

My shadow as I did a bit of road walking this morning.

We left camp and began hiking around 7:30am. Even though we were going to take the alternate trail we still had to stay on the redline for about 7-8 miles first. Only 1.7 miles into the morning the trail went right by a trailhead parking area, which had a privy. That was awesome and meant I didn’t have to dig a cat hole today. From there, we followed along a road for a little bit and then we hopped back on the red line so that we could go to a fire tower. The fire tower was actually available for rent from recreation.gov. We had talked about renting it around the 4th of July because it seemed like such a cool thing. But no one ever followed through with it. Now that we were here we realized what a big missed opportunity it was.

The fire tower that you can actually rent through recreation.gov

While we were at the fire everybody had service so we decided to take a break. That’s when we got a message from Gas Monkey. He was letting us know that he made the decision to end his hike and go home. All of us were pretty surprised. Even though he has definitely been struggling, it didn’t seem like he was going to quit. But he basically said that he really just hasn’t been enjoying the hike as much this year.

The winding road as we came down from the fire tower.

I think that the CDT is incredibly different from the Appalachian Trail. So if you’re out here hoping for a similar experience, you might be a little bit disappointed. This trail has had very high highs and extremely high lows. I’ve really been enjoying the whole process and all of the experiences that come with being so far north in Montana. But between the tough terrain and unpredictable weather, I could understand why someone might not be enjoying themselves.

That was pretty disappointing news to hear via text. And the worst part was that he had made arrangements to return home tonight. Which means none of us will get a chance to see him before he leaves. That was a serious bummer but I can understand just wanting to go home at this point. Especially if you’re not enjoying the hike anymore.

Walking along the road, headed toward the llama ranch.

When we left the fire tower we continued on the red line for another couple of miles before we got on our alternate route. We’re calling this the llama alternate, for obvious reasons. This alternate primarily follows along dirt roads and paved roads. We had to go uphill for a little bit, but then the rest of the afternoon was almost entirely downhill. We’ll pay the price for it later though because when we leave the llama ranch we have a pretty long climb. It was super hot out so as we walked the road I carried my gossamer gear sun umbrella. I really haven’t used it at all this entire trip but it’s finally paying off. An umbrella is one of those things that you either never need or you need really really bad. Today is the latter. If I hadn’t had the umbrella on the road, it would’ve been quite miserable.

All of us walking along the road this afternoon.

All of us were flying on the downhill road. So we wound up getting to the llama ranch around 1pm. The ranch is primarily a bike packer location, but the owners are open to thru hikers as well. The couple that runs the place was unbelievably nice to us and they made it very clear that they do not accept donations. Their motto on donations is that rather than giving them money they would prefer that you go into the world and do for somebody else. Whether that means tipping your waitress heavily or buying a meal for a hiker who needs it. I really appreciate the sentiment of that.

The llama ranch! The main house had that cool bike packer logo on the roof.

A ham and cheese sandwich and a Dr Pepper courtesy of the llama ranch.

When you arrived at the ranch there was a fridge stocked with all kinds of sodas, chocolate milk, and beer. There was also a box filled with sandwiches that were all labeled to let you know what type of sandwich they were. I picked out a ham and cheese sandwich, which had mayo and pickles on it and was unbelievable. I was just expecting it to be a classic deli sandwich, but it was one of the best sandwiches that I’ve ever had.

A few hikers hanging out on the front porch of the llama ranch. The owners were so kind and welcoming.

We were at the ranch for about 10 minutes when all of us had come to the decision that we were going to be staying there all day. Apparently the couple was having some kind of a celebration later on this evening for their friend. This celebration involved a barbecue which we were invited to. Hikers certainly can’t resist the opportunity to gorge themselves with food. We had only gone about 15 miles for the day, but this seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up. Locations like this are something you would expect to see along the Appalachian Trail. But something I certainly didn’t expect to experience along the CDT. It seemed like a crime to pass it up.

A few of us standing out front of the llama ranch talking with the owners before we sat on the porch.

Sidequest and the two dogs that lived on the llama ranch property.

For the rest of the day all of us just hung out at the farm. There were a bunch of bike packers there doing the same thing. They are biking the bicycle route of the continental divide trail. While we sat around, I was debating setting up my tent in the grass. But then 9 Lives found a much better alternative. There was a small wooden hut that looked like a manger. Inside there were two long lawn chairs that were practically the size of beds. The two of us decided to sleep in there on the chairs for the night. It might rain later on so it seems like the perfect place to avoid the rain and also not have to set up tents for the night.

Caught scrolling on my phone as I lounged on the lawn chair in our “manger” shelter.

Our incredible shelter for the night. It fit the three of us girls perfectly.

We got set up in there and I hung out for a while doing some writing. I actually have really good service at the llama ranch so I was able to get a lot of work done. I spent a few hours writing and doing some video work. Then around 5pm we all headed back to the main house to see about dinner. Apparently there’s going to be a barbecue tonight and none of us wanted to miss out on that.

All of us thru hikers on the front porch of the llama ranch house, feasting on a BBQ dinner.

When we got back to the house, we could smell food being cooked on the grill. Within the next 15 minutes it was ready and we were able to serve ourselves. Inside the house there was a massive spread of food laid out. We’re talking burgers, sausages, salad, sides, chips, cake, and everything else you could imagine. It was like we stumbled upon a 4th of July barbecue. The only thing better than spending the day at the ranch was being here in time for this amazing barbecue.

9 Lives and my giant platters of food for dinner. The hosts repeatedly offered us more and more food too!

After everyone stuffed their faces the host came out and told us that we had to eat more food. He said that nothing was going to go to waste and that if we wanted to eat cake for dessert we had to eat more food. There’s nothing better than someone offering you free food and encouraging you to eat as much as you possibly can.

High Profile, Giggles, 9 Lives, and myself on the llama ranch porch.

I ate as much as I could and then hung out on the porch for a while with everybody. Because we only did 15 miles today, that means we have to do a pretty big day tomorrow. So after everyone ate we all had an early night. 9 Lives, Giggles, and I all headed back to the manger to call the night. The lawn furniture was actually incredibly comfortable and I wound up sleeping like a baby. Tomorrow we only have 27 miles to go to get to Helena. So we’re either going to do it all in one push or have a short day tomorrow and get in the following morning.

The llama ranch had such a sprawling property with all sorts of unique buildings.

Even though we have been calling this the “llama ranch alternate”, the actual animals on the property are adorable alpacas.