The Odyssey of Pikes Peak Homer

by Marlice Van Zandt

Printed in: Llama Life II issue No.92, Winter 2009-2010

       No doubt, there will be a number of tales told about the lone llama on Pikes Peak.  His story traveled in the press from coast to coast. His picture appeared almost daily for  several weeks as newspapers printed the bits and pieces of the story as they trickled in.  Probably, the most frequently printed picture was taken by Conductor Rachel Javorsek, an employee of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway.  It shows a small and perky white llama crossing the track of the cog at the summit of 14,110 ft.  Pikes Peak.   

It soon became evident that this obviously young, domestic creature had taken up residence above timberline along the route taken by the cog railway, occasionally,  and to the delight of the tourists, even following the trains for over a mile!

               Conductor Rachel first spotted "Yama":( as she had come to call him) early in September and after a couple of weeks had gone by with no reports of a missing llama, she sent an email  and a couple of photos to Christiann Schade of C Squared Alpacas Inc., whom she had coincidentally met just that week at an event at Rock Ledge Ranch. After organizing about a dozen volunteers,  Christiann contacted L'illette Vasquez in Boulder at Southwest/Southeast Llama Rescue, who then sent email flying! All  the RMLA members were alerted to the situation.  Many were standing by to volunteer assistance as plans were made to rescue the "Lone Llama".

               Pikes Peak Ranger Barb Bailey, who worked on the toll road,  was offering frequent reports as to the llama's location.  The notion of taking food up for the llama via the cog was popular, but dismissed due to the regulations that it be weed and seed free.  Ideas about how to approach this capture and rescue abounded and the llama network  was buzzing! The Pikes Peak Rangers even tried to lasso him, while speculation ran rampant as to how this young, obviously cared for and shorn, llama had wound up at the top of Pikes Peak, and why there were still no reports of a missing llama! There was heartfelt and deep concern for his welfare and health, with many offers of a  home after his rescue.

               By September 23, Ranger Barb reported the toll road was closed due to the recent storm.  There were drifts up to six feet and no vehicles were allowed.  Conductor Rachel had reported that the trains were impeded by heavy snow and wind and that the snowplow for the cog was in the shop being repaired!  There were hopes that the weekend would offer weather conditions more  favorable to making a rescue attempt.  The weekend came and went as work continued at the cog and the toll road  in an effort to  maintain train and vehicle travel . 

               By this time I was talking directly with Ranger Barb and Spencer Wren (general manager of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway) almost daily.  As luck would have it, I have enjoyed a personal relationship with them both over the years.  L'illette had given me leave to make a rescue attempt and Christiann was out of town.  On Monday, September 28, Ranger Barb reported that the road was finally clear  and that the little llama had been spotted just the night before by some sheep hunters, so my husband, Michael Shealy, and I, along with our  llama friend , Tracy Ducharme, set out in our "llamasine" ( Ford stretch van) accompanied by our llama, Moonshadow.  When we reached the spot near the summit where the toll road is quite close to the track for the cog, we parked and unloaded and began our hike down the tracks. Right away, we spotted the small llama footprints in the gravel bed of the tracks and followed them until we lost them in the rocks and tundra. 

               We might have hiked a mile or so down the tracks, all the while being watched by the curious eyes  of the bighorn sheep.  It had been observed that our little llama had, at times, tried, unsuccessfully, to befriend these high altitude dwellers.  Even though we saw no sign of the lone llama, we were assured by the hunter's report and by his fresh footprints that he had survived the storm!  We, also noted that the tundra offered abundant forage and the trickling sound of melting snow assured us that there was ample water.  The boulders provided some protection from wind, too. Another storm was on its way, so the next rescue attempt would have to wait.

               A second trip to the summit was planned for Saturday, as recommended by Spencer Wren.  He had given Michael the "go-ahead" to hike with a llama down the length of the cog in hopes of attracting "Homer", so dubbed by our friend Tracy in honor of his mysterious odyssey.  Tracy and Michael decided to try again on Friday, Oct. 2.  I was working that day and could not join them.  They set out for Manitou Springs and left the llamasine at the base of the cog railway. Then, in Tracy's truck with trailer in tow, carrying two pack llamas, they drove up the toll road.  With them were Tracy's friend, Kathy Wallace, while following behind came the news media:  Scott Rappold from the Colorado Springs Gazette and Marybeth Brush from KKTV Channel 11. 

