What makes our trips unique?
The People.
Packers, Backcountry Cooks, Botanists, Biologists, Guides, Educators, Entertainers, and all the folks supporting these trips from the frontcountry, our team works together to create one of a kind backcountry experiences that bring the wilderness into focus.
Kelly Kate Warren - Backcountry Cook
Hi! My name is Kelly Kate Warren (she/her), I'm a backcountry cook, writer, wilderness guide, and the person behind these trips.
I've been working in the wilderness for 14 years, as a trail worker, backcountry cook, wilderness ranger, youth educator, guide, and field biologist.
I've spent the last 6 summers working in California's Sierra Nevada Mountain Range at Rock Creek Pack Station, and its sister outfits, Cottonwood and Virginia Lakes. I've worked over 75 trips, ridden close to 2,000 miles, and served over 500 guests.
I live in the Eastern Sierra, but I spend Fall in the Northwest, monitoring Steelhead populations for Watershed Restoration projects, and Spring in the Southwest, cooking for hiking retreats on the AZT.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and lived in San Francisco for 7 years. I've worked in bars and restaurants for most of my life, and the restaurant world in SF introduced me to food as a means of celebration, nourishment, and cultural exchange. I believe that the most important part of cooking is eating well, and I am constantly seeking out new dishes, cooking techniques, and ingredients.
Be it the chemistry of cooking or the reproductive habits of salmon, I love science, and I've built my life around sharing that love with other people.
When I'm not working, I'm walking my dog, eating frozen dumplings, writing stories, dancing in the moonlight, hosting dinner parties, and giggling with my friends.
You can find me on instagram @thebackcountrycook
Christy Young - Logistics
Christy (she/her) spent three seasons as a backcountry cook for the National Park Service, feeding trail crew in the High Sierra. She has extensive experience living and working in high alpine altitudes where the air is thin and the sun is beaming. She has a great love and respect for the Sierra Nevada and can’t imagine a summer without being in their presence.
This summer she’ll be handling the logistics for all of our pack trips, and expanding her cooking skills as sous chef on special trips. These trips would not be possible without someone on the outside providing support, and we are so grateful to have Christy join us this summer.
Christy grew up in the Bay Area, and calls San Francisco home in the off-season.
Matt Berger - Botanist
Matt Berger (he/him). is a botanist with an expertise in the flora of the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, Mojave Deserts, and Cascada Range. He is also a passionate backpacker, having completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail - the triple crown of thru-hiking. He works as a field technician conducting rare and invasive plant surveys throughout the West. Matt writes about botany on instagram as @sheriff_woody_pct, where he’s helped thousands of people to get educated and excited about plants. On this trip he’ll be identifying the plants and ecosystems you’ll be trekking through, and answering questions about the flora and fauna of the mountain meadows. Matt never tires of talking about plants, be it gnarly old foxtail pines or tiny wildflowers and grasses, all have pivotal roles to play in the montane ecosystems.
Danny Boi - Bear Patrol / Kitchen Assistant
Danny (he/they) has worked 6 seasons in the wilderness, and has extensive experience in bear deterrence, pest management, washing dishes, and crawling into your lap to steal your body warmth. He will accompany us on trips in the National Forests or on BLM land, but dogs are prohibited in the National Parks. He is low-shed and well-trained, but please contact us if you have allergies or other concerns.
Spencre McGowan - Writer, Herbalist, Cookbook Author
Spencre McGowan (she/her) a writer, herbalist and cookbook author. In 2016, she founded Gingertooth, an online blog and shop dedicated to accessible herbalism and botanical recipes. Her books include, Blotto Botany: a Lesson in Healing Cordials and Plant Magic, and Forest + Home: Cultivating an Herbal Kitchen. She went to the California School of Herbal Studies in Sonoma County. Spencre lives on a big hill in Butte, Montana.
Find her on IG and TikTok @ginger.tooth and on Substack.
