Explorer Chicks of Salt Lake City

Over the course of two days, join other women and learn how to backpack in beautiful Red River Gorge, Kentucky. This Red River Gorge Beginner Backpacking Workshop for women is a hands-on, fully immersive experience in the great outdoors. Never slept outside before? No problem!

Yes, your dreams of hiking to a faraway, remote land to spend a few days camping and living in the wild surrounded by mountains can come true! We want you to be able to backpack freely in the wild at your every whim armed with the skills, knowledge, and experience to do so! So welcome to your outdoor classroom: the Red River Gorge Geological Area.

AKA: This is ain’t no free class at your local outfitter. This is REAL backpacking with you doing all the things: packing, hiking with a full pack, cooking, setting up camp, hanging a bear bag, filtering water, asking a million questions, and if you’re real lucky pooping in the woods ?—with a supportive group of women and one of our expert guides. That means when you inevitably mess up, no need to feel embarrassed. When you question if you’re doing something correctly, your guide can help you. Let’s learn together in the outdoors, so when it’s time for your big adventure you’ll already have legit, backcountry experience.

It all goes down in beautiful Eastern Kentucky. With the Red River Gorge hiking trails leading to an abundance of natural bridges, sandstone cliffs, rock shelters, and sandstone arches, we couldn’t think of a more beautiful location to teach you how to backpack in the wilderness.

The best part? We’ll lend you the essential gear to get started! Every Explorer Chick will be provided with a:

• Backpack
• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping pad
• Shared two-person tent
• Shared cooking equipment
• Water filtration

Yep! Give backpacking and camping a try before thousands of dollars into it. Try out our gear to learn what features you like and dislike. Ask your guide about other brands. Seriously, this workshop is all about learning while connecting to other adventurous, rad women!

CLIMB KILIMANJARO LIKE A TANZANIAN QUEEN
It is possible to lose a toenail and still feel like royalty. This 9-day women’s Mount Kilimanjaro expedition shrouds you in comforts big and small as you summit the roof of Africa. Welcome to a woman-powered, thought-of-everything expedition. From boutique lodge stays to bougie basecamps with private toilet tents and morning coffee service, this is the Explorer Chick way to conquer Africa’s highest peak. Ovaries before brovaries. Let’s touch sky.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

• Begin and end your trek at a boutique, woman-owned retreat with killer views of Kili
• Peak mountain glamping: spacious walk-in tents, cot beds with thick pads, private toilet tents, and coffee delivered to your door
• Fuel up with hot trail lunches and chef-prepared dinners—because our mountain chefs are better than theirs
• Trek the legendary Machame Route, the most scenic path to the summit, with jungle, moorland, lava fields, and alpine desert all in one climb
• Scramble up the infamous Barranco Wall and enjoy a high-altitude lunch at Lava Tower
• Camp higher at crowd-free Kosovo Camp as part of our camp smarter strategy for a shorter summit push
• Reach Stella Point just as sunrise lights up the glaciers, then continue to Uhuru Peak—the Roof of Africa
• Climb the ethical way—we partner with KPAP to ensure porters are paid fairly, treated properly, and supported with safe working conditions

THE VIBE
Girl flies to Africa. Girl joins a mountain woman gang. Gang summits Kili and somehow sleeps better on cots in the sky than on memory foam.

This is bougification at altitude: a montage of extreme landscapes, jaw-dropping vistas, epic sunrises, unpolluted star-studded skies, and the endless high of surprising yourself.

Somewhere between scrambling the Barranco Wall and sipping tent-delivered coffee, you’ll feel like your most primal self. With bougie basecamps, ethical climbing practices, and the power of a small, women-only crew at your back, this climb gives you every reason to rise to the summit.

Join us on our Great Smoky Mountains Hiking & Glamping Weekend for women only! Enjoy four days of sweeping mountain vistas, a private whiskey tour, forest hikes, and more. Spend a long weekend with a small group of women hiking the best trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (including parts of the Appalachian Trail). Luxuriate with nightly glamping near Gatlinburg, TN.

Your hiking adventure has been carefully (obsessively?) curated by the Explorer Chick team over countless in-field tests. Only our top treks make the itinerary. Prepare to be challenged on the trail and rewarded with the most OMFG-level mountain views and waterfalls.