               Chilling wind and a -2  degrees assailed the party as they began their descent from near the summit (Michael leading Shasta and Tracy leading Autumn Dancer).  After about half a mile, Michael and Shasta continued down the tracks while Tracy and the rest turned back to visually scour the windswept landscape that stretches far beyond the tracks of the cog.  Patches of white snow dappled the tundra, making it difficult, indeed, to spot a small white llama kushed in this wild terrain!

               Tracy tells it this way:  "We had almost given up when I stopped to examine the tundra. I just kept thinking that if I were a llama up there, that’s where I would be hanging out. After a while I noticed a shape that I thought could be a kushed llama. I borrowed the binoculars from Kathy, but I couldn’t hold them still in the wind! I positioned Dancer in front of me and asked him to “stand,” a command that he is familiar with. He stood still and I braced my elbows on his back. I was able to get a good look at the shape I saw, and realized that it was in fact the llama we were looking for."

               "I was immediately overjoyed, and then I took a deep breath and thought, how are we going to get down there? He was about a mile away, and the terrain was very rocky. The hillside was a mix of boulder fields, grassy patches of tundra and deep snow drifts in gullies".

"I knew that there was no turning back after spotting him, so I coaxed Dancer down off the trail towards the distant white shape. After about 10 minutes, we came to a drop off in the rocks, and had to turn back. The cold and the wind were oppressive. We hiked back uphill along the tracks until I thought I saw an easier path down to the tundra..... We had come to within about a quarter mile of him when he finally saw us.  I immediately relaxed and took out my camera.  As we all had imagined he would, he ran straight for us and was very eager to meet the first llama he had seen in weeks."

Meanwhile, Michael and Shasta had continued down the tracks.  After stopping briefly for a quick bite, Michael endeavored to convince a pooped out and kushed Shasta that it was "all downhill", and that precisely, was the problem.  Shasta was not to be fooled.  He was tired and refused to continue.  

Fortunately,  Michael was in a location where his cell phone could be used.  He had descended about three thousand feet and was just about at timberline when he reached me at work.  It was almost three o'clock. I took the phone call and he told me of his predicament and that only one bar remained on his cell phone battery.  He agreed to let the next conductor know of the dilemma and I called Spencer at the cog.  I told Spencer that my llama and my husband had come to  a halt on his mountain and that the "rescuers were now in need of being rescued"!

When I explained the situation to Spencer, he asked if  Shasta would walk up a ramp on the work train.  I said that he might, however, three big men could lift him up if he wouldn't.  Spencer and three big men arrived and assisted Michael in loading Shasta onto the work train, although he walked right up the ramp, where he promptly kushed and didn't move.  About three hours later, Shasta was unloaded at the cog station in Manitou.  Again, he immediately kushed while Michael fetched the llamasine.  Shasta rose and loaded, then again kushed immediately in the van.  He has never in all the years we've traveled with him, kushed in the van...this was a first!!

I was relieved to get Michael's call that he and Shasta were now on their way home.  Michael drove around to Shasta's gate and Shasta exited the llamasine, walked through the gate and kushed again, without rising until after 10 PM, when we checked on him.  The next morning he was back to his old self and has shown no ill effects.

Spencer Wren informed Michael as they rode the work train down Pikes Peak, that the story of the lone llama on the Peak had "hit the L.A. Times" Wow!

 Where did that llama come from?  Here is the rest of the story....Frank and Theresa Kabot live and work in Seattle, Washington, but they have many relatives in Colorado and maintain a beautiful ranch on the south slope of Pikes Peak.  The ranch is at nine thousand feet and surrounded by national forest.  In mid August they returned home to the ranch to find the carcass of one of their female llamas.  She had been killed by a mountain lion and this was their second loss.  They searched for the cria who was named Kramer and just shy of a year old.  When they couldn't find the little one, they naturally assumed that he too, had been killed by the lion.

