I found out about Wilderness Inquiry through one of my company’s interns, an amazing young woman named Virginia Pendleton. Virginia is spending her summer as an Outdoor Leader with Wilderness Inquiry, leading adventure trips. Wilderness Inquiry is an award-winning, non-profit organization in Minneapolis that helps people from all walks of life personally experience the natural world. Its mission is to make adventure travel accessible to everyone, regardless of age, background or ability. Each year, they operate more than 100 multi-day and daylong trips to locations around the world. Destinations include Alaska’s Porcupine River, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, Mexico, Costa Rica, Patagonia, Kenya, Tanzania, Belize, New Zealand and Australia.
Schoolchildren from St. Paul Minn on the Mississippi
What I found unique about Wilderness Inquiry was their commitment to including people of varying levels of physical ability on adventure trips, and to doing so seamlessly. To that end, they have developed different field-tested gear adaptations, like special seating for canoes and kayaks, and a device for wheelchairs which dramatically increases mobility on rough terrain. They’ve been doing this since 1978, and offer inclusion training to share what they’ve learned in the process. Awesome stuff! Check them out at http://www.wildernessinquiry.org
Wilderness Inquiry Kenyan Safari
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