LOADING
Llamas are  pacers. This means that they step with both front and back legs on the left side, then those on the right.  This movement, or gait, lets them take longer steps and be very sure-footed on steep mountain trails.
remember: pacers rock as they walk, so balance the load!
 As they pace, camelids rock from side to side to keep their balance over the center.  Any load they are carrying moves along with them, so it is very  important make the weight exactly the same on both sides.  besides making the llama work lopsided, uneven loads pull on the saddle, making it roll towards the heaviest side. Also, the higher or further out the cargo, the more force (leverage) any motion gives it.  Tall or wide loads make the llama work harder to shift from side to side as it walks. This is the reason to keep most of the heavy stuff close to the center line.    Load problems cause the saddle to pull on the llama's skin like a badly fitting shoe would on our foot.
where things go
Dividing things into balanced loads is a skill all to itself.  Some parts of the load are constantly changing as they are consumed like the food and fuel.  Some items shift around, such as clothing and camp shoes. The rest of the gear remains constant, so we pack those together and always re-pack them the same way (also, by keeping the food separate from the tents and sleeping bags, they remain free of smells that may attract critters).  Each pannier (a word for any container that goes on the two sides of a pack frame) has a luggage tag holder so the contents can be labeled and the same routine can be followed. This saves the trouble of weighing these loads and streamlines the process of breaking camp. Otherwise it has to be re-calculated and re-balanced every time, which is only useful for a school group using our 'llama math' curriculum.
rigid panniers
Items that are fairly heavy and do not need to be compressed --- pretty much anything other than sleeping bags or pads --- ride best in hard-sided panniers.  They are also recommended for stuff that needs gentle handling, like  camp lanterns or fresh fruit.   Our hard panniers come in two types: tall pannier boxes, which latch together to make a table and weigh 6 lbs each; and 20-qt. coolers modified with pack strap latches which act as seats in camp and weigh 4.5 lbs. each.   The coolers generally get the food and the hard panniers the other stuff.   On short trips where the number is small, we take only one set of hard-sided panniers, usually the boxes, and put the food on one side and the camp equipment on the other.
table-boxes
Box pannier #1 holds the items that never change from trip to trip (listed on the top): water filter kit, first aid kit, stove kit, small flashlight, lantern, fuel bottle, and kitchen kit.  These items plus the box weigh 18 lbs.  Depending on the length of the trip and the number of cups of hot beverages to be prepared, we add fuel canisters at just under 1 lb. each (1 fuel canister lasts 2 hikers 4 days, 8 hikers one day on average); and the larger pots for big groups (1lb.) The matching box gets food if we the trip is a small one; or for larger trips, it gets all the extras: camp shoes, books, dishes, bug repellent, extra flashlights, coffee, tea, gatorade, cameras, spare batteries --- the list is varied.  If we are not going to put a top sack on the llama carrying the boxes, we can load them to 30 lbs each.  (24 gear + 6 box).
coolers
The coolers can be loaded the same as above, but generally we use them for food.  The stuff that is cold or frozen we put together, sometimes inside an insulated lunch bag if the amount is small.  (We don't pack ice; we pack frozen berries, frozen veggies and frozen milk.  Even with llamas, there is no point in packing water!)  On the non-cool side go things like packages of milk, dinner fixings, cans and boxes and plastic bottles.  The produce is usually the heaviest and we distribute it to balance the load. If the coolers are going instead of the boxes, the other side gets the standard camp gear listed above, but the coolers have less space, so if it boils down to a choice, we take the boxes.   The coolers hold 25-32 lbs if they are full of food, but if they are holding clothing and/or camp gear it is hard to get more than 20 lbs in them, so they usually get a top load.  Sometimes we put all the tent poles on top of the coolers before we tighten their straps, allowing us to put that much more personal gear as a top load on the other llamas.
