Multi-day overnight backpacking and canoe trips

In part one, we discussed the extreme unlikelihood of your human biomass being incorporated into the food web by a hungry grizzly, how with a bit of care and common sense, backpacking in Yellowstone is actually quite safe. In fact, grizzlies – and black bears, too – are highly adapted extremely flexible omnivores. Read More »

Contrary to the impression occasionally portrayed by Hollywood, human beings constitute an extremely minor part of a grizzly bear’s diet. Without passing judgement as to whether this is a good thing or not, I’ll  just say that when bears incorporate human protoplasm into the food web, it’s an event that’s so rare it’s barely worth mentioning. Read More »

This blog should actually be re-named “How to Poop in the Desert or Tundra” because in these environments, your Big Wild guide may provide instructions that differ from the standard cat-hole method described in the previous post. That’s because in arid and cold environments such as desert, alpine tundra (above tree-line in the mountains)  or Arctic tundra (north of tree-line), decomposition proceeds much more slowly than in the woods. Read More »

Pooping in the wilds is a big concern for many first time backpackers. Generally speaking, it’s quite simple! When hiking in Yellowstone (one of our more common backpacking trips) – or in most any wild place for that matter – you begin by finding a well-drained location at least 100 feet from water (preferably further) and away from camp or trail. Read More »

In my most recent post, I discussed in general terms, backpacking in southern Utah and the unbelievably colorful Canyon Country landscapes that accompany these treks. Read More »

Backpacking in Utah, particularly in the southeastern and south-central parts of the state is a unique experience. This is a colorful landscape of canyons, mesas, and vertical buttes framed by snow-capped mountain ranges and broad forested uplands. Read More »

From the biggest wild – Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – to the verdant Great Smokies, and from the  red-walled canyons of Utah to the snowy Beartooths of Montana, about one third of the American landscape is public land. Read More »

Most of our clients are open to experiencing all kinds of wilderness, from desert to moist forest, from canyon country to alpine peaks and from the Alaskan outback to the far Southwest. Indeed, western North America offers landscape diversity unmatched on planet Earth, and happily, there remain lots of big chunks still in a wilderness condition! Read More »

So you’re going to go backpacking and you need a new pair of hiking boots. What to do? There are so many styles, so many brands, so many different kinds of soles, so many types of stitching and construction, so many different fits, so many choices! Should boots be Gore-Tex lined or not? Read More »

The Yellowstone and central Idaho wolf re-introductions of 1995 turned out to be highly successful, yet now, 18 years later, wolves in the Rockies remain as controversial and polarizing as ever. Pro-wolf sentiment reflects majority opinion, but even here there remain considerable differences regarding hunting and geographic limits to protection. Read More »