Peace of Mind…and Other Perks to Traveling with Great Guides
By Jonathan Lehman
With developments like Google, 24-hour high-definition travel television, online forums, and more guidebooks and travel memoirs than you can shake a stick at, it seems like informed, independent travel is easier than ever. But no matter how much research, planning and consultation to into a trip; travelers who choose to fly solo are still missing two key elements essential for a truly world-class vacation: the knowledge that comes with experience, and peace of mind.
This is where a good guide comes in. And I’m not talking about the umbrella-toting type, whose responsibility is to lead a herd of tourists through a crowded city citing points of interest. I’m talking about the guide who takes care of every single detail throughout the day, so you don’t have to.
The guide who prides herself on taking you off the beaten tourist track. The guide who challenges you to hike the extra mile for a jaw dropping view, and who’s there with a cold drink and a lift when you’re ready to call it a day. A good guide who is as passionate about people and travel and the great outdoors as you are. Dedicated, experienced and a wealth of knowledge, your guides are often what, in the end, define your travel experience.
At Austin-Lehman, from the moment your trip begins, you can rest assured that your guides will be focused with laser-like precision on making sure that your vacation is unlike any other, working around the clock to ensure that you’re well cared for, challenged (when you want to be, of course), and most importantly, having fun!
With a decade of experience as an Austin-Lehman guide and three decades as a geologist, guiding ALA travelers through Yellowstone never gets old for Dennis Garnett. Join him on one of his tours and you may find yourself hiking far from the crowds along backcountry trails he knows like the back of his hand, or taking a dip in a secluded hot spring that’s so far off the tourist radar that only the locals (and Dennis) know it exists. It’s likely you’ll also find yourself soaking up Dennis’s expertise on the Park’s mud pots, fumaroles and geysers, realizing you haven’t had this much fun learning about planet earth since you dumped baking soda in a model volcano in grammar school.
It’s not only the interaction with your guides that makes your ALA experience so special, but the behind-the-scenes legwork that goes into every trip: the “out of sight and out of mind” details to which our guests are oblivious. Long before your vacation commences, for example, our guides will have already begun their pre-trip inspection. This 3-4 day exercise allows our guides to survey every step and turn of your itinerary to make sure that your Austin-Lehman adventure is seamless.
During your trip, you can expect your guide to work tirelessly to ensure your comfort and well being, and not to mention, paying special attention to the extra touches and surprises for which ALA is known. From trailside snack stops to surprise gifts, our guides know exactly what it takes to make sure our guests have the time of their lives. Of course, no special request is too big or too small, either. Feel like a couple of extra hours of biking? Looking to relax with a massage at the next stop? Is your lunch incomplete without your favorite, somewhat esoteric refreshment? Just say so.
We could go on all day about how fabulous our guides are, but our mouths would probably get tired. Luckily, our guests and our guides haven’t been shy about letting us know how memorable their experiences have been. Just take it from veteran Austin-Lehman guest Charlie Wiggins. On his first trip with us, an unexpected case of vertigo turned out to be the key to a great vacation:
“Our guides, Mac and Ryan, were the best! One day on a day hike up a mountain in Waterton Park, we got to a part on the trail that was above tree line with a significant drop off. We got about 100 yards from the top and I discovered that I had vertigo, which I’d never experienced before. I told the guides that I would stay behind and eat my lunch there and they could all meet me on the way down. Mac, the lead guide, stayed with me and talked me through it for about 20 minutes. I decided to give it a go and made it to the top with his help. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life to have done that, to overcome that fear. Going down was a snap!”
Austin-Lehman guide Laurie Barnard is a regular on our Montana and Yellowstone adventures. From her years living in Glacier National Park (where she summated over 50 mountains), Laurie knows the lay of the land and is always eager to let her guests in on some of the secrets that make this part of the United States so majestic:
“On one of our hikes up Beehive Basin, I took some of the guests higher up into the glacial cirque to find snow in the heat of summer. They had a blast throwing snowballs at each other and one woman purposely took a big dive and went sliding down a snowfield. It was the highlight of their day.”
And it’s not just Laurie’s knowledge of the natural world that comes in handy for Austin-Lehman travelers—her longstanding relationship with the locals means her guests can get a sneak peak into the life a rancher, not to mention some firsthand experience:
“During our western experience in Montana at the 320 Guest Ranch, I arrange to have a wrangler or two teach the guests how to rope a steer before we go out for a hayride and a pig roast. The guests love it and some get pretty good at it. Sometimes the head cowboy will show off his lassoing skills and spin his rope around himself and his little boy while guests cheer him on.”
Charlie’s and Laurie’s are only two of the many stories that our guests and guides have to tell. Just like our intrepid travelers, at Austin-Lehman we’re proud to consider our guides a very important part of our family. We invite you to spend a moment on our website to get to know the 30+ people who work to ensure that your Austin-Lehman adventure is the most memorable trip of your lifetime. With photos, profiles, and interviews galore, the guides section of Austin-Lehman.com is the perfect place to catch up with a favorite old guide—or to do some research and identify some new favorites that might just be leading your next trip!
