Trip Itinerary

Trip Highlights Backpacking Rock Climbing Whitewater Rafting Fly Fishing

Day 1

We'll first meet each other as we arrive into the Jackson Hole airport and then head out to our first campsite. Get to know your instructors and course mates, talk about your goals, and begin preparing for your upcoming adventure.

Day 2

We’ll plunge right in as we discover the same things that Lewis and Clark did on their expedition. We’ll spend the day bouncing and splashing down 8 miles of the Snake River in paddle rafts. This thrilling river will be the subject of laughs and inspiration as our group continues to adhere.

Day 3-4

When you flew into Jackson Hole just over two days ago, you saw an incredible aerial view of the Tetons' jagged profile. Now it's your turn to spend two days ascending storied granite walls in the birthplace of alpine climbing in America. Led by Exum Mountain Guides, we'll spend the first day mastering the fundamentals in basic rock climbing school and then move on to exhilarating multi-pitch routes in intermediate school. To succeed on these committing and technical climbs, we'll need all the camaraderie and teamwork that we've developed from the past adventure, but the reward-an exhilarating view from the top coupled with the satisfaction of completing a classic route-will be well worth it.

Day 5-9

Five full days in the backcountry allow us to get a true feel for wilderness travel as we undertake the heart of our Big Wild adventure, an extended backpacking section Wyoming's Wind River Range. Find out why many mountain aficionados consider the Winds to be the finest in North America. Maybe it's the towering granite faces or the thousands of trout-filled alpine lakes or the largest glacier fields in the American Rockies. Or maybe it's simply the sheer scale of this wild range, one that you will come to know well.

At first, we'll travel shorter distances so that we have plenty of time to become familiar with our gear, learn about minimum impact camping, learn new skills like map reading, and generally become comfortable on the trail. Over time we'll travel greater distances and reach higher elevations, with a final goal of summitting one of the area's famous peaks. Standing on top with close friends, feeling the wind in your face, and gazing out over an unbroken panorama of "big wild," you may never want to leave!

Day 10-15

Next, we’ll take our backpacks off for a couple of days, head west into Idaho, and accept the challenge of rafting on the legendary Salmon River. Over the next four days, we'll be closely tied to the rhythms of this robust mountain river; we'll run its class III and IV whitewater, soak up the rays and watch out for wildlife as we drift through its calmer stretches, and sleep with its musical voice in our ears. In camp you'll help prepare the meals, play some beach volleyball, and swap stories with the rest of the group. Professional guides will teach us the basics of river running, but the river will teach us much about life.