When Theresa read about "Homer's Odyssey" in the Seattle news, she was astonished to see the photo of "Kramer" on the top of Pikes Peak! Theresa called Michael, who was the only one she could reach at the time to coordinate compareing past and recent photos of the little llama's face, and a positive identification was made.  The following week, Frank and Theresa visited Tracy's ranch and shared a reunion with Homer.  Theresa felt that the new name suited him...Pikes Peak Homer!  Theresa, who likes to knit, can now use Homer's lovely white wool without a trace of sadness and loss.

For now, Homer is residing at Tracy Ducharme's ranch in Black Forest.  She took him to the vet after rescuing him and even though he is small for a yearling, he is quite healthy.  He is enjoying the company of Tracy''s llamas very much.  Perhaps he will make some personal appearances during the upcoming months.

               I look at Pikes Peak everyday a bit differently now.  When the storms move across it's face, I am glad that Homer has a safe barn, plenty of hay, and the company of llamas this winter.

If you have not been to the summit of Pikes Peak, I urge you to make the trip.  The terrain is wildly rugged and unforgiving in its extremes.  You will come away with a new appreciation for the lone llama who spent about six weeks wandering the craggy  landscape and passed his first birthday there.
 

Epilogue - Homer at Home
 

               Our account of Pikes Peak Homer's odyssey (above) left off with Homer residing comfortably with Tracy DuCharme's small group of llamas in Black Forest, Colorado.  Since Tracy rescued him, he has certainly grown and put on weight and despite his young age and size, he has come to fit in quite well with the other llamas.  It is evident that Homer enjoys being a part of this group of amiable llamas and he shows all the characteristics of a well adjusted young llama.

               It bears remembering that the story of the "Lone Llama of Pikes Peak" swept the country from coast to coast, touching the hearts of animal lovers everywhere.  Certainly no one was more touched than the Colorado llama community who were staying abreast of daily developments via email networking.

               As the advent of the National Western Stock Show approached,  Carlos Mendoza who organized the Llama Show at the National Western Stock Show, recognized the opportunity in providing a place for "Homer" in the llama barn during this major national livestock event.  Carlos also initiated the television news connections for Channel 2 and Channel 31. The weekend of the Llama Show at NWSS began on Friday, January 8 and ran through Sunday the 10th., 2010.

               On Friday, the 8th, before the sun even peeked over the horizon, Tracy, Homer, and I headed for Denver in Tracy's big truck...the model that has a passenger seat in the rear that folds up.  This provided the perfect space for Homer to ride...and so he did...happily kushed and gazing out the window at the passing cars and lights.

               We arrived in Denver at the television studios (thanks to Tracy's GPS) at eight a.m.  After a brief wait in the reception room, we coaxed Homer into the small elevator which delivered us to the first studio.  We took our places under the bright lights and the brief interview began!  Amazingly, Homer stood relaxed and calm!  The most experienced and well trained public relations llama could not have been more cooperative!  Standing like a statue with "radar" ears scanning, he charmed and delighted all.

               As we walked from one studio to the next for our second interview, people whipped out their cell phones and begged to pose for pictures with Homer.  Mention was made in both interviews that Pikes Peak Homer would be at the National Western Stock Show from Friday afternoon until Sunday noon.  The public was invited to come and meet this fluffy celebrity in person and learn more about his exciting six week sojourn at the top of Pikes Peak...how he came to be "lost" up there and how he came to be rescued.

               Carlos Mendoza had arranged for Homer's stall to be in a prominent location in the llama barn at the Stock Show and a table was at hand to lay out the poster and the story pictures which Tracy had prepared for this event.  Over the next two days Tracy and I strained our voices telling and retelling Homer's story as a crush of people visited and took pictures of the "Lone Llama Of Pikes Peak".

Homer, Tracy & Marlice at 2010 National Western Stock Show

Homer's first, large scale public relations debut, went exceptionally well.  Many of the visitors to the llama barn told  us they had come specifically to meet Homer.  If one can judge the interest in the show by the number of people in our llama barn, then I would say attendance was quite good!  Catching up with many friends in the llama world and sharing Homer's story shed light on some of the finer details leading up to his rescue on October 2 after being "lost" for six weeks.

               On Sunday, Tracy, Homer and I headed back to Black Forest.  We were grateful for the opportunity to share Homer's story with so many caring people.  Homer lives at Idle Hour Ranch with Tracy and her family....a very happy little llama with a very secure future.