Marika Clymer - Bioregional herbalist, Healing practitioner,
Marika Clymer (she/her) is a bioregional herbalist, healing practitioner, and writer from the Pacific Northwest. Marika’s work is rooted in ecological embodiment, a framework that helps us understand how land-based relationships are the foundation of personal, communal, and ecological health.
More about Marika: Marika worked on farms in Washington from 2013 to 2020, cultivating primarily vegetables and culinary/medicinal mushrooms. In 2018, she completed an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Environmental Studies & Sciences, focusing on Pacific Northwest ecology, regional sustainability, and more. She began her journey as a folk herbalist in the Central Cascades in 2013, and has since completed multiple programs and studied under teachers such as Sajah Popham, Michael Moore, and Matthew Wood.
You can find Marika on instagram at @thewoodsmansdaughter
Patrice Ringelstein - Biologist
Patrice Ringelstein (she/her) is a biologist, researcher, and lifelong animal lover with a passion for connecting people to the outdoors and protecting open spaces. Over the past decade, she has worked on a wide range of environmental and natural resource protection projects across California—from conducting shark research in the San Francisco Bay for her master’s thesis to tracking the post-fire recovery of mountain lions in the Los Padres National Forest.
Based in Ventura County for the past six years, her recent work includes nesting bird, bat, and rare plant surveys, as well as habitat restoration projects. Patrice also brings eight years of teaching experience, having served as an outdoor educator and program developer with nonprofits in Ventura County and the Bay Area. One of her favorite roles was giving daily underwater presentations as a SCUBA diver at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
Patrice’s love of community extends beyond the field. She discovered line dancing on a horse-packing trip in the Eastern Sierra Nevada in 2020 and was instantly hooked. Despite being physically exhausted, the group came alive when they started dancing—laughing together as the horses and mules grazed in a nearby meadow. The experience became a much-needed reset and sparked something in me.
When she returned home, Patrice sought a welcoming space where a Black woman could groove to country music and stumbled on an amazing community of mostly women and queer dancers led by a local shepherd in Ventura. We dance weekly like it’s our religion. Line dancing is energizing, grounding, and consistently brings a smile to her face. She loves sharing this joy with others and can’t wait to dance with you all on the forest floor
Allison Aanerud - Packer / Pack Station Manager at Red's Meadow Pack Station
A native Minnesotan, Allison (she/her) migrated west in pursuit of mountains & mules in 2012. A lifelong horsewoman, equine veterinary technician & holding a degree in Field Biology, she discovered the most fulfilling way to live her life was deep in the mountains alongside the long ears.
Since then, Allison has packed government trail crews in remote places like the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana. Her highlights in those years include spending long stretches of time in the backcountry (up to four weeks without a road!) & a season spent solo packing a string of nine mules.
In 2025, Allison returned to her roots in packing at Red’s Meadow, standing alongside the Tanner family to continue their rich tradition of packing in the Eastern Sierra. In her off time, you can find riding her horse Smokey or hiking with her dog Ediza.
Maggy Allen - Packer / Owner & Operator at Rainbow Pack Outfitters
Maggy (she/her) was raised in the saddle at Rainbow Pack Outfitters, the youngest of four sisters growing up between Bishop winters and long High Sierra summers. In a family where everyone worked, she was helping guide trail rides by 11 and making solo single-mule drops into the backcountry before she could drive.
Now in her 15th season as a backcountry packer, Maggy represents the next generation of her family’s 27-year legacy at Rainbow. She has packed everything from wilderness guest trips to National Park Service resupply contracts, and in 2023 stepped into ownership alongside her parents. Today she serves as operations manager, full-time packer, and one of the station’s farriers — equally at home in front of a string of mules or balancing the logistics that keep the business running.
Her commitment to the mountains runs deep. Maggy believes strongly in preserving wilderness access through responsible stock use and thoughtful stewardship, ensuring that future generations can experience the same wild country that shaped her.
