Author Archives: Howie Wolke

Guided wilderness backpacking and camping tours in the Western U.S. can include nearly every kind of landscape imaginable, from hot arid desert to dank rainforest to icy alpine tundra….and everything in between. In the previous couple of posts, I’ve discussed two of our great western wild-land complexes: the Canyon Country wilds of southern Utah and […]

In the previous blog about Utah’s canyon country, I discussed a number of the West’s remaining “wildland complex’s” or “wilderness ecosystems”. Aside from these geographic regions having great recreational opportunities, what is so special about them? Well, each complex has its own attractions, but as a generalization, it’s all about the wilderness! That’s because native […]

The spectacular canyon country of the American Southwest is an iconic landscape, popularized by Hollywood’s cinematic shootouts and horse-chases set amidst a colorful landscape of sandstone buttes, mesas and canyons. These landscapes are mostly associated with the southern half of Utah, but the canyon country — which really refers to the Colorado Plateau geologic province […]

Hiking and Horses are the two primary methods of moving through the wondrous back-country of Yellowstone, the worlds first national park. In fact, the same goes for most western wilderness areas, although rafting, canoeing and back-country skiing are other popular modes of back-country transport. Horses, though, do pose some unique safety issues when they encounter […]

It will soon be springtime in the Rockies! Okay, as I write this it is only early February, but spring will be here soon enough. Trust me, it will happen. Snow will melt, grass will green-up, buds will expand and birds will return. And when this annual transformation occurs, you can count on mountain rivers […]

Don’t let the name of this trek fool you into thinking it is in the exact same chunk of wild country as our late April walk in the Grand Staircase backcountry. This October 14-19 Red-rock Canyons of the Wild Escalante trip is nearly 100 miles from our April Grand Staircase route, and is in the […]

Our April 23-28 canyon country backpack trip is a wonderful walk through the fairly large but relatively little-known Paria-Hackberry Roadless Area. This chunk of wild southern Utah is a land of expansive juniper-dotted sandstone mesas cut by rugged steep walled canyons with clear streams and lush riparian vegetation. There are slots, arches and big red […]

This is one of our mellower treks, and if the thought of spectacular multi-colored sandstone canyons, with a cool desert stream, lush riparian vegetation and numerous ancient ruins and pictographs interests you, then don’t miss the opportunity to sign up for our April 16-21 trek in Canyonlands National Park! I said “mellow”. That’s because we […]

The awesome Beartooths are Montana’s highest mountain range and encompass the eastern and northern portions of the vast Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness area. This rugged granitic landscape is in southern Montana, just to the north and northeast of Yellowstone National Park. It is a major wild-land component of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and like our Yellowstone backpacking […]

The June 2017 Northern Yellowstone Wildlife and Wildflower extravaganza lived up to its name, as it almost always does! The six day adventure began by hiking down a beautiful wide-open drainage with an exploratory side trip up an adjacent valley where the group was caught in a sudden storm. Directed by guide Bob Clark, they […]