Wander women
Empowering wilderness adventures for all women.
Join us to laugh, learn, connect, reflect, and grow!
Adventures
Wander Women backpacking trips are the perfect adventure for women of every age and every personality! Trips are “expedition style”, which means everyone works together to carry the gear, cook meals, and perform camp chores. But don’t worry, even if you have never been camping before we will teach you everything you need to know!
You will be provided with a comprehensive packing list, complete with tips on where to find the things you need. Before each trip, we hold a pre-trip gathering where you can get to know the group, ask questions about gear, and get tips for packing your backpack. If you are not local to Portland, we offer online pre-trip meetings on request.
On the first day of the trip, we’ll meet at the trailhead (about 5hrs East of Portland) in the afternoon, divvy up group gear and food, and head off down the trail. Each day we will hike for several miles on rustic trails, carrying everything we need on our backs. You’ll eat delicious meals customized for your dietary needs, and sleep in tents. Throughout the trip there will be intentional reflective activities, educational opportunities, and plenty of time to just enjoy the wilderness and the company of other women.
We can’t wait for you to join our community!
“Kori’s mindset and leadership gave me the nudge I needed to step into the backcountry. The skills and experience I gained from her gave me the confidence to return.”
– Kris
Health & Safety
Fresh mountain air offers a great space for connecting with other women, without the higher Covid-19 exposure risk of indoor spaces. Yes, we are requiring vaccination!
We have run successful trips throughout the pandemic (even in 2020!), and we’re excited to do it again in 2023! Whoohoo!
Learn More
We anticipate that by June 2023 the Covid-19 situation in Oregon will be at least as good as it was in 2022, and we will once again be able to run trips! After reviewing the local, state, and national guidelines, Wander Women has developed a COVID-19 plan that includes principles of vaccination, physical distancing, masks, sanitation, and flexible cancellations.
1. Up-to-date vaccination against Covid-19 is required for participation in Wander Women trips. Medical exemptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis, please contact us for more information.
2. Physical Distancing. One of the best things we can do to keep ourselves and each other safe is to maintain enough physical distance to reduce the risk of breathing in droplets that may contain the virus. The good news is that experts agree that the chance of infection is significantly lower outdoors, where the re-breath factor of contaminated air is very low. This means there is no better place to to gather than the great outdoors. Lucky us!
To achieve physical distancing on Wander Women trips each participant will have the choice between their own single-person tent, or sharing a tent if you register with someone you know.
3. Masks. Guidance on mask wearing will be aligned with the CDC recommendations and the regulations in Oregon at the time of your trip. We do not anticipate that masks will be needed.
4. Sanitation. Proper hygiene and sanitation is always important in the backcountry, and on Wander Women trips we use and teach the best practices for food handling and personal hygiene outdoors. We provide a personal bottle of hand sanitizer to each participant, and bleach dishes after meals. The use of bleach for sterilizing dishes in the backcountry is a common and effective practice which can be done with minimal environmental impact. Tents and other group gear is thoroughly sanitized after each trip.
5. Flexible Cancellations. If local, state, or national guidelines prohibit gatherings of this kind, or if the trails are closed to the public, then the trip will be cancelled and you will be issued a full refund. Since policies can change quickly, it is impossible to say how much notice we would be able to provide if the trip has to be cancelled, but we will let you know, via email, as soon as possible.
You may cancel for a full refund if you test positive for Covid-19 within 14 days of the trip start date. See our full cancellation policy for more details.
“Confidence that I still can, even though I thought I couldn’t. I feel like a renewed soul getting back to the wild places!”
– Margaret
