Posts by Andrew Skurka
PSA | Hazardous High Sierra creeks: List, map & alternates
Every spring, creeks in the High Sierra rage with snowmelt. For one to two months, they are a grave danger, especially after snowy winters like 2016-17, 2018-19, and 2022-23. Backpackers can still hike, camp, and explore safely, but this hazard warrants respect. It’s worth noting that two Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers separately drowned in spring…
Help wanted: Prepping breakfast & dinner rations
To readers who live in or near Boulder, Colo: I need help in preparing breakfasts and dinners for our upcoming guided trips. Would you be interested in making some extra cash? For the 2023 season I’ll need several thousand meals. The work is easy but detail-oriented: you’ll need to proportionally mix the bulk ingredients, then…
Meet Katie Gerber, new Co-Director
I’m delighted to publicly announce that Katie Gerber has been hired as Co-Director and my first full-time employee. To start, she’ll be helping me run the guided trip program; as time and interest permits, I hope that her role will expand. Katie has been involved in the program since 2020, as a guide and online…
Escalante Canyons: Join us for a 5- or 7-day trip
In just eight weeks our 2023 guided trip season gets underway in southern Utah! We’re running 12 trips, and I have a few spots still available that I’d like to fill. For current availability refer to the online schedule; as of today, these spots are on: In all cases, it’s 2-3 vacancies per trip. So…
Now open: Wilderness First Aid in Escalante, UT, April 22
In partnership with the University of New Mexico International Mountain Medicine Center and Department of Emergency Medicine, I am offering a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course in southern Utah in April. t’s primarily an add-on for guided trip clients, but I have a few extra spots that I’m making available to the public. Go here…
Podcast interviews: Suggested entertainment
In recent months I’ve been a guest on several podcasts. You may have already heard or watched them. If not, and if you’re looking for some backpacking-themed content, these programs may be of interest. Inside Sports Nutrition Listen here Eight years ago Dina Griffin conducted my metabolic efficiency test, and decades ago Bob Seebohar was…
Today’s deadline: End of open application
If you’d like to join us on a trip in 2023 but have been procrastinating on the application, today is your last best opportunity for many trips. During the open application period, which ends today for the second half of our schedule — California, Washington, and West Virginia — all applications received are considered equally.…
Deadlines: Open application period closing today + next Tuesday
If you’d like to join a 2023 guided trip and if you’ve not yet applied, for some trips this post is effectively a last call. The open application period ends: All applications received by the deadlines will be considered equally. All applications received after the deadlines will be eligible for remaining spots on a first-come…
How’d we do? 262 testimonials about the 2022 guided trips
Since 2014 I’ve asked our clients to complete a post-trip survey to gather feedback about our guides, locations, meals, and curriculum, plus their overall satisfaction. Reviewing the results is a time commitment — this year the document is 247 pages, plus a few more pages of tables with quantitative data! But it’s entirely worthwhile, as…
Ask us anything: Sign up for “office hours” (free)
Next week we are hosting free “office hours,” starting Wednesday, December 14 and concluding on Friday, December 16. Schedule a chat to discuss anything related to backpacking: If you’re a guided trip alumnus, you can schedule a session to just relive great times, too. Each one-on-one session is 15 minutes, enough to go deep on…