Our busy fall season is winding down and now I have time to catch my breath a little. When I was looking back on all the trips we’ve done as a company, I realized something important. Many of our guests have never backpacked before going on one of our tours. This may seem odd with a name like Just Roughin’ It that we’d take absolute beginners into the backcountry for 3 to 5 days but when I thought about it, it really isn’t odd for a few reasons.
Three of our Grand Canyon Guests
First, we find out about our guests abilities, hiking experience and fitness level when we are approached about leading a tour. We have many locations and routes available to us; some are great for beginners and others are meant for experienced backpackers. Most of our guests are active people who work out at least 3 days a week but the average person on the tour is definitely not a top athlete. They are just ordinary people that are looking for an extraordinary vacation. We are able to accomplish this by placing the guest on the tour we feel is the best fit based on the information we’re given.
We also have taken the time to find gear that is light weight and easy to set up. We realize that weight is an issue. Even experienced backpackers are always looking for ways to take a pound or even ounces off of their pack weight. Unfortunately, much of the high quality light weight gear is expensive and it doesn’t make much sense for a newbie to go out and spend over $1,000 to get geared up if they’re not sure about getting out in the wilderness. It’s alot of money to spend on gear to only get used once and sit in an attic or garage. With tours from Just Roughin’ It Adventure Company, the guests get a chance to test drive high quality gear and with a highly qualified guide around to help them learn how to use it.
Our guides are under the assumption that he or she will be setting up camp and tearing down camp for the guests each day but on the majority of the tours, the guests get involved and volunteer to help with setting up tents, laying out sleeping bags and mats as well as cleaning up after meals and packing up camp in the morning. Again, this is strictly voluntary but I’m amazed at how many people want to pitch in and help while on their vacation. Guests have also approached us after tours asking us to remind them about what gear we used because they are looking to buy it for themselves.
After realizing that we developed a user friendly backpacking trip for beginners, I wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of this so that we can encourage more people to try backpacking. In these tough economic times, it makes sense to look into low cost vacation ideas and backpacking is definitely a perfect choice. Once you get past the initial investment in gear, you can plan weekend getaways that cost a fraction of what you would spend on other types of trips. Benjamin Burner of Burner Photography even wrote post on his blog in October with some good tips on camping for free.
Backpacking is truly a great, low cost, way to get away from it all and our tours can introduce you to this activity so you can enjoy it for years to come.
Tags: Backpacking, Backpacking & Hiking, Beginner Backpacking, Beginner Backpacking Trips, Beginner Backpacking Vacations, Beginner Bacpacking Tours
