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Released: 2024 guided trip schedule

By Andrew Skurka / November 21, 2023 /

Our 2024 trip schedule has been released! To view it, click here. The season will start again in mid-April in Escalante, Utah, which greets us with mild temps, wildflowers, and long days. In addition to our normal Adventure 5-day and 7-day trips, we’ll offer 5- and 7-day technical canyoneering expeditions and one 11-day thru-hike of…

Let’s chat: Office Hours + Ask Us Anything

By Andrew Skurka / November 20, 2023 /

In fall 2021 and fall 2022 my guide team offered free one-on-one “office hours” appointments to discuss all things backpacking. They were wildly popular: we hosted 320 calls over the two years, which amounted to nearly 107 hours of time! Katie Gerber and I will be running this program again next week. The details: 1.…

Spots available: 11-day Olympic Traverse, September 2023

By Andrew Skurka / May 30, 2023 /

In 2022 we offered two 11-day trips in the High Sierra, with one resupply in the middle. The guides and the clients rated the experience very highly, because they had so much time to explore and connect with the area, so for this season we offered this trip length in Alaska, again in California, and…

Ask Us Anything: Backpacking the High Sierra in 2023

By Andrew Skurka / May 27, 2023 /

Last week I wrote about the High Sierra’s record-breaking 2023-23 snowpack and its implications for trip planning, gear selection, and essential skills. In short, this season will be far from normal. Are you ready for that? This week Katie Gerber and I are hosting an “Ask Us Anything” online event to answer your questions about…

More damaged bridges in the High Sierra

By Andrew Skurka / May 22, 2023 /

Two more reports of damaged bridges in the High Sierra have emerged. I suspect we may be looking at a few more before the water levels drop in July or August. I’ve updated my High Sierra Creek Hazards resource with these updates already. One is over the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin near Red’s…

Detouring: San Joaquin River bridge alternates

By Andrew Skurka / May 18, 2023 /

During a flight tour in April, the National Park Service discovered that a critical bridge over the South Fork of the San Joaquin had been damaged. For photos, refer to the PCTA website. This bridge is in the northwestern corner of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, just south of the boundary with Sierra National Forest, and…

One spot available: 7-day trip in Alaska’s Brooks Range

By Andrew Skurka / May 16, 2023 /

Due to a recent cancellation, a spot has become available in the Alaska 1B group. This trip has been full since January, when we first accepted applications. Trip details: If you need to check your schedule, base your plans on these details: The group will meet in Fairbanks, fly to Bettles on a regional flight,…

Help wanted: Prepping breakfast & dinner rations

By Andrew Skurka / March 16, 2023 /

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

By Andrew Skurka / February 27, 2023 /

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

By Andrew Skurka / February 21, 2023 /

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…