Category Archives: Uncategorized

What a year for our guided Yellowstone hikes: wildfire, snow, the great bear and much, much more! Really, who is to say what constitutes an actual “highlight”? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and while in these two blogs I focus on wildfire, bears, snow and autumn foliage, perhaps to some of our […]

Our 2016 guided hiking trips in Yellowstone National Park included some amazing experiences, from wildfires to snowstorms to spectacular views of grizzly bears in their wild habitats. What a year it was! The summer of 2016 was a dry one throughout most of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, although localized thundershowers did produce wetter conditions in […]

For those of you who have been with us as clients over the years, you’ll note on our 2017 trip schedule that we have replaced our September Colorado trip with a new and exciting Yellowstone backpack adventure, the Northern Yellowstone Autumn Splendor trek, from September 18-23, 2017. Not that anything was wrong with our treks […]

Yes, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly has made an impressive comeback, and backpacking in Yellowstone means an encounter is more likely than at any time in decades. Nonetheless, the population is far from secure. Here’s why. First, some high nutrition food sources have declined or are vulnerable to decline. For example, cutthroat trout in Yellowstone […]

After the Park Service closed the now infamous Yellowstone garbage dumps (where bears fed as a public spectacle) during the early ’70’s, the Yellowstone grizzly population plummeted. That’s because the agency failed to heed the warnings of bear researchers John and Frank Craighead to wean the bears off the garbage gradually. Instead, the “cold turkey” […]

Big Wild Adventures has been organizing and leading multi-day guided Yellowstone backpacking treks since 1979! Needless to say, viewing wildlife in its natural wilderness habitat is one of the primary attractions for most of our clients. And when you mention Yellowstone wildlife, most folks immediately think of the grizzly bear. That’s because of the great […]

In the previous blog I discussed in general terms some of the campfire protocols for our guided Yellowstone Backpacking trips. On our Wyoming backpacking trips or our New Mexico or Montana backpacking adventures in national forest Wilderness areas, the government rules are a bit looser, but we at Big Wild Adventures are still firmly committed […]

Most of our clients really love the warm glow of a wilderness campfire while backpacking in Yellowstone. It’s a great way to begin the day on a chilly mountain morning, and the evening campfire is a great ritual for after dinner relaxation. Of course, Big Wild Adventures runs guided wilderness hiking tours in many areas […]

Our guided Wyoming backpacking trips all have one thing in common: high country. That’s because next to Colorado, Wyoming is the second highest state above sea level. But Wyoming includes much bigger chunks of unbroken wild country than does its neighbor to the south, Colorado. And Wyoming’s high mountain country is as big and wild […]

Our home state of Montana is not just “Big Sky Country”, but it is also big wilderness country. That’s because there are three distinct regions or “wilderness ecosystems” in Montana that are dominated by numerous large proximate chunks of wild country that’s mostly protected Wilderness. Ironically, though, each of these mountainous wild regions is along […]