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS HIKING

Stride through sweet-smelling pine forests to reach sweeping panoramic vistas with a girl gang you’d trust more than Paul Bunyan. Climb to only one of three remaining fire towers in the National Park when you embark on the strenuous trek up Mt. Cammerer. You can take it “easy” on a moderate hike to the park’s highest single-drop waterfall, Rainbow Falls. Then, inch out to a bald rock outcropping on Charlie’s Bunion to get your heart hammered by mountain scenery in every direction. Walk in the foot path of thousands of Appalachian Trail thru hikers that have come before you on two hikes. Your Insta feed won’t know what hit it. Yes, this is real life with WILD women.

WHISKEY TOUR

Of course, what’s a trip to Tennessee without whiskey? You’ll spend a few hours on an exclusive, private tour with our local guide visiting distilleries on the Tennessee Whiskey Trail. Go behind the scenes at a real working still house and see how everything is made start to finish. Learn the history of whiskey throughout the Prohibition era, the state’s romance with whiskey, and why these mountains were such an integral part of moonshine culture.

GLAMPING

Each night, put your feet up in total Pinterest-worthy digs at our adorable glamping site minutes from Gatlinburg. You will sleep in a tent that has been tastefully decorated and luxuriously appointed with WiFi and temperature control – with meals freshly prepared at camp by your Explorer Chick guides. You only have one task after hiking: RELAX.

It’s a wonderfully wild weekend with a small group of women hiking the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Over the course of the long weekend, you’ll quickly grow close with your posse of Explorer Chicks as you hike the trails and share memories of summits.

Love animals and staying active on vacation? How about both! Channel your inner Darwin and get ready for our guided Galapagos Islands Tour and Multisport Adventure in Ecuador! Meet bold women who love to adventure travel and ugly-cry about nature just as much as you. Tour the islands, enjoy a variety of outdoor sports, and say buenos días to all the animals in the Galapagos.

TORTOISES AND OTHER WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS

The meet-and-greet crew on our Galapagos Islands tour are a wild bunch—literally! Experience incredible animal encounters throughout your trip. This is the binge-worthy Planet Earth on Netflix, but in REAL LIFE. Narrate your own nature film starring tortoises, sea lions, iguanas, penguins, boobies, reef sharks.

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS TOUR AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Over the course of our 9-day tour, you’ll visit three different islands. Each features a plethora of adventures to keep your intrepid soul curious. This trip is “check off the vacation bucket list” time. Why settle for a ho-hum tour where you have to pick and choose activities? This is Explorer Chick! We’ll do it all, baby! Snorkel, kayak, and hike amidst the wandering beasts and spewing volcanoes.

ALL OUTDOOR SPORTS EQUIPMENT PROVIDED

Yep! Explorer Chick provides everything you need to play outside on the Galapagos Islands!

• kayak and paddles
• snorkeling equipment

ALL-INCLUSIVE TOUR PERKS

Every evening, stay in 4-star boutique hotels. We’re talking roof top terraces with harbor views and beside pools with a cocktail. Plus, enjoy all-inclusive perks including:

• round trip flight from Quito to Baltra
• Galápagos National Park Pass
• Transit Card

Heck, you’ll even squeeze in some white sandy beach time! Relax with a book (and a neighboring sea lion). #MermaidParadise

Adventure Highlights

• Hike to the still active Volcano crater, Sierra Negra
• Snorkel the clear waters at Concha Perla looking for penguins, seals, and colorful fish
• Kayak the volcanic islets of Tintoreras while scanning for white-tip sharks and sting rays
• Explore one of South America’s best white sand beaches, Tortuga Bay Beach
• Visit the crystal clear pools of water surrounded by volcanic cliffs at Las Grietas
• Relax in the cute beach town of Puerta Villamil
• Hike to the highest point of Santa Cruz for a panoramic view of the islands
• Experience three total islands, including creepy-cool Floreana with black sand beaches
• Visit tortoise farms and breeding centers to learn more about conservation efforts
• Take a Chiva (local transport) to the highlands of Floreana, through banana, cocoa, and coffee plantations
• Participate in a cooking class in Quito with a local chef.
• Don’t sweat the often extra cost of the Internal round trip flight from Quito to Baltra (~$600), National Park Pass, ($100), and Transit Card ($20). These are included in your price.
• Kick back in 4 Star boutique hotels throughout your adventure that offer fabulous views that pair well with a cocktail
• Relax with a comprehensive itinerary that makes the logistics, transportation, navigation, meal planning, lodging, and everything in-between easy.
• Geek out with encouraging and supportive Explorer Chicks on a private, women-only, small group adventure tour.