STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY BOB JONAS AND SARAH MICHAEL

Bob Jonas and Sarah Michael have carried thousands of pounds on their back during a lifetime of hiking through Alaska, Idaho and other rugged wilderness areas.

Last summer they decided to give themselves a break and let others do the backbreaking work.

Enter two goats named Elvis and Sanuk. And two llamas named McShane and O’Reilly.

The Ketchum couple, both in their early 70s, employed the goats for a six-day 40-mile June trip in the Smoky Mountains from Willow Creek west of Hailey to Dollarhide Summit before trekking through the Warm Springs area to the Osberg Trail above Baker Creek Road. They ended up at Sun Valley Trekking’s Coyote yurt.

They hired the llamas to carry a week’s worth of supplies plus their tents and personal items during a seven-day 50-mile trek from Trail Creek Summit through the Pioneer Mountains in July 2016.

The two will recount their trip—pictures and all—during a free presentation titled “Goat and Llama Packing 101” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Ketchum’s Community Library.

After a week with both, the llamas clearly emerged as the hands-down favorite.

The goats, which the couple rented for $35 each per day from the Boise-based Goat Pro Idaho, were strikingly beautiful. Elvis boasted long white hair and a slim derriere. Sanuk, the younger, was larger at 150 pounds with a beige coat.

But they could only carry 24 to 30 pounds each, meaning Jonas ended up carrying more than they.

The goats balked at the sight of water. The couple had to push and pull them even to prod them across the shallow South Fork of Warm Springs Creek.

The goats dilly-dallied, grazing and browsing, forcing Jonas to get adept at giving them some well-placed kicks in their derrieres.

Their hair had to be brushed at night to keep stickers from piling up. And, even though the couple carried a sack of “goody grains, or “goat granola,” to supplement their browsing, the goats were masters at snatching sandwiches and potato chips.

“They’re strong but they tend to have their own mind,” said Jonas. “They weren’t good at doing what we wanted, and they really didn’t like working after 4 p.m. I was told to plan on going slow with them, but I didn’t know it would be that slow.”

The llamas, by contrast, were very business-like with what seemed to be a clear-minded purpose of doing nothing but ferry the couple’s belongings on and off trail.

There were lots of llama outfitters to choose from. Jonas finally settled on Wilderness Ridge Trail Llamas run by a Idaho Falls horse packer and hunting guide who is trying to breed the best pack llamas using the same llamas bred by Peruvian  Indians near Machu Picchu.

Each of the llamas, which rented for $45 per day, could carry 70 pounds stashed in two boxes that hung from their A-frame saddles.

“They were well-trained. They stood like statues when we were packing them,” said Jonas, who founded Sun Valley Trekking and Wild Gift. “And, if you can put 140 pounds on them, that allows two people to go for a week carrying nothing but a little fanny pack and water bottles. “

Jonas had had some concerns about the steepness of some of the off-trail terrain as the goats made their way from Summit Creek on top of Trail Creek Summit over a ridge at Devil’s Bedstead West,  dropping into Wilson and Corral creeks, wandering through the Hyndman Basin and up over a ridge of Big Basin before dropping into the East Fork of the Big Wood River.

But the llamas were as sure-footed as the goats. They went right up and down areas like Johnstone Pass where a slide on a 45-degree slope had created slippery conditions underfoot. They had no problem hopping over downed trees. And they had no qualms about plowing through chest-deep water or traversing snow fields.

“We now call them, ‘No drama llamas,’ ” said former Blaine County Commissioner Michael. “Besides being photogenic the llamas also carried enough that we didn’t have to.”