What makes her story even more personal is that she was born with a congenital heart defect and has relied on a pacemaker since she was six months old. She has undergone multiple life-saving surgeries — but the mountains have never been negotiable. The high country is where she feels strongest, most grounded, and most alive.
In the off-season, she trades alpine mornings for a warm bakery kitchen in Bishop, reads more books than she can track, trains and rides her horses and mules, and goes on walks with her nearly 13-year-old border collie, Boomer.
Maggy hopes her life in the backcountry serves as quiet proof that resilience can outpace limitation — and that sometimes the wildest places are exactly where we find our footing.
James Reeves - Packer / Farrier
James (he/him) grew up in Sacramento, California, but the western world never seemed very distant during his formative years. His grandpa had a small ranch just two hours south, and his father is a cowboy poet, western photographer, and mule packer. Once James entered adulthood, he made the cowboy life his own. He has worked at ranches and backcountry outfitters throughout the West, including Montana, Colorado, California, and Arizona. Hen spent several seasons packing for National Park Service logging crews in Yosemite. He believes that the best things to chase after in life are the ones that keep you motivated to keep learning more. He is an eager student of the western life. Every day he seeks to improve his horsemanship and to find more of what the west has to offer. He loves sharing these passions with others.
Inmn Neruin - Game Designer / Playwright / Podcaster / Professional Goblin
Inmn Neruin (they/them) is a game designer, playwright, podcaster, and professional goblin.
You can find Inmn (they/them) in the Sonoran Desert forging knives, performing with Shakesqueer Theater, and creating worlds for their friends to explore. They are the co-creator of the tabletop roleplaying game Penumbra City and co-host of the preparedness podcast Live Like the World is Dying. Inmn has been playing and running tabletop role playing games for most of their life and delights in merging the world we live in with the worlds that we can imagine, taking inspiration from the natural world, folklore, history, and the grief of living in a dying world. Inmn's games focus on collaborative storytelling and character exploration. Inmn started writing games professionally in 2022 for Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. They love to wander through the woods, make up folklore about birds, and ride their bike absurd distances.
You can find Inmn on Instagram @shadowtailartificery.
Katie Bishop - Wildlife Biologist / Packer / DnD Guide
Katie Bishop (she/they) is a wildlife biologist, packer and guide, and fantasy enthusiast, excited to join you in both your fictional and non-fictional adventures!
Katie discovered a love for mules and the woods working summers as a trail guide and packer in the Teanaway river valley of eastern Washington. Their time outside inspired them to pursue a degree in wildlife conservation and management at Cal Poly Humboldt, which they will graduate with in late 2026. Recently, she has worked as a wildlife field technician surveying nesting raptors and sierra nevada bighorn sheep, becoming familiar with the flora and fauna of the region.
When not on an adventure in the woods, they can be found preparing for adventure in the fantasy realms. Growing up an avid reader and fantasy fan, she began playing Dungeons and Dragons in 2012 and has been running her own games since 2018. They take inspiration from their favorite fantasy stories and can often be found toting around a tome or crafting chainmail and cloaks for the next renaissance faire.
Find Katie posting many pictures of birds on instagram and tiktok at @katies.bees
Mark Midgett - Packer / Guide
Mark grew up on the California coast, and has been working with mules since the 1970s. He's a lifelong horseman, hunter, and fisherman, with a passion for ecology and wildlife conservation.
As a citizen scientist Mark's been monitoring deer and mountain lion populations in the Owen's Valley for over 20 years. He’s an Army veteran and has a degree in Biology from UC Davis. He is one of 2 black packers working in the Sierra, and he's been packing mules and guiding pack trips for over 30 years
In 2016, Mark helped to rescue a threatened population of endangered Golden Trout from Volcano Meadows, packing 52 fish 15 miles out of the Wilderness on 2 mules named Trudy and Fancy.
Mark is a phenomenal guide and storyteller with decades of experience navigating the High Sierra, caring for mules, and sharing his love of wildlife.