Guided Backpacks

Most of the backpacking I do now is on guided trips. I used to lead trips myself and some of my old friends wonder why I would choose to be led. My response is usually something like, well, when are we going backpacking? And then, they don't really have much else to say on the matter.

It gets really difficult to match vacation schedules once people have partners, children, super serious careers, etc. It takes a really dedicated hiking partner to carve out schedules together. My answer has been guided hikes.

Technically, I did my first guided hike in 2002 in northern Italy. I did the Via Ferrate in the Dolomites with an Italian outfitter. My husband had a conference on Lake Como, the kind where he was expected to share a room, so spouses were clearly not meant to be part of the package. Now that i think of it, we were not married at the time. I decided to go hiking while he was at his meeting and then we would find each other again afterwards. The caveat here is that we stayed in the rifugios common in Europe. No carting tents and stoves around on our backs, all i needed to bring was a daypack. And I got to sleep on a bed at night. The indoor toilets were still of the squat and hold onto a pole variety, but they flushed. And there was cold beer at the end of the day.

That was in the time before digital cameras and cameras on phones were common. I don't yet have photos I can post on line, but I can say that it was a spectacular hike, with views beyond my expectations. It might not be the most exposure I've ever encountered, but if not, it is pretty close.

Since then I have used a few other guide services, all stateside.

This is on my mind today because I am being offered a space on a Sierra Club backpack for which I was wait listed. The trip is in southern Utah and is sandwiched by my NOLS Canyoneering course and my backpack in ANWR. I am thrilled at the chance to go, but even with a guided trip, I need to work out the schedule with my husband and my daughter. My daughter will ask to go with me and my husband will wonder about logistics and cost. I will continue to fantasize about 25 nights.