Wilderness Adventures Whitetail Trek

Taken as a whole, the Backpacking Light Wilderness Trekking Program is an impressive program. It's clear that a great deal of passion, thought, and careful planning has gone into creating a safe and enjoyable program. This trek was the highlight of my summer trekking season. It was exciting, challenging, and inspiring, and I treasure my memories of this great experience. I valued the opportunity of spending time with like-minded people, who really enjoy trekking in the wilderness, and I felt like I'd made new friends. I learned a lot on my trek - in the way I was looking to learn - through experience, observation, and conversation with experienced guides. Moreover, my guides created an environment where I felt totally safe about making mistakes, then discussing and learning from those mistakes. Creating this type of learning environment, in a wilderness setting, is a special skill. BPL did it extremely well. The trek met all of my expectations and more. For someone with an appropriate level of experience and conditioning, I would not hesitate to recommend a BPL Wilderness Adventure Trek. I would definitely register for another trek in the future.

My guides were absolutely fantastic. Their personalities are very well suited to this job. They are very knowledgeable, relaxed and competent.

I could not have asked for a better learning experience. I can always hike and cover miles in good to moderate conditions, that was nothing new. I learned how to cover miles and be safe in extreme conditions. The guides gave me invaluable information that I can use and know it works in the future. I would love to go on other trips with BPL in the future.

The off-trail day was fantastic where Ryan emphasized the use of topo maps as well as the actual terrain to "feel" the lay of the land and our progress to develop/modify our pathfinding skills. For me this was the BEST part of the whole trek and I would love to do another trek that was mostly if not all off-trail so that I could still further improve my navigation skills and confidence. It was a lot of fun and very helpful in my quest to become a more competent trekker. In summary, Ryan, my compliments to you and all of your team for developing such a great trekking program. Even though I am already a seasoned hiker of 40 plus years, I signed up for the trek with the dual purpose to learn more and to hike with like-minded people in a stunningly beautiful part of the world and the trek met all of my expectations and more. And thank you, Ryan, for continually striving to make BPL such a fabulous resource.

In the weeks leading up to the trek, I was a bit nervous about being the only woman--having been in that situation previously, I was well aware of the myriad ways that dynamic can play out poorly. To my relief, however, the guides and other participants did not make an issue of this at all (or make any crude or sexist remarks, intentionally or otherwise) and I felt completely comfortable the entire time. Throughout our journey, I found myself absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty of the Beartooths--its brilliant wildflowers, lush greens, abundance of waterfalls, rivers, streams, and crystal clear glacial lakes towered by jagged mountains cutting into a continuously cloudless sky made for a spectacle well beyond what I had dared imagine. Our guides were knowledgeable about the route, flora & fauna, gear, and BPL's philosophies and practices, and excelled at sharing this information while maintaining humility and enthusiasm for any insights we shared in return. Thanks for a great trek!