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WATER & ROCKS
IDAHO, MONTANA, UTAH, WYOMING
Adventure Expedition
Backpack Italian Peaks, Montana/Idaho
Beach Backpack Pacific Coast in Olympic National Park, Washington
Ice, Snow Climb and Summit Ascent Mt. Rainier, Washington
Rock Climb Mt. Erie, Fidalgo Island, Washington
Whitewater Raft and Kayak Lower Salmon River, Idaho
Cultural Experience with the Hutterites of Montana
We meet in Salt Lake City, Utah, then head to the mountains of Montana's Beaverhead National Forest. There, surrounded by more than 1,700 miles of magnificent trails, we backpack for six days through the Italian Peaks along the famous Continental Divide. Running between Idaho and Montana, this is one of the most breathtaking hikes in the continental U.S. Mountain goats stand guard on the highest peaks, surveying majestic vistas, watching us closely as we take in the unforgettable terrain.
We travel further into the Big Sky of Montana and camp, stopping to visit our friends, the Hutterites, for a once in a lifetime experience. Here we make camp and visit with our old and dear friends. Over the years, we have learned to appreciate their simple lifestyle. These hardy, disciplined people have strong ideas about how to live. Their way of life is such that they still to this day have no police force. For over 30 years the Stein's have been welcomed into their homes and since 1991, they have extended the same hospitality to RLT groups.
We leave the Hutterites laden with homegrown vegetables. Traveling through the great northwest to the Olympic National Park and the Hoh Valley Rain Forest, we weave our way through towering stands of redwoods. Dwarfed by some of the tallest trees in the world, we explore a fern-lined gully filled with milk-blue waters and vibrant moss. After this, we spend five exhilarating days on the Olympic Coast - three days backpacking, two days swimming and exploring the Hoh rain forest and the beaches, pausing to scan the horizon for migrating whales.
We leave Olympic for Mt. Rainier. There we harness up with world-class climber, Lou Whittaker and his crew from Rainier Mountaineering, for a three-day program in ice and snow mountaineering. The earth's largest volcanic peak, Mt. Rainier is one of the toughest and most spectacular climbs in North America. Its 24 billion cubic feet of ice are fissured with crevasses 30 feet across and 1,000 feet deep; undaunted, we make our bid for the 14,411-foot peak. Consider the view from the summit - looking down through the clouds, we can see the world curve.
From Mt. Rainier, we move north to Mt. Erie for two days of rock climbing. Scaling the granite walls of the highest point on Fidalgo Island, we have a commanding view of the San Juan Islands and the sparkling waters below. The glacier-smoothed metamorphic rock is the perfect place to test ourselves for two days learning climbing styles, techniques, knots and belay options.
After tackling Mt. Erie, we head back to Idaho to face the Salmon River. Cutting a gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon, the Salmon River flows in a pattern of alternating calm pools, dramatic plunges and roaring rapids. For four days, we race down the narrow, fast dropping river in our rafts and inflatable kayaks, surrounded by clear water, pine forests and rocky canyon walls.
After the rush of running the Salmon, we have every reason to laugh like pirates and howl at the moon. By journey's end, we have explored mountains and glaciers, ocean and rain forest, river and rocks, having covered four states. That's no small feat, so to celebrate our accomplishments; we throw a killer banquet and muse over a summer that will forever be etched in our minds.