Feature | A Trip a Year for 22 Years

EXPOSE A Trip a Year for 22 Years

By Anne McGowan Advancement Communications Coordinator

Laura Parkman McElroy, Katherine “KL” Wells, and Betsy Bayne, above, set out to backpack in the Wind River Mountains last July. Courtesy of KL Wells In 2000, as her NOLS 25-and-Over Wyoming Wilderness course drew to a close, Betsy Bayne, then 43, collected the email addresses of all her coursemates. When she arrived home and contacted the others, asking if anyone wanted to backpack with her in the future, two people— Katherine “KL” Wells and Laura Parkman McElroy— replied with a resounding yes.

That marked the beginning of a 22-year tradition of hiking and camping together that some combination of this trio has taken every year somewhere in the Western U.S. (Laura accompanied them on the first few adventures, but work kept her from participating for several years, until now).

They’ve backpacked in locales from Denali in Alaska to Snowmass in Colorado, never repeating a location except when conditions required it. This year’s trip into the Wind River Mountains was an exception. “I thought it would be great to go back to the origins,” KL said when the women visited NOLS Headquarters last July before their trip.

22 Years of Backpacking Adventures

2000 – NOLS – Wind River Range 2001 – San Juan Mountains, CO 2002 – Alaska (Talkeetnas) 2003 – Denali National Park, Alaska 2004 – Glacier National Park, MT 2005 – Sawtooth Mountains, ID 2006 – North Cascades, WA 2007 – British Columbia, Canada 2008 – Beartooth Mountains, MT & WY Yellowstone National Park, MT & WY 2009 – Sierra Mountains, CA 2010 – Olympic National Park, WA 2011 – Three Sisters, OR & Trinity Alps, CA 2012 – Trinity Alps, CA 2013 – Three Sisters, OR & Wallowa Mountains, OR 2014 – Sequoia National Park, John Muir Wilderness, CA 2015 – Bob Marshall Wilderness, MT 2016 – North Cascades, WA 2017 – Maroon Bells, Lizard Head, Blue Lake, Snowmass, CO 2018 – Glacier National Park, MT 2019 – Mt. Rainer & Mt. St. Helens, WA 2020 – Rocky Mountain National Park, CO 2021 – Teton NP & Wind River Range, WY

“But we all walked away from that NOLS course with a greater understanding of ourselves, of edge-dwelling and going beyond...If you decide to do something like a NOLS course, you will shift,” she said. “Now, for me, this annual trip is non-negotiable.”

KL grew up splitting time between a home in Washington, D.C. and a ranch in Montana. She was 43 and living in Florida in 2000 when she set out to find “an adventure for older folks,” and landed at NOLS. With a handful of health issues, her goal for her course was to “just get through it.” Betsy, an experienced backpacker, was at loose ends after the death of her mother. Laura, not yet 30-years-old in 2000, had done some rock climbing, and was seeking to overcome her fears.

“Betsy and I were the least likely to ever backpack again,” KL said. “But we all walked away from that NOLS course with a greater understanding of ourselves, of edge-dwelling and going beyond.” She returned to Florida, sold her home and business, and moved back to Montana. “If you decide to do something like a NOLS course, you will shift,” she said. “Now, for me, this annual trip is non-negotiable.”

All three women agreed that their friendship and this yearly tradition were the best takeaways from their course, and they were excited to get back into the Winds to catch up. For Laura, now 50 and rejoining her friends for the first time in years, the timing was especially symbolic. She relished the time to reconnect with friends and disconnect from everything else—maybe even renew her love of backpacking. And so, the three set off on their twenty-second annual adventure.

A month later, a message came to NOLS Headquarters from KL: “Unfortunately, Betsy threw her back out the morning we were heading into the Winds. Laura and I reconfigured the gear and food, took Betsy to breakfast, and shed a few tears. Betsy drove home while Laura and I backpacked in the Winds for six nights and seven days. Despite the huge disappointment of not having Betsy with us, we enjoyed re-connecting again and rekindled Laura’s love of backpacking. The day we hiked in, we ran into a NOLS group just coming out after 29 days; it was fun telling them we were alums from 2000!” And for these three friends, there’s always next year.

Anne McGowan grew up camping and hiking with her family in Pennsylvania. She followed her love of words and books to a career in writing.