Author Archives: Howie Wolke

We’ve all heard it: “Grizzly bears are attracted to women who are menstruating, so stay out of the woods if it’s time for your period.” It’s been repeated so many times that it must be true, right? After all, repetition is convincing. For example, look at network news. It is amazing what “truths” people will […]

“The bugs are awful; do not go backpacking in Yellowstone until September!” But that is a myth, because if you know what you’re doing, you needn’t be deterred by Yellowstone’s greatly exaggerated population of mosquitoes, horse-flies, deer-flies and other biting insects.

Let’s start with my favorite, the gray jay, formerly known as the Canada jay. They are also known as “camp robbers” because they are bold. Turn your back for a few seconds and watch that chunk of tortilla disappear into the nearest pine tree!

Our guided Yellowstone backpacking tours are in the wild back-country of Yellowstone, the world’s first national park. Big Wild Adventures has been leading Yellowstone hiking tours for about 37 years, and most of our treks are in forested wilderness punctuated by mountains, canyons, lakes, rivers and large beautiful meadows.

“Don’t drink the water” may be great advice for traveling in parts of Mexico, but while backpacking in Yellowstone some of us drink up, right out of the stream, no filter and no iodine…and no problem! That’s because the waters of most of the high country throughout the Rocky Mountains are some of the purest […]

Backpacking in Yellowstone is an experience that no outdoor-person should miss. There are many reasons to explore this natural wonderland, but there are also a number of widely-held misconceptions about backpacking in Yellowstone that we will consider in our latest blog series, “Yellowstone Backpacking Myths”. This post about the myth of over-crowding will be the […]

As in Wyoming, backpacking in Montana usually means hoofing it through the high country. Outside of Yellowstone National Park, our guided Montana hikes include treks in the unbelievably spectacular Beartooths, the Rocky Mountain Front of the iconic Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex just south of Glacier Park, and the vast and rugged Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness on the […]

Backpacking in Wyoming usually means exploring some very high country, including the Wind River and Absarokas mountain ranges. These two ranges in particular include unusually vast areas of high alpine landscapes over 10,000 feet in elevation, punctuated by 12,000-foot and 13,000-foot peaks.

June in Yellowstone is spring, not summer, and although one might experience occasional bouts of prolonged warm sunshine, Yellowstone backpacking means that one must be prepared for rain, snow, hail, wind and warm sunshine all on any given Yellowstone guided hike — sometimes all on the same day!

A lot of novice backpackers think that once they are out in the wilds, there will be animals nearly everywhere. In Yellowstone’s world-class wildlife habitats, to a great extent, that’s true. But that does not necessarily mean that you’ll see lots of large mammals! That’s because once you leave the tourist-laden roadsides, wild animals revert […]