Please Welcome Traveler's New, and Returning, Sponsors!

We'd like to warmly welcome our new sponsors, Holiday River Expeditions, the North Cascades Institute, and the Yellowstone Association Institute.

Here at the Traveler we'd like to warmly welcome two new organizations, and one old friend, back to our list of sponsors: Holiday River Expeditions, the North Cascades Institute, and the Yellowstone Association Institute.

Holiday River Expeditions

This Salt Lake City-based adventure company has been running the rapids in Utah and Idaho for decades. Company patriarch Dee Holladay and his wife, Sue, became river outfitters in 1966 and have amassed not only great experience over the years but great insights into such rivers as the Colorado, the Green, the Yampa, the San Juan, and the Lower and Main Salmon. Along with a full slate of multi-day river trips, Holiday River Expeditions offers specialty trips revolving around naturalists, photography, hiking and rafting, and singles. You can even learn how to kayak! Join a float on the Yampa, Green, and Colorado and you can explore Dinosaur National Monument and Canyonlands National Park from the bottom up. They also offer a supported, multi-day mountain bike ride on the White Rim in Canyonlands and a four-day ride in the park's Maze District.

North Cascades Institute

We need interpretation and education involving our national parks, and, understandably, the National Park Service can't provide it all. That's where organizations such as the North Cascades Institute play an incredibly valuable role. Since 1986 this non-profit has been taking folks into North Cascades National Park to show them the wonders in an educational format. You can take your family to their Learning Center at Sedro-Woolley, Washington, teachers can bring their classes to attend one of the institute's Mountain Schools, or, if you're looking for a new career, you can study for a Master of Education in Environmental Education. And, of course, there are youth programs to help you connect your kids with the outdoors.

Yellowstone Association Institute

It's great to welcome the Yellowstone Association back at this time of year, when folks are beginning to mull how to experience Yellowstone National Park. There is so much to see, do, and experience in Yellowstone that it's nice to have a guide show you the finer aspects that you might otherwise miss on a trip to the park. Between April and mid-October this non-profit association is offering 75 programs, from spring wildlife watching treks and courses that help you better understand the park's geothermal plumbing to photography and writing courses. New this year is the three-week Naturalist Guide Certificate Program offered April 3-22. This program is longer and more intense than the typical YAI program and is geared for those people who wish to be professional or volunteer guides. You can download a course catalog from this page. And don't forget, your membership fee is tax deductible, and with a membership you qualify for discounts on course fees.

Thanks to the support of Holiday River, the North Cascades Institute, and the Yellowstone Association, along with our other sponsors, we at the Traveler are able to continue our daily coverage of life, news, and commentary on the world's greatest national park system.

We invite you to visit their sites and review their trips and programs. They offer great ways to explore the national parks.