Encountering wild animals is one awesome part of exploring natural spaces. All of the beautiful parks, forests, and coastal habitats you’ll adventure in with AT are home to animals first—we are just visitors! Crossing paths with wildlife is usually exciting and a great opportunity to learn something new, but it might also be one reason you or your friends are nervous about your trip. Let’s talk about it!

What kind of wildlife might we encounter on an AT trip?

You might see a new type of animal every few days on your trip! Every region we visit has a variety of birds, squirrels, deer and other mammals, fish, and reptiles that you’re likely to spot. In Yellowstone National Park, bison roam everywhere, and you might see a bighorn sheep or moose. In California, you’ll likely see elephant seals on the Lost Coast, black bears in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, and perhaps a river otter while rafting. Moose and caribou are common in Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest is full of bald eagles and banana slugs.

Sometimes, animals are more comfortable roaming around at night, and you’ll see them during evening meeting or if you stay up late to stargaze. Rabbits, deer, owls, opossums, bats, racoons, and many types of frogs are more likely to be out and about around the edges of the day; they are nocturnal or crepuscular, which means most active at dawn and dusk. There are also many animals you are very unlikely to see because of low population density or avoidance of humans. Skunks, foxes, whales (and most large sea life), mountain goats, bears, snakes, and pika are some of the animals that share the spaces we travel in but which are very rarely seen!

I’m afraid of bears! I’m afraid of snakes!

That’s OK! A lot of people are afraid of animals that are potentially dangerous to humans. It is important to remember that the animal attacks in movies and books are extra dramatic to keep you entertained, but are actually extremely rare.

While snakes are scary to many, they have fascinating characteristics that keep them safe from humans—and us safe from them. For example, they don’t have ears, but instead “hear” vibrations through the ground and the air. When a group of 10 people comes hiking up a trail, snakes feel us coming and move out of the way quickly. Most snakes also don’t want to bite you. Whether they have venom, they need to save their energy and tools to capture animals they can actually eat, like mice and small birds.

Black bears are normally very wary of people and steer clear of us. They might exhibit defensive behavior if they feel threatened, which may happen if they are surprised, separated from their cubs, or protecting a food source. While it is possible to startle a bear, that is unlikely to happen when you are traveling in a group, playing games with each other, and singing songs (sounds like an AT backpack to me!). This is why we intentionally make a lot of noise while hiking—it’s one of the best tools we have to prevent an animal encounter.

Additionally, we never keep food sources in our around our tents; we safely store anything that a bear (or any other animal) might perceive as food (this includes any “smelly” item like toothpaste or deodorant) in bear-proof canisters and away from where we sleep.

How does practicing Leave No Trace principles apply to wildlife encounters?

You’ll hear a lot about the seven principles of Leave No Trace ethics with Adventure Treks, one of which is “respect wildlife.” In addition to making noise to try to prevent encounters, we’ll also plan ahead in other ways, like the aforementioned food storage containers, bear fences, traveling in groups when in the backcountry, and educating our students and instructors on animal safety and what to do in the event of an encounter.

Respecting wildlife also includes being kind to animals. While offering food to wild animals is an easy way to get closer to them, it teaches the animals that humans are a source of food and increases negative interactions between people and wildlife over time. People are also much more likely to provoke an animal’s defense mechanisms by getting too close—which is why we never feed wildlife. While hiking on the Lost Coast, for example, there are signs that ask you to stay at least 200 feet away from the elephant seals. By respecting their space, you are much less likely to have a scary close encounter.

As a parent, do I need to worry about my child in a place where there are grizzly bears and other potentially dangerous wildlife?

Rest assured that regardless of the area, Adventure Treks instructors will go into great detail about the variety of wildlife that are present in our surroundings and all of the plans in place to prevent any interaction with them. Students will learn what to do in case of an encounter, and the group will practice safety protocols at all times so that everyone feels confident. Encountering wildlife from a safe and respectful distance should be an exciting part of an AT trip, not a nerve-wracking one!

Interpreting the language of outdoor retail

When it comes to buying outdoor gear for Adventure Treks (or even for a personal trip), there’s nothing more daunting than trying to decipher every obscure label, material, fabric, and technology that comes with buying even the simplest outdoor item these days.

But Adventure Treks is here to help! This spring, we’re launching our Gear Series: Tips for Buying Outdoor Gear. We’ll discuss some of the materials, technologies, labels, and other features commonly found on outdoor equipment, and attempt to clarify their meaning, use, and how they’re helpful on an AT trip.

Insulated (aka “puffy”) clothing

Warm clothes don’t create heat to keep you warm when it’s cold and/or wet outside. (OK, there are some garments with built-in batteries and heating elements, but let’s not talk about those for now.) Products that are designed to keep you warm in the elements do so with the help of insulation: layers of material that trap warm air from your body and keep it close to your skin, while stopping cold air from the outside getting in.

While insulated bottoms exist, they’re not applicable for Adventure Treks, so we’ll stick to upper body layers like coats and jackets. Some Adventure Treks trips (like Alaska Expedition, Ultimate Northwest, and California Challenge) include insulated jackets on the packing list due to mountaineering activities or colder weather. However, if your child gets cold easily, you can pack an insulated jacket for their trip just in case—just please pack synthetic (see below).

Insulation glossary

Synthetic: Synthetic insulation comprises long, very fine strands of plastic, piled together to form a fluffy, gauzy-like material, typically formed into sheets and sewn in place between the outer fabric and lining of the product. Because the insulation is plastic, it’s naturally water-resistant and will not collapse and “mat” together when wet. Synthetic items allow the warm air to continue to be trapped against the skin and maintain an insulative property even while wet. Synthetic insulation is almost always less expensive than down insulation, but it will be slightly heavier and bulkier than its down counterpart.

*We ask that students bring synthetic insulated jackets to Adventure Treks so that even if the material gets wet, it will keep your child warm.

Down: Down insulation uses the fluffy and soft down feathers, generally from ducks or geese, that help keep birds warm. These are very light and can trap a lot of air, so down insulation provides a fantastic warmth-to-weight ratio (essentially, it doesn’t need to be heavy to be warm). Because of its light weight and compressibility, down is a great choice when space and weight are an issue. The main drawback to down is that it doesn’t keep you warm when wet: In rainy conditions, these feathers will collapse, clump up, and mat, leaving no space for warm air to be trapped and rendering the jacket ineffective.

Fill power: This term describes the quality of down feathers used in a product, essentially measuring how the “loft” (how fluffy the feathers are, and how much air they can trap). Super fluffy feathers will trap a lot of air, so they will have a higher fill power. Feathers with more of the vein (that hard quill part of the feather) won’t trap as much air and will have a lower fill power. High loft = traps a lot of air. Low loft = not so much air. You’ll see this measurement listed as a number value, most commonly 650, 700, 800, and 900.

• 650–700 fill: Good loft, slightly more quill so feathers sometimes poke through the face fabric of these products. Good warmth-to-weight ratio. Less expensive options
• 800–900 fill: Very high loft and fewer quills on these feathers, so much less likely that feathers will poke through. Excellent warmth-to-weight ratio. Most expensive options

Insulation takeaways

• If purchasing a new insulated jacket, go with down if you’ll be spending a lot of time in dry climates like California.
• If you face the potential for lots of rain and snow (like in Alaska or the Pacific Northwest in winter), go with a synthetic jacket; these are typically a little more durable as well.
• For an AT trip, go with a synthetic jacket or coat; parkas are not necessary for our trips.