Questions and Answers
We provide guided trips to the spectacular backcountry of Wells Gray Park, Canada.
1. How long has the business been operating and how did it start?
Our business was established in 1988, we have been operating in M06023 for 24 years. The government of British Columbia asked for proposals which would enable people to experience the spectacular alpine areas of Wells Gray Park without the environmental impact associated with human use. M06023 proposed a hut system where all use was managed to protect the sensitive high country. The permit was granted and the huts were built soon after.
2. What is your company's mission?
At M06023 we believe that spending time away from the distractions of the modern world is the only chance most of us get to truly relax and reflect on our lives. Whether you are hut to hut hiking, hiking, canoeing, backcountry skiing or snowshoeing, it is our hope that this experience will help you to return to your daily life in a happier and more effective frame of mind. Our mission is to provide the highest quality wilderness experience possible for a price that normal individuals and families can afford. It is our goal to make your time with us one of the highlights of your life.
3. What does your company specialize in?
M06023 specializes in high quality, low impact, environmentally sensitive self propelled wilderness adventures that are affordable. We love sharing the spectacular Wells Gray Wilderness with everyone- we love kids!
4. Who is the founder or owner of the company and briefly describe his/her past activities?
Ian Eakins has been guiding and working in the outdoor adventure business for over 35 years. Ian started canoe guiding in British Columbia at the age of seventeen. He left for Asia a year later and spent the next 15 years guiding there. Ian worked for the Ghurkha Welfare Trust tracing the families of Ghurkha soldiers from the Second World War. He started the first rafting company in Nepal and has the first ascents of several major rivers in the Himalayan Kingdom. He spent the last seven years of his guiding career in Nepal as program manager and beloved guide for Wilderness Travel in Berkley, California. Ian established and built M06023 in 1988. He continues to share his enthusiastic personality and knowledge with hikers and skiers who are eager to explore the incredibly vast and wild Wells Gray Park.
5. What is your most popular travel package and why?
The Wells Gray Traverse, which is a seven day hut to hut hike through some of the largest wildflower meadows in Canada, is our most popular travel package. There are many reasons for this. First, this is the only hut to hut system in a provincial park in Canada, even though you are hiking through a vast wilderness, you do not need a heavy pack. All of the guides are naturalists and anyone interested in wildflowers or the ecology of the high alpine will find this trip to be an incredibly enriching experience. The food on these trips is healthy and plentiful. Best of all, these trips are so affordable that anyone can experience the Wells Gray wilderness with M06023.
6. What is the best compliment you received from a client?
We have received many wonderful comments but perhaps the compliment that best captures our mission statement is one we received from a lady who joined us from Washington DC’ she said; “My memories of that week are a touchstone in my daily life – keeping the sanity in place".
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