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The wild and colorful Canyon Country of southern Utah is a true highlight of the American West! We ran two guided Utah hiking treks in 2015: the Escalante Canyons in the spring, and Canyonlands National Park this recent October. We had a small group in the Escalante and two groups in Canyonlands because the first […]

We at Big Wild are extremely lucky to have had the privilege of guiding for 37 years in the incomparable Yellowstone backcountry. Each of our guided Yellowstone hiking trips is unique, because each different area of this magical diverse park is a unique landscape, with it’s own particular moods, scenery, biota, weather and geology. So […]

Walk into most any store in the United States and chances are you’ll encounter a helpful salesperson. That can be a good thing, but when looking to purchase gear and clothing for a Yellowstone backpacking trip, it can also be dangerous. After all, the goal of salespeople is to sell things to people.

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 […]