Interview with Ken Lyons, ALA Alumni
Ken Lyons has travel with Austin-Lehman on over 20 separate adventures.
How did you first hear of Austin-Lehman Adventures?
I heard about ALA from an old boss who knew I loved anything to do with the outdoors. His sister had gone on a trip with ALA (then Backcountry) and she said it was the best vacation she’d ever taken. I called to request a catalog and as soon as it arrived, my mind began racing…where to go first? The tee shirt they give you on the trip reads, “The toughest part is going home.” Picking a destination is the second toughest part! After much deliberation, I chose Glacier National Park.
What keeps you coming back to ALA?
First, it’s the wonderful destinations. We have some nice areas to explore on the east coast but as a child, I remember seeing pictures of the “great West” through a viewfinder. The seed was planted and I knew as soon as I had the opportunity, I would someday visit those places. When I received my first ALA catalogue, I scanned it with great excitement. My first Glacier trip included all the things I loved to do: hiking, biking, white water rafting and horseback riding, and was all that I could have asked for and more.
Second, I like ALA’s 6:1 guest-to-guide ratio and small group size tremendously. With only 10-12 guests on each trip, you really have a chance to get to know the folks you travel with. I’ve kept in touch with several ALA alumni. In fact, on my second trip to Bryce/Zion National Parks, I met a couple from New Jersey who have become good friends. We’ve done three trips together since and we go hiking back east together whenever we get the chance.
With a small guest-to-guide ratio, ALA guides tailor each trip so everyone has a great experience. I like to see as much as I can in a week, so I’m always given options to explore (even if other guests don’t want to). Guides are also happy to provide options for guests who want to take it easy for the day. This opportunity to push yourself as much or as little as you want to really makes for the perfect vacation.
The Adventurer’s Club is another reason to come back to ALA. The perks are great (First Ascent trips, special gifts, etc.).
Accommodations are great as well. Always interesting. I find them to be anywhere from rustic and charming to posh. Dinners are always memorable, sharing the day’s experience with the guides and guests before getting into wide ranging conversations.
Lastly, booking a trip is easy! The office is very helpful if questions arise. ALA puts me at ease right from the beginning with an in-depth knowledge of the travel industry and the destinations they offer. One year, a trip was cancelled due to forest fires in the Yellowstone/Big Sky area. ALA offered to send us on a Glacier trip a week later. I couldn’t get to Bozeman until noon on Sunday, the day the trip started. ALA made special arrangements to get me to Glacier. Needless to say, I had a great time, and even managed to earn an ALA nickname. My friends, Jim and Marg Simpson were on that trip. On the early hike on Sunday (which I missed), Jim made it sound like I was like six foot five inches tall and weighed about 280 pounds. When I met the group, they had already dubbed me “Crusher” – and even though I am only five feet seven inches tall and weigh about 142 pounds, the name stuck!
Why do you choose ALA over traveling on your own?
Largely because of the guides. I’m a big backpacker and I can tell you there’s a big difference between traveling on your own and with a guide. In the last two years I’ve backpacked the Wonderland Trail (a 92 mile trail that goes around Mount Rainier in Washington) and the Land of Enchantments in the Central Cascade Mountains of Washington. Backpacking is pretty strenuous and it entails sleeping in a tent and eating freeze-dried food. There is a lot of planning that goes into those trips…things like getting permits, securing rental cars, buying equipment (like gas canisters that you already have but can’t bring on an airplane). ALA provides me an opportunity to learn, explore, try new things and then come back to a nice room, great food and great company. You can’t beat that. I can’t think of any need that didn’t get met on any of my trips.
Also, all ALA trips are all pre-scouted and they include visits to lesser-known areas – often just as magnificent if not more so than the better-known touristy spots. Traveling with ALA allows you to experience with more solitude and beauty, to enjoy each region in a more pristine setting. ALA guides are all accomplished people who enjoy what they do tremendously. Their knowledge of the area, enthusiasm, energy and personality really make ALA trips special. They are always prepared for any situation, which is reassuring. ALA will also often bring in local experts to share their expertise with guests, which also adds to the whole experience.
What was your favorite ALA trip?
I get asked that question frequently on trips, especially when other guests find out that I’ve been on so many ALA adventures. My answer is always the trip that I’m on right now! The point is, I really can’t choose a favorite. A flood of memories come back to me when I think of where I have been, people I have met, guides who I admire for their multi-faceted abilities. That said, I thought I’d share a few of my most memorable experiences:
Glacier National Park
One of my favorite parts of this trip was my roommate, Ted, a fun loving guy from Philadelphia. We hit it off so quickly that other guests thought we were long time friends. My favorite activity was our bike ride along the “Going to the Sun” Road. There was very little traffic at seven in the morning when we set off and the temperature was comfortably cool. I felt like a young child with enormous energy and enthusiasm. It was the first time ever on a bicycle that I couldn’t tell whether the road was level, uphill or downhill. I simply charge on, changing gears based on whether pedaling got easier or harder.
The next day we rode horseback into the wilderness alongside some local cowboys. The flowers in Glacier were in full bloom and it was spectacular to see. A guest asked what kind of flowers some of them were. The head cowboy looked real serious as he pointed to the ground and said “Them there is wildflowers.” Everyone nearly fell off their horses laughing because the ALA guides could recite the common name, family name and often genus of each of the flowers we stumbled across, without batting an eyelash!
I have a fear of heights, so I was reluctant on this trip to make the hike to Angel’s Landing. Annie, our guide, gently encouraged me to try it, ensuring that if I became uncomfortable with the 1,300 drop, I could turn around. I made it to Angel’s Landing and I can’t tell you how exhilarating it felt to have overcome my fear. On the switchbacks on our decent, I was singing rather loudly with a bounce in my step and smile on my face.
I’ll also never forget our hike into the Narrows of the Virgin River on my last day. Some outdoor magazines have stated that this is the best hike in America, and rightfully so. You just have to see it to believe it.
Where are you headed next?
I will be on the Yellowstone trip starting on September 13th. I spent a few days in Yellowstone on the Big Sky/Yellowstone/Paradise Valley trip five years ago and have been dying to get back since. It is an amazing place with all the geothermal activity, wildlife and forest regeneration (forest fires burned over 700,000 acres of the park in 1988).
Anything else you’d like to ad?
What I really enjoy about multi-sport vacations is that they enable me to see great destinations in different ways. To float down a river on raft and experience white water from a wide river narrowing into a gorge gives you a whole different experience than say, a hike to a summit to look down on a glacier fed lake. I get a different sense and perspective of places by doing it differently each day. ALA guides scout out each destination and find places of interest that are relatively unknown and away from the crowds…and then they figure out the most fun, rewarding way to experience them – be it on foot or by bike, raft or horseback. Simply put, there’s just no better way to travel!
