Almost halfway through the infamous 100-mile race in Colorado’s mountains, some of the runners are at their worst, some of them arriving to the course’s highest point at 12,600 feet sick and sore and sleepy in the middle of the night. Hope Pass, this junction is called. Hopeless Pass, it’s more so called.

And through the pain and fatigue, some of those runners can’t believe their eyes.

No way, they think. No way are those llamas.

“They think they’re hallucinating when they see them up there,” Gary Carlton says.

Those are llamas all right. Those will be llamas at that critical point of the Life Time Leadville Trail 100 this Saturday, when some 700 runners take to the storied, 30-hour suffer fest.

For a 20th year, Carlton will be bringing the wooly, long-necked animals. About two dozen of them will be relied upon once again for toting critical supplies and provisions to the critical, remote aid station at Hope Pass.

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An eastern Colorado rancher, Carlton is captain of the band known as the Hopeless Crew. They post themselves above treeline where extreme elements constantly threaten, from lightning to wind to sleet. The image of a napping Carlton beneath a snow-collapsed tent puts things in perspective.

The Hopeless Crew is a small, strong and brave bunch among the race’s nearly 400 volunteers total, meeting the weary with encouragement, sustenance and shelter — and often providing medical attention.

“The athletes are amazing, and it’s certainly powerful to watch that journey,” says race director Tamira Jenlink. “But there’s no way any of this happens without people like Gary and those volunteers he brings up there.”

And by all accounts, there’s no way this Race Across the Sky happens without the llamas.

The hundreds of gallons of water and heavy filtration system. The tents and tables. The first aid equipment. The stoves and the propane. The Ramen and mashed potatoes mixed into “Hope Pass potato soup” and other required calories in the form of cookies, crackers and fruit. The llamas carry it all, about 3,000 pounds altogether, up a rough trail covering close to 5 miles and 2,500 feet of elevation. They serve as essential transports in the absence of a road.

“It’s huge,” says the race’s co-founder, Merilee Maupin. “To carry all those supplies up to an aid station that you can only get to on foot … If we were gonna have to pack it all individually, it’d take us an Army unit.”

In the early 1980s, this realization occurred to her and Ken Chlouber when they were envisioning the course between Winfield and Twin Lakes. They decided they would need an aid station at that treacherous stage in between. They got advice from a farmer friend named Dee Goodman.

“You’re gonna need llamas,” Maupin recalls him saying.

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So the tradition continues. Carlton and company arrive days before the start of the race, organizing supplies from a warehouse and meticulously weighing packs to be placed on each side of each llama’s back. The weight distribution ensures the mammal’s balance for the steep, rugged journey.

“llamas are suited for it,” Carlton says, tracing their native ancestors to the high-alpine of the Andes Mountains.

He credits, too, their uniquely shaped blood cells with unusually high oxygen levels. Their feet are padded with two sharp toenails, making them more capable than horses and burros at navigating harsh terrain.

“They’re just super stubborn, hardworking, resilient creatures,” says a longtime coordinator, Rich Naprstek.

That aptly describes the Hopeless Crew, he says. “It is absolutely pride in what they’re doing, pride in the importance of that location, and a respect and admiration of what the athletes are doing.”

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What those athletes do at Hope Pass varies. Some keep running. Others stop for carbohydrates and hydration. Others stop and look across the grass and think they’re hallucinating.

Others, regulars, have come to expect the bizarre, idyllic scene of the llamas.

“There’s a little communion that happens up there, a little boost of energy,” Jenlink says. “We can dig deep into the world of understanding how animals are really good for us. But the runners can’t wait to get there. They can’t wait to see them.”