Other Information About Our Company

About Our Llama Guides

Buckhorn Llama Co., Inc. has methodically developed its packing program over the past 18 years. Llama guide in early morning Our emphasis has been on developing programs that meet clients’ needs and are sustainable as a business. For this reason, we have proceeded very deliberately in developing the guiding portion of the operation as this aspect contains the highest overhead and the greatest degree of responsibility to the client. Our success is based on a combination of reliable animals, proper equipment, effective systems, and competent guides. Competent guides are the most consideration as they oversee the management and application of the other components. With this in mind, we have emphasized maturity and experience in the individuals we choose to lead our trips. All are experienced in dealing with people and the backcountry and the situations that result when the two are combined. All have worked in other professions and have returned to the backcountry because they simply enjoy it. We have found this combination of factors has enabled us to meet or exceed client expectations in providing a safe and enjoyable wilderness experience.

Name of Guide Position/Responsibility		Qualifications
Stan Ebel Age: 55 R.Ph. President Owner & CEO Oversee daily operations		26 years self-employed rancher and outfitter. 14 seasons an owner of Buckhorn Llama Company, Inc. Red Cross first aid and CPR certified. 35 years of personal recreational experience.
Jim Hook Age: 54 BS Wildlife Biology Guide/Lead guide for all outfitted activities; instructor for llama rental Agent for the corporation in the conduct of daily business		11 years owner and operatorof Recapture Lodge, Bluff, Utah. 10 seasons with Buckhorn Llama Company, Inc. as ranch manager, trainer, head guide, and wilderness trail construction bidder and supervisor. 8 yrs with USFS as wilderness ranger, Estes/Poudre district. Red Cross first aid and CPR certified. 35 years of personal recreational experience.
Luanne Hook Age: 44 BA Elementary Ed Guide/Lead guide for all outfitted activities; instructor for llama rental Agent for the corporation in the conduct of daily business		11 years owner and operator of Recapture Lodge,Bluff, Utah. 10 seasons with Buckhorn Llama Company, Inc. as ranch manager, trainer, guide, and wilderness trail construction bidder and supervisor. 8 years with USFS on wilderness trail crew. Red Cross first aid and CPR certified. Outward Bound graduate. 25 years of personal recreational experience.
Larry Sanford Age: 60 BA English Lit. Guide/Lead guide for all outfitted activities; instructor for llama rental Agent for the corporation in the conduct of daily business		12 seasons with Buckhorn Llama Company, Inc. as trainer, head guide, and 2 wilderness trail construction bidder and supervisor. Red Cross first aid and CPR certified. 38years of personal recreational experience.
Kyle Ebel Age:
Claude Latham Age: 50 BFA Art Guide/Lead guide for all outfitted activities; instructor for llama rental. Agent for the corporation in the conduct of daily business		10 seasons with Buckhorn Llama Company, Inc. as trainer, wrangler, head guide and daily ranch management activities. Red Cross first aid and CPR certified. 37 years of personal recreational experience.
Nate Ebel Age: 27 Jr.-Baylor University University Scholar-Humanities		Grew up working with llamas. Three sport letterman, avid skier and mountaineer. Ranch work, training and conditioning pack animals. Wrangler for guided trips 8 years. Leasing agent Durango 7 yrs. Red Cross first aid and CPR certified.
Ken Hibbard Age: 61 BA Recreation Mgmt BA Secondary Education Guide for all outfitted activities in Durango; leasing agent in Durango		4 seasons with Buckhorn Llama Company, Inc. as a guide, wrangler and leasing agent for the Durango area. Worked as a Durango firefighter for 10 years and recently retired from teaching middle school and coaching high school varsity baseball. Currently works part time at the La County Humane Society. Red Cross first aid and CPR certified. Over 30 years of personal recreation experience.
Tamera Des Rosiers Age:

Resource Personnel

Stewart Aitchison. Author, naturalist and photographer, Stewart has been leading expeditions throughout the Colorado Plateau, southeast Alaska and Mexico for over 20 years. For a decade, he was a research biologist with the Museum of Northern Arizona, but his interests also include geology and archaeology. Stewart has penned many magazine articles plus a dozen books on the Grand Canyon and the surrounding region including: A Wilderness Called Grand Canyon; Red Rock - Sacred Mountain; A Travelers Guide to Monument Valley; Utah Wildlands; and his latest, Oceans of Time: Grand Canyon National Park. His photographs have appeared in numerous publications including Arizona Highways; National Geographic Books; Orion; Plateau; Reader’s Digest; Utah Geographic Books; and Wilderness. Stewart is a qualified llama guide and wrangler in his own right having guided trips supported by Buckhorn Llama Co., Inc. for the last six years. He frequently uses Buckhorn animals for personal trips. He is Red Cross first aid and CPR certified.

Chuck Bell. A retired Foreign Service employee, Chuck has lived most of his years overseas, spending most of his free time learning about and enjoying the natural areas of the countries where he was assigned. In South Africa he was involved with the U. S. Government which, for the first time, became involved in the region's conservation programs, supporting the endangered Black Rhino. A dedicated birder, Chuck is now the owner of Bellbird Safaris, Inc., organizing and leading birding tours all over the world. Two years ago Chuck founded the Trek for Light program, an off-shoot of the Ski for Light skiing program for the visually impaired. As president of the new organization, he contracted with Buckhorn to arrange hiking tours for the blind which have been an unqualified success for the last three years. Participation is great enough that the program may be expanded to two trips each year. Chuck is qualified to guide for Buckhorn as well a serve as a resource person on trips with clients interested in birding.

Llama hike nature specialists - Joel and Pat Hayward Joel and Pat Hayward. Joel Hayward is a naturalist with a strong focus on native flora, birds and animals. He has a BA in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado, and is a Colorado native. Pat Hayward is a garden writer for Birders World Magazine, horticultural editor of Garden Railways Magazine and presents gardening classes and seminars throughout the region. They have both been involved in plant exploring and experimenting for twenty years. Together they care for their five llamas, which they use for hiking and camping with their two young sons. The Haywards offer interpretive natural history llama day hikes through Buckhorn Llama Co., Inc. in the northern Colorado Front Range areas.

Rock art Specialist - Joe Pachak Joe Pachak. With both a BA and MFA in Sculpture, Joe is a member of the American Rock Art Association and the Utah Rock Art Association. Since 1987, Joe has worked under contract on various archaeological projects for Abajo Archaeology and Montgomery Archaeological Consultants. He is currently working with Abajo on a survey of a pit home site between Bluff and Blanding, UT in advance of highway improvement. In 1997 Joe was co-presenter of a paper, "Tracing Along the Trail: Rock Art Recordation at Site 42Ga1443, Capital Reef National Park, Garfield County, UT." He has published an article, "Early Rock Art on the San Juan River" in Blue Mountain Shadows, Vol. 13 San Juan County Historic Commission, and was co-author with Winston Hurst of Spirit Windows: Native American Rock Art of Southeastern Utah for the Utah Endowment for the Humantities, Salt Lake City. In the spring of 1998 Joe taught sculpting at Aitutaki College in the Cook Islands, sponsored by the University of Eastern Washington. Joe's art has been commissioned by the Edge of Cedars State Park and Museum in Blanding, UT as well as in Moab, Utah Park. His art consists of life sized representations of rock art as well as Anasazi-like solstice observatories. Joe will be accompanying Buckhorn Llama Company trips as a rock art and archaeological specialist.