A word on adventure travel

The term “Adventure Travel” is popular nowadays, but its ever-expanding use has radically diminished its meaning.

For example, hut to hut hiking in the tame, pastoral Alps may be fun, but isn’t really “adventure” in the truest sense. Same goes for van-supported bicycle trips on paved highways and for guided/outfitted river trips where the guide rows the raft and all the client has to do is hang on, drink beer and wait for the multi-course dinner bell. There’s also helicopter skiing, where one exudes not an ounce of sweat to stand atop 3,000 vertical feet of unblemished “cold smoke”. Other examples abound.

Sure, all of these activities entail some level of risk, but risk and adventure are two different things. A drive on any L.A. freeway is risky, as is playing in the NFL, but neither is adventure. Yes, a river guide may flip the raft, hurling Middle America into the jaws of an icy Class IV rock garden, but really, such events are anomalies. And let’s face it, you got wet because the guide, not you, screwed up; personal responsibility was almost nil.

Not that there’s anything wrong with activities that are simply fun, where risks and unknowns are minimal and/or tightly controlled by professionals. Nor must one emulate Ernest Shackelton in order to be adventuresome.

Still, “adventure” implies both effort and unknowns. So I suggest that “adventure travel” implies that you either walk, ski, row, paddle, climb, crawl, or slither on your own, using your own muscle power, and therefore to at least some extent your own wits. Natures unknowns are magnified when you depend upon your own muscle power. And that’s good. It makes us more alive. Being rowed, helicoptered, driven or having your gear hauled by others can be fun, but it isn’t adventure in the old-fashioned sense of the word. And true adventure usually begins at the end of the road, not in civilization with its trappings and safety nets.

Real adventure begins when you enter wild country, preferably where there are large carnivores to keep us humble, where Ma Nature does not give a rat’s ass about the fate of individual Hominids. If you go on a guided trip where everything isn’t done for you, well, that’s adventuresome. Like a trek with Big Wild, where yes, we plan the trip plus we organize and prepare the food, but you still do the walking and carry your essential survival items on your own back. In other words, take at least some responsibility for your own well-being. Maybe then, with a straight face you’ll stake your claim to the term “adventure”.

Fairly, fitness and medicines are playing on the minds of folk all around the World. Online drugstores provides best-quality prescription medicaments and other medications. One of the most pop drug is Viagra. This article tell more about “http://cialis-price.biz“. Nearly every man knows about “http://cialis-price.biz“. Other matter we must is “http://cialis-price.biz“. Albeit sex is not vital for good heartiness, it’s no doubt good for you. Other medicaments may interact with this preparation, including prescription herbal products. Not all feasible interactions are listed in standard treatment guide. Stop using this remedy and get medical help if you have sudden vision loss.

This entry was posted in Adventure Information. Bookmark the permalink. Comments are closed, but you can leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

 

“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”– John Muir

The West’s #1 Trekking & Canoeing Wilderness Adventure Company For 45 Years!

As seen in…Our Guided Backpacking Expertise in West
As featured in Backpacker, Sierra, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, The New York Times, and more.


Green Business IconA Green Business


View Trip Calendar

No company offers a wider variety of great treks, from north of the Arctic Circle to the Southwest deserts. Our trips include the following places:

Our trips are wild and remote, off the beaten track! We also emphasize safety and low-impact (leave no trace) wilderness travel.

How to Book A Trip

Simply complete this web form
or call (406) 823-0337.

A family business since 1978

Our Staff Contact Us

Member of the: Gardiner Chamber of Commerce


Rock Spire

More photos