Trip Types

I offer four trip types, each designed for a specific experience level.

• Level 1: Fundamentals, for beginners;
• Level 2: Adventures, for intermediates; and
• Level 3: Expeditions, for advanced backpackers.

We recognize that not every applicant or group will fall neatly into one of these categories, so we reset our teaching level for every trip and we work with clients individually to help them reach their goals.

Because backpacking experience, physical fitness, and technical ability are not necessarily correlated, we run each trip type in up to five fitness levels and three technical difficulty levels.

If you have questions about the trips or are uncertain what trip type is most suitable for you, please contact me.

At a glance: How do the trips compare?

Level 1: Fundamentals

As a first-time backpacker I think that this course was the best hands-on learning environment for which I could have asked. I was nervous beforehand, but once in the field I realized that I’d become properly prepared through the planning curriculum and group chats, where we covered gear selection, fitness, meal planning, and some core skills. I have a great base of knowledge now for going on short trips of my own.

C.D

These courses are designed primarily for beginner backpackers, and for day-hikers and car-campers who have never backpacked before. Less often, we have individuals who need a refresh after taking an extended break from backpacking (e.g. pre-kids or pre-career). This course will help you accelerate up the learning curve so that you avoid years of trial-and-error and big-ticket expenses on gear and travel that didn’t live up to your expectations.

During the pre-trip Planning Curriculum (10 weeks) and the in-person field component (3 or 5 days), you will start to develop all critical backpacking skills, including gear selection, meal preparation, map making, on- and off-trail navigation, overnight food protection, water purification, campsite selection, human waste disposal, and more. By the end of the experience, you should be able to plan and complete overnight trips of your own, and perhaps informally lead family members, friends, and Scouts.

Fundamentals-level courses are suitable for most applicants who are in average (or better) shape relative to their peers.

3-day versus 5-day

The 3-day course is less expensive and requires less time away from family or work. The 5-day course gives you two additional field days to apply your skills, see more of the location, and bond more with your group.

Typical itinerary

• For information about the first and last day, go here
• For a description of a typical day, go here
• For a discussion of routes, go here

After leaving the briefing area or trailhead, I prefer to hike for about an hour so that I can casually converse with group members and make some forward progress, perhaps making some quick stops to adjust backpack fits, explain proper trekking pole length and use, or point out local flora.

Before reaching camp on Night 1, we usually discuss water treatment and water quality, and we introduce navigation and map-reading.

It’s best to arrive in camp early on Night 1 (4-5 PM), so that we can teach campsite selection, shelter pitching, knots, stoves, food storage, and morning pooping protocols. I’ve never regretted pulling into camp early on Day 1, but I’ve often regretted arriving late, because it puts me behind in teaching the curriculum.

The bulk of Day 2 should be dedicated to navigation. We will reinforce the map-reading skills from Day 1, and also teach you how to use a compass, altimeter, watch, and GPS app. Hiking off-trail is the best way to learn navigation — when hiking on trails, there are fewer consequences to not paying attention.

After having breakfast and breaking camp in Day 3, the group will start hiking out. Along the way, guides may cover some remaining topics like first aid kids, satellite communication devices, and personal hygiene.

Level 2: Adventure

The Adventure trip was a pivotal outdoor experience for me. I had done several five- to six-day trips of my own, but I’d reached a point where I really needed help in developing more advanced skills. This trip has provided the foundation for many future adventures, starting with researching route conditions and assembling a gear list, and then navigating in the field both on-trail and off.

Keela P

An Adventure trip is best for intermediate backpackers who want to undertake a more challenging trip and to master more advanced skills, notably navigation. We also welcome beginners who are strong and ambitious, and advanced backpackers who are looking for a turnkey experience.

Fitness requirements are higher for Adventure-level trips than Fundamentals-level courses, due to the increased rigor and pack weight.

5-day versus 7-day

The Adventure 5-day is our most popular trip. You’re out there long enough to do something memorable, to emotionally recharge, to feel fully present, to get in a groove, and to bond with good people; but you need to take only 6-7 days off.

The 7-day trips are less convenient and more expensive, but they afford you two additional full days in the field. With this time, groups will get deeper into the wilderness, complete longer sections of high routes and cross-country routes, and have more opportunities to develop skills and lead the group. On the 7-day trip, groups are more likely to feel like teams, since you’ll have to work together more and overcome more adversity.

Fundamentals 5-day versus Adventure 5-day

The Fundamentals course is designed primarily for beginner backpackers; the Adventure trip, for intermediate backpackers. This difference is reflected in the teaching level, itinerary, and guide expectations.

