The 2021 season ended just six weeks ago, but it’s already time to start 2022, since in another six weeks we will start offering spots on our spring trips.
The 2022 schedule & locations
Yesterday I published the first iteration of the 2022 schedule.
Some parts of the schedule look like past years:
- Southern Utah in April/early-May, its prime time;
- Brooks Range in late-June/early-July, about one week later than usual to hedge against another cold spring; and,
- West Virginia in early-October, during peak fall colors.
But we made some changes, too:
- After two consecutive seasons of wildfire/smoke-related disruptions to our High Sierra location in September, I’m bumping these trips to July. We’ll have to contend with more bugs and crowds, but our trips are much less likely to be cancelled or smoked out.
- We’re no longer offering 5- or 7-day trips in Colorado, which like the High Sierra now has a July-only window before the skies become smoke-filled and locations can be closed.
- Our 3-day intro-level courses in Colorado will be in Great Sand Dunes National Park, which was new for 2021 and which offers both mountain and desert environments;
Finally, we’re adding one location: Olympic National Park in Washington. This location has lots of potential, and I think we now have the demand and organizational scale to expand here.
Application dates and process
We will accept applications starting December 13, 2021.
It will be an open system for two or three weeks, depending on the trip location. There is no advantage to applying on December 13, because it’s not first-come first-served. Instead, we review all the applications, adjust the schedule to reflect the interests of the applicant pool, and then offer spots.
The open application period closes on:
- Monday, December 27, for Utah, Colorado, and Alaska;
- Monday, January 3, for California, Washington, and West Virginia.
Please familiarize yourself with the application dates and process, and mark your calendar.