What We Do
How does it work?
Well it’s really quite simple. If you’ve ever wanted to go backpacking and just don’t feel comfortable going out alone, or without someone that has experience, we can make it happen. Maybe you are the adventurous type and simply don’t want to invest in all the gear just to try it out. This is where we come in. We are group of people… family really, whom love the outdoors, who will guide you on your adventure. We will supply you with the main items you’ll need to enjoy your hike, such as a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and pack. We have been camping, hiking, backpacking and enjoying the outdoors for decades together and decided to share it with people like you. We believe this planet, we call home, is so beautiful that we want to spread the word so others can enjoy it as much as we do. With that, we want to work with people to show them the ‘right’ way to enjoy backpacking. Things like safety, conservation, and leave no trace are concepts which we believe are important to teach our hikers. Whatever capacity you decide to have us work with you, we are humbled to be invited into your life and show you the wonderful things that being ‘on trail’ have to offer.
So what do we offer?
We offer a multi tiered guided service while on trail. By selecting one of our established pre-planned hikes for your adventure, we make this process very easy for you to enjoy your weekend. We know that your time is very precious, so using our experience we take care of all the things that are needed for our time on trail to be a safe and memorable one. Our guides have been hiking all over the country and we are proud to say that Minnesota has one of the best and most beautiful hiking trails in the country. Running along almost the entire length of Lake Superior in the state, we have a beautiful hiking trail. Each one of our guides has tons of experience hiking on the trail, with a few of them completing the entire length. Some of our guides have completed multiple sections, multiple times, allowing us the ability to choose some of the best sections to host your adventure. We have established several pre-planned hikes on the trail which offer different levels of difficulty, terrain, elevations, and views. It’s up to you on which one you feel most comfortable in experiencing. No matter which one you choose, we have been there, which allows you to focus on enjoying your time on trail. Carrying everything you need for a weekend of enjoyment is work. You can expect a backpack that will weigh between 30lbs and 40lbs, which you will need to carry while hiking. We do our best to divide the gear up based on weight, strength, fitness level and experience if you have some. So allowing you the ability to focus on your performance and enjoying your surroundings is our goal. We want you to fully enjoy this new experience without having to worry about the details! Then maybe you’ll come back out with us or go on your own adventure in the future, to experience the many beautiful things the trail has to offer. Please note that we do have a four hiker minimum for all trips. We do join up single and double hikers with other groups if necessary. Please understand that if this happens you may have to hike on a section that is different than the one you select. In addition to the four hiker minimum, we also cap our number at eight hikers plus two guides. This allows the hikers that join us to get the attention they need on their hike.
What are the accommodations?
Along with our guiding services, we also setup camp. It’s up to you on how involved you want to be. We can completely set up your tent and get you ready for a nice night under the stars, or we can help you do it. The only thing we will ask of you is to blow up your own sleeping pad. Other than that, we’ll take care of the rest. Also, while at camp we’ll take this opportunity to reflect on some things. Topics like; where’s the best place to put your tent and why, why is it important to stay fed and hydrated, where and how to go to the bathroom if there isn’t a latrine around. We’ll take some time around a campfire to talk about the high points and low points of the first hike, and how to build on that for day two. We may even go over how to tie a few knots that will serve you well back in civilization. There are many things that we can take the time to go over, which will help you to be able to do this on your own if you choose to. Another important thing we’ll probably go over is how to filter water and why its important. Hikers differ on this topic, but we’ll error on the safe side and explain why we filter all of our water, and sometimes go to the extreme of purifying it with a UV light. The north shore has some of the best tasting water in the world, as long as it’s treated properly. Most of us prefer it to the water out of our taps or even the taste of spring water. Another important topic we’ll talk about is the critters. Being Minnesota you don’t have to worry about the grizzly bears as there aren’t any here. There are black bears however, so we’ll take the necessary precautions to ensure we don’t cross paths. With as busy as the trail is in the summer time, it is very unlikely that we will see any large animals. Its the squirrels and the ground critters that like to chew through your packs and sweaty clothes that we need to worry about. We’ll go over how to ensure that doesn’t happen. A lot of time is spent hiking on the trail, however there is also a lot of time spent at camp. Using our time wisely to teach you the finer details of this wonderful past time is time well spent.
What do we eat?
When we’re out on trail we work pretty hard. Carrying all that stuff can tire you out pretty quickly if you’re not feeding your body the right nutrients it needs, as well as re-hydrating ourselves after sweating all of our liquid fuels and electrolytes out. We take nutrition very serious and not only with replenishing our losses, but making sure we have enough to begin with. One of our guides is a nutritionist and health coach, and she knows what our bodies need. Especially before and after a hike. It’s such an important aspect to hiking and it often gets overlooked. It’s easy for people to pack away a few packages of ramen noodles which will last them an entire weekend, however that does not carry the full amount of nutrients our bodies need. It is important to be properly fueling our bodies before, during and after our hikes. We ensure that our foods contain enough of the nutrients that our bodies need to have a safe and successful hike. We use both freeze dried and dehydrated foods on our hikes. By utilizing the process of removing the water from the food, it helps to reduce the amount of weight we need to carry, as well as increasing the shelf life and preservation of the food. Don’t let that fool you though, as we have learned how to re-hydrate our meals so that they are very tasty! That’s one of the things we pride ourselves on, is our menu. We also pack tons of snacks to munch on during our hike. Before your hike, you will download the food selection list located under the “Pick Your Meals” tab on the “Getting Ready” page. After filling that out you’ll get that over to us and we’ll prepare the food bags and bring them out on the trail for all of us to carry. We typically divide up the weight of the food bags between all the hikers to carry. This is a team effort and we all need to count on each other.
Please let us know if you have any food restrictions beforehand. We will accommodate any hikers request to make this a safe and memorable hike, including the meals. If people are allergic to nuts or any other types of foods, we will make sure that there aren’t any of those types of foods in our meals or snacks and find alternative ways to get our nutrition.
If you think you want to join us, call or register for a hike today!
