from green to grit
Family hiking

Memories

We have so many people that are really excited to share their stories that we decided to dedicate a page just to them. People that have gone on an adventure with us, taken our classes or both, write all of these articles. What better way to convey an experience than have it come from our adventurees.

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Introduced

My wife and I both grew up in the city our entire lives. Growing up in the city we really didn't have a while lot of chances to explore the outdoors. We never really were interested until one day at work a friend of mine was talking about how he found Grit and took some classes.

I thought it sounded interesting, and beings we have a young family, I figured it would be good to get them started in it and go through the outdoor experience together.

We started by taking a few classes to get introduced to a few of the basics and then moved on to the guided activities that they offer. We started by having them take us on a few hikes and then tried our hand at camping.

The kids absolutely loved it, and so did we. We couldn't have had a better time. The guides were so patient with our children, and with us, beings we had about the same skill level.

We all learned so much from them and enjoyed ourselves so much that we have recommended Grit to a few of our friends and it seems like they have had the same experience.

Because of our time spent with the guides and what we learned we now go on our own adventures every weekend that we can.

killer whale

Best Day

30 seconds had passed, maybe a minute. The 10 of us sat together, floating in 5 tandem kayaks. The last time we saw the fin, it didn’t move to the left or right—the narrow edge just got bigger as he surfaced, breathed, and went below. We didn’t know what would happen next. The only certainty was that one of the earth’s largest predators was coming straight at us. In the moment, it never occurred to me that we were in danger. I had my camera and all I could think about was getting the picture the next time he showed himself.

It started just to our left—maybe 15-20 feet away. The innocuous tip of a black fin cut the sparkling veneer of the bay, its seeming insignificance serving to remind us of the sea’s vast capacity to hide what lies beneath. The first picture will always be one of my favorites, even though it will never be one that I could sell or display. The problem is that it’s out of focus. The reason is that the orca was so close, the lens couldn’t focus.

blurred killer whale The fin continued to rise. Somewhere around the halfway mark of its 6-foot height, his bulbous melon of a head disturbed the water 8 feet in front of the fin. As his head surfaced and he blasted the air and water from his lungs, the water between his blowhole and dorsal fin seemed to collapse in on itself as if his head were Moses, parting this small section of the sea. The rest of him followed until about 2/3s of his back was visible, giving us a good look at the saddle patch that is as unique to his species as fingerprints are to ours.

Then he gracefully arced downward, the fathom-long spike on his back angling forward as his head pointed toward the sea floor. Quietly, smoothly, it sank back under the surface just as it had arisen. In those last few instants it lingered as the tiny tip that we first saw just a few heartbeats ago. And then he was gone, the surface of the water denying his existence just as the depths once again embraced him. 


Story and photos by Jeff Lear ©Lear Communications

Lady portrait

Educated

I had been nearing the end of my college years and was looking into hiking the Appalachian Trail. I had read a few books about people doing and have been doing some research online. I was really getting excited for it. The only issue was that I had little experience and had no friends that wanted to spend the time to do it.

I wasn't skilled enough to do it on my own nor was I educated enough. I did some research and found a lot places that offered basic lessons and other places that offered tours. I felt that would be all right but then I found Grit and saw that they had it all.

After doing some research on them I realized this would be perfect. Where else can I get someone to teach me the skills and also be hired as a guide to get me ready for some longer hikes.

guy portrait

I signed up for a few classes like gear 101. I learned so much from these instructors. They taught me what type of gear I should look for in the long hikes, where I could shave some weight off my pack, and how to pack my bag for best weight distribution. They even went with me to go to the local camping stores to purchase my equipment.

After I had completed that I decided that it would be a good idea to learn how to use this new gear. I signed up for the survival class and they taught me things like, how to build a campfire and how to survive off the area.

Being armed with this new knowledge I decided that I would test my new skills and then signed up for the overnight backpacking trip. This was to see how I would do sleeping out in the wild and not in my comfy bed. I was a bit worried that I couldn't do it because I have never slept out in the woods.

Since that was a success I then signed up for their week long backpacking tour and just experienced so much that it just added to my fire of wanting to do the Appalachian Trail.

Beings you can choose your instructors I decided to keep the same one throughout the whole experience, from the lessons on up to guides. We actually became good friends and did a few hikes on our own and in the end I convinced him to do the big hike with me.

One of the things that I loved most about this whole experience is that everyone there was always so helpful and never talked down to me and made me feel comfortable. They had tons of patience and a very high knowledge base.

I would recommend this to anyone that is looking to get into the outdoor experience without the confidence to do so one your own.