About Jody
For over 20 years, Jody Young led camping
and adventure tours for a number of major tour companies in
the USA. For the past 7 years, she has added her own trips,
both open tours and for private clients, to better meet some
of the needs of those who want to experience more of what the
world has to offer.
She is expert in the canyon lands of southern Utah, the deserts of the Southwest, and the backcountry of Alaska, and has spent time with tour groups on North America's major mountains, McKinley and Whitney.
Jody now is doing three types of tours, her own trips open to anyone, trips scheduled and run by major adventrure travel tour operators, and private tours for groups, families or companies.
On this web site you will find her own trips,
with itinerary information and reservation forms. The trips
she runs for other Adventure Travel companies are sold and booked
buy them.
One of the most exciting things she now does is her own custom tours. These are more personalized, customized trips, than are possible with the major tour companies, with group make-up - such as families, companies, special-interest or needs groups such as all-women tours or groups with dogs, or just that special group of friends - and destination options that are not possible from a large tour operator. Lead and assistant guides are chosen from those she has worked with whose skills and experiences fit the group and its destination.
There is a large pool of assistant guides who work for a variety of tour operators. Three of those, Larry, Steve, and Karen, regularly accompany Jody or lead some of her trips. All are experienced and expert in their areas; Larry and Karen know the desert Southwest from may tours with another major guide, while Steve, who lives near the desert in southern Colorado, is actually best known for his Alaska work. Otto appears on many trips, particularly Alaska. Otto is actually Jody's brother-in-law, who in real life specializes as a 'rescue' manager for major resorts, running them during major transitions or to do studies to improve operations. His most recent jobs have been at major lodges in two of the Northwest's primier National Parks. He has biked across the country (and parts of others) and is a sea kayak instructor. And then there is Jim, Jody's older brother. He is the holder of the US Coast Guard captain's license that makes the trips on Lake Powell possible. He is also a former canoe/kayak, cross country ski, and sailing instructor. He has hiked the deserts of Southern Utah for over 30 years, exploring and discovering - he holds an Anthropology degree, and can talk and demonstrate stone tool technology while diagnosing your internet connection problems. He has spent most of his working life as an Olympic sailing coach - don't think just USA, he has coached around the world.
Jody's own background and skills are ideal for an Adventure Travel guide. In addition to the necessary skills of van driving and packing, canoe/kayak/sailing/skiing/hiking, tent set-up, and fire-starting, learned in a family that was outdoor-oriented, Jody has an outstanding reputation for her campfire cooking - and sense of humor - to help make your trip special. She learned her cooking as a chef, starting in Louisiana, and then moving north, then west, ending up as a chef at a major ski resort, Deer Valley, above Park City in UT. She also ran her own catering service with a small, exclusive client list. Her adventure travel resume begins as a camp cook for a major cross country biking tour company, moving into tour leadership and eventually getting hired by a major Alaska tour operator to guide and cook on the road, and be operations manager back at the office during Alaska's summers, while working for a couple different guiding companies primarily in the Escalante area of southern Utah during the springs and falls.