Typical itinerary

• For information about the first and last day, go here
• For a description of a typical day, go here
• For a discussion of routes, go here

These trips should start slow, so that you can acclimatize, eat through some of your food load, and learn (or review, if you’re an alumnus) our curriculum. In the second half, the focus should be more on doing, and less on learning. We also like to finish strong, by saving the aesthetic highlight or the most difficult element for the end.

Level 3: Expedition

This was great introduction to an area (Alaska) that I would find difficult or impossible to pull off myself. The trip was extremely well organized in advance and executed essentially flawlessly. We had great guides and gelled well as a group.

Thomas H

Our Expedition trips are the most advanced that we offer, and designed to be capstone backpacking experiences and to teach expert-level skills. In 2025 we are offering Expedition-level trips in four locations: Utah, Alaska, California, and Yellowstone.

An Expedition is suitable for graduates of our Adventure trips (to whom we give priority) and for similarly capable newcomers who want some oversight when planning and executing a trip to a truly wild landscape.

Due to the risky and committing nature of these trips, we expect that you will arrive in requisite fitness and with dialed-in gear and skills.

Alaska

• For information about the first and last day, go here
• For a description of a typical day, go here
• For a discussion of routes, go here

Our 2025 trips will be in Gates of the Arctic National Park, in the central Brooks Range. We’ve been operating here since 2019, but we’ve not yet explored every valley. When creating the routes, I’m often trying to fill in these blank spots on the map. Even if our program has done all of your route before, it’s likely that your guides have not, which will help maintain the sense of exploration and novelty.

Signature Series

In addition to backpacking trips in Alaska, we are offering 7- and 11-day Expedition-level backpacking trips in the lower 48, too, as part of our Signature Series.

Level 3: Technical Canyoneering

These 5- and 7-day trips are most accurately described as backpacking trips with technical canyoneering elements. We don’t complete the canyons on day-hikes or from a base camp; instead, they’re part of a larger backpacking route. This “expeditionary canyoneering” approach is at the further edge of US canyoneering and gives us access to canyons (or sections of them) that are not practical done-in-a-day objectives.

These trips are led by some of our most seasoned guides, notably Jeff Wohl and Scott Christy.

Curriculum

The itineraries are purposely designed to methodically build and develop your canyoneering comfort and skills. The curriculum includes:

• Terrain types
• Canyoneering movement
• Scrambling on Class 3 + 4 features
• Managing steep terrain
• Helmet use
• Harness use
• Rappelling 
• Fireman belaying
• Rappelling practice
• Belaying practice
• Rope coiling/bagging
• Clipping into anchors
• Types of rope and uses
• Rappelling with a backpack

Anchor building will be taught, but not to the level of mastery or self-sufficiency. This skill requires more repetition than time will afford.

Typical itinerary

The itineraries are purposely designed to build up your canyoneering comfort and skills. We assume that our clients have little to no prior experience, so we spend the first day in a low-risk and non-committing area to teach the basics, including how to scramble, manage steep terrain, use handlines and assists, and rappel.

After this classroom-type instruction, your group will apply what you’ve learned by completing several technical canyons, with the exact number and difficulty being driven by the trip duration, group fitness, on-the-ground conditions, and the plans of our other groups that are in the field simultaneously. Due to impact concerns, we will not list them here. The 5-day trips should have about three days of canyoneering; on the 7-day trips, expect four to five.

Total mileage on these trips is less than on a pure backpacking trip, all other factors being equal. The canyons are just, well, slow.

The canyoneering itineraries are more precisely planned ahead of time than the backpacking itineraries, because the canyons are more committing (i.e. there are limited, if any, options to exit midway) and because they require unique combinations of ropes and anchor hardware.

Difficulty

The canyons into which we take clients are up to the 3BIII range. This designation means that the canyons:

• Involve intermediate-level rappels, technical climbing and/or downclimbing;
• Contain water and may require swimming, but the water is not moving; and,
• Require most of an entire day to complete.

Before applying for these trips, please consider that they involve elements that may be inappropriate for some people, notably:

• Significant exposure, including Class 3-4 scrambles (not always assist-able) and overhanging rappels;
• Extended time in cold conditions, including immersion in cold pools and slow movement through dark and deep canyons; and,
• Passage through narrow slot canyons, sometimes requiring removal of your backpack and/or walking sideways

For a discussion of required and preferred gear for these courses, go here.