pannier bags
Soft panniers carry 'the bedroom' --- bags, pads and tents.  These long waterproof cordura duffels are oversized for easy filling. They work well for shapeless fluffy stuff like sleeping bags, tent fabric, and inflatable pads.  There is an order of loading that is best observed if the pannier is to ride well compress correctly and balance its mate, and that is to put the most compact items  like  the tent body and fly on the reinforced end (that will become the bottom), inflatable pads in the middle, deflated and folded to fit and the sleeping bags at the other. (Tent poles do not go inside the panniers.)  The duffel is zipped, stood on end with the reinforced side down. Then they are compressed by a vertical strap (see illustration) which squeezes the air out and reduces the height by half into a compact, bi-lobed lump easily attached to the saddle by the two web loops.   Another strap goes around each horizontally and clips to rings on the saddle, holding the bags close to the llama's body so they do not shift around during travel.
clothing and non-inflating pads
Although clothing is also compressible, it is not a good idea to put it in these panniers, because once they are compressed, you cannot get anything out without undoing the whole thing.  So in addition to messing with a constant weight, the clothing becomes inaccessible.  For this reason we prefer to pack the clothing in top sacks where it can be got at in case somebody falls in the creek or the weather changes.   Top sacks also do not have to be balanced.  In large groups, things like clothing and personal items are best carried by the person in a daypack so they don't get misplaced.  Foam sleeping pads of the non-inflating kind must be packed as a top load or carried strapped to the owner's daypack.  They are lightweight but very bulky and usually do not improve from behing crushed.   They can be easily attached to daypack loops with velcro straps or mini-bungees.  This also makes them available for sitting on at rest stops.
deflating foam mats
We strongly recommend that anybody who weighs over 120 lbs. or has hips wider than their ribcage (most adult women) buy, rent or borrow a self-inflating mattress. The original name brand is Therma-rest, but by now there are quite a few inexpensive knockoffs.  To pack a self-inflating mat to fit inside a pannier, use the following method: Open the valve and fold in half lengthwise (a 20' x 70' mat becomes 10' x 70') Starting at the opposite end from the valve, start rolling up the mat.  Apply pressure as you go to squeeze out the air.  I usually put one knee on the roll, so that my weight will force the air out and keep the thing tight while my hands get ready for another turn.  When you get to the top, close the valve before letting any air rush back in.  Perfectionists (or those who didn't get it very flat) can open the valve a little and suck out even more air.
sample load arrangements:
If the trip is all adults using therma-rests, each pannier (2 lbs.) would probably have a 2-3 man tent on the bottom (7 lbs.), 2 mats (5 lbs.) and 2 synthetic bags (10 lbs.) That's 24 lbs. of weight, but don't forget to add the 2 lbs. of tent poles lashed to the saddle. If the other side is loaded identically, the llama is carrying 52 lbs.  Add in saddle, pad and rigging at 9 lbs. total.  Since his load capacity is 70 lbs, that means that a 9 lb. top sack of clothing (4 average jackets, or 4 lightweight pairs of camp shoes) can be added.
Another family group cargo option for the soft panniers is the same three man tent with one adult bag and therma-rest (7 lbs.) and two children's bags (6 lbs.), with the kids' Z-rests riding on top outside the panniers with the tent poles (4 lbs. together).  At 22 lbs. each side, 53 lbs including saddle, there is capacity for 17 lbs of top sack.  However, This top load is so close to the weight of the sides that it will tend to overbalance the saddle with the natural side-to-side motion of the llama's walk, so it is best to stop at 15 lbs., or two-thirds the weight of the side panniers.
But supposing the trip is a school trip using a 5-man tent (12 lbs.), and two 3-man tents'  Then you just do the math:  more tent, fewer bags on one llama, another with just bags and pads.  Maybe everyone can carry their own sleeping mat.  Heavy bag on this side, a mummy bag and child's bag on the other.  One warning: regardless of weight, you can only compress so much bulk into a load that can be carried efficiently.  that is a miximum of three adult or four kid's bags per pannier.  And if someone shows up with a cotton-covered car-camping bag, you have a problem! Just one of these will use up an entire pannier as they are not compressable, but if it's too late to rent, beg  or borrow another bag, a rolled cotton bag (7-12 lbs) can be lashed on as a top load.