Special Llama Ops

Eight of sixteen cabins within the Seward Ranger District of Chugach National Forest sit along the Resurrection Pass Trail. Rangers do their best to make minor repairs and keep the sites free of trash but every so often the cabins require a larger dose of love. That larger dose of love, however, requires more tools, more gear and the ability to haul out the bagloads of trash people leave behind. Thus is born the maintenance run.

This year, as an alternative to the fumes, noise and trail eroding wheelbase of ATV's or the skittishness, food requirements and apple dropping of horses, the Seward Ranger District took a cue from some districts in the lower 48. We took llamas.

"What do you know about llamas," you might ask. Up until the maintenance run I knew they made good Argentine gaucho chaps and they might be seen led by a kindly woman in the mists above Machu Picchu with pan pipes in the background. And I had also heard they spit. Which they do. But, thankfully, only at each other.

And although the pan pipes are perhaps not as pervasive up here, llamas turn out to be well suited for Alaska's conditions and our tasks. They will let any schmoe load or lead them. They don't kick like a horse when you walk behind them. Llamas graze on most anything so don't require additional food and as a camelid they don't even need additional water (four of the five took a small sip on day four of nine). Nor do they have hooves. Rather, a pad not unlike a dog's distributes their weight (about a third of a horse's) and saves the trail from half-ton hoof prints. They even insist on pooping off the trail. No shit.

So while I may not be rushing out to buy options in llama bellies just yet, I do look forward to working with them more. You can check out more photos of the trip here and find out about our outfitter here.

Northwestern Fjord

Guns Blazing

Topics like sexual harassment, CPR, and workplace safety are standard fare for employees undergoing new hire training all over the United States. Shotgun training is a section of the new hire orientation that, while perhaps not unique to, is indicative of Alaska.

The Kenai Peninsula is bear country. As our bear safety instructor explained to a woman who had just had her grocery cart knocked over by a bear charging through parked cars, "Even the K-mart parking lot in downtown Soldotna is bear country." Because many of our worksites are further from help than the K-mart in Soldotna we are required to be familiar, if not proficient, with firing a two inch slug from the 12 gauge shotgun our crews are required to carry in the backcountry.

To become proficient we are asked to hit a target three times from thirty yards. Then hit three targets, once each, at 25 yards, 20 yards and 15 yards. The last test is a bear-shaped target mounted on a sled and dragged towards you simulating a bear charge. A hit in the "golden triangle", the area between the two eyes and nose of the bear, is considered enough to stop the charge. If you look at the target below you won't worry much about Martha. The hole in each eye and nose are hers from the same three shot sequence. Not bad for a flatlander who doesn't own a gun.