Labor Day Means Back To School Fun... For Parents - Scottsdale Hiking Tours

The extended Labor Day holiday weekend is upon us. Time for picnics, cookouts, and all sorts of great get-togethers as we all work hard to have some last summer-blast fun. If considering a quick getaway this or any other weekend, guided Scottsdale hiking tours with Wild Bunch Desert Guides also is a perfect part of any couples retreat or family outing on the long break from the workaday grind.

Phoenix hiking tours: No substitutes, please!

Phoenix hiking tours with Wild Bunch Desert Guides are completely customizable to the desires of our guests. From trail difficulty to private group size to celebrating special occasions on the trail, every adventure is tailored to your wants, needs and wishes. The one unchangeable item in the summer, though, are early-morning start times. Read on to discover why.

Phoenix hiking tours: Vacation destination

So, where does an adventure tour company owner go on vacation to take a break from the workaday grind and seek their getaway thrills? The answer might surprise you! The providers of guided Phoenix hiking tours and Scottsdale mountain bike tours are just like everybody else when chasing the ever-elusive physical, mental, and spiritual healing powers of recuperative rest and relaxation.

Phoenix hiking tours: Hot times, cool thoughts

So, you have hot summer vacation plans that include guided Phoenix hiking tours. Here is how to make sure instead of fizzling in Arizona’s legendary July heat, your adventure with Wild Bunch Desert Guides sizzles like an Independence Day firecracker. Hint No. 1: Start by crossing off an iconic Camelback Mountain hike.

Phoenix hiking best adventure for group outings

Whether the calendar says July 4 or Nov. 4, an Arizona adventure tour is a great way to celebrate everything from a holiday to an anniversary, birthday, or another personal milestone. Guided Phoenix hiking or Scottsdale mountain biking also makes for a fantastic way to put a unique stamp on any corporate retreat, business event, family reunion or weekend group getaway. However, for the largest groups, hiking in the Sonoran Desert with the Wild Bunch is the best option and here is why.

Phoenix Adventure Tours salute our heroes

Memorial Day is more than a long holiday weekend to mark the beginning of summer with an avalanche of activities. Mountain biking & hiking on Phoenix adventure tours is among the many freedoms Americans enjoy because of the sacrifices made by our war heroes. Never forget who blazed the trail to your fun.

Phoenix adventure tours: Eight great memories

A man with a prosthetic leg scaling Camelback Mountain. A first-time bike rider learning fundamentals on the fly. Guided Scottsdale hiking trips or guided Scottsdale mountain biking tours with either the famous or the fascinating. These are the Eight Great Memories from my company’s Phoenix adventure tours.

Scottsdale mountain biking becomes a Mother’s Day gift

As a tour guide and adventure company owner, I feel my gift is being chosen to play pathfinder to people’s personal journeys by showing them amazing sights, incredible scenes and even discovering something about themselves in the process. Instead, the gift was all mine to receive countless times over during a Scottsdale Mountain Biking visit leading into Mother’s Day from my friend -- the inspirational adventurer, motivational speaker/author, and Social Media sensation known as The Mirnavator.

Phoenix adventure tours: Beat the summer heat

The Wild Bunch Desert Guides are offering an online booking discount along with the annual roll out of special summer start times for the safety of our guests from June 1-Oct. 1. Read on to get discount details and understand how a highly rated Phoenix adventure tour company handles the heat of the summer.

Hiking or Mountain Biking in Phoenix? Watch for these ‘Easter Eggs’

Easter comes only once per year, but the Wild Bunch Desert Guides offer an “Easter Egg Hunt” of a different kind daily in the Phoenix Metro area. From Flora to Fauna, Arizona’s Sonoran Desert boasts all sorts of colorful and exotic sights not seen elsewhere. And those cool plants and animals are just waiting to be discovered, too, during a guided hiking tour or guided mountain biking trip.

Survival drive delivers lessons in gratitude

When the CoVid-19 pandemic began a year ago in March, I was worried the dream of owning a small business was over for me. However, my Arizona adventure tour company not only survived, but is thriving a year later – and I have a front-line job to thank for saving my small mom-and-pop specialty shop, as well as my sanity. Here’s how I got from that perilous Point A to the paradise of Point B.

IF YOU BUILD IT: 'Field of Dreams' realized through business, friendship

A chance meeting with a top baseball executive has led to a wonderful friendship and annual spring training tradition for the Wild Bunch Desert Guides. While I have reveled in the career successes of “Mr. Diamond” -- including a huge promotion after winning the 2016 World Series with my childhood team and home-state Chicago Cubs – he has been incredibly supportive of my small mom-and-pop specialty shop’s steady rise, too. Suffice to say, we have enjoyed the ride since our first mountain bike meeting in 2015, and become each other’s biggest fan while building our personal “Field of Dreams.”

Cancel culture: Why there is a refund policy

A cancellation policy is a necessary protection for a small business in the service industry. However, as an Arizona adventure tour company owner, I am torn by putting myself in other people’s shoes when a last-minute cancellation crops up. We all have been there as a customer, right? But there have been a few nightmarishly notable reasons for a strict 48-hour no refund policy in the past for the Wild Bunch Desert Guides.

Open love letter to the real superheroes of the Sonoran Desert

As “The Devil Woman,” I get to be a superhero to tourists by delivering fun and adventure during their visits and vacations to Arizona’s “Valley of the Sun.” However, the unsung heroes for me are the super team making my Wild Bunch Desert Guides a success. Together those talented pros and fantastic human beings make either a guided mountain bike tour or guided hiking adventure an amazing experience.

Camelback Mountain Master Class: This is 'F'ing hard'

Look at the spectacular pictures from the peak, and the attraction of a Camelback Mountain hike is easily understandable. I certainly get the allure for visitors to Arizona’s Valley of the Sun, too, as a Midwestern transplant blessed with many unforgettable moments in my memory bank. However, as an adventure tour company owner, I must be honest with my guests -- a guided Camelback Mountain hike is not for everybody.

An adventure guide walks into a coffee shop … (no joke!)

A chance meeting with visiting multi-media specialists TOTL turned into a glorious day of mountain biking in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. A mutual-admiration society also was formed that day in the Phoenix area, as well as a wonderful promotional video produced for my small adventure tour company, Wild Bunch Desert Guides. But more than anything, the experience served as a great series of lessons learned by this small business owner.

This woman’s adventure tour company truly a ‘wonder’

I am lovingly referred to as the "Devil Woman" because I bring the heat as a hard-working taskmaster with a wicked sense of humor, devil-may-care demeanor and fun, adventurous spirit. Those super powers serve me well as the leader of the Wild Bunch Desert Guides, a band of do-gooders fighting a never-ending battle against boredom, lethargy and the "crime" that is the CoVid-19 pandemic.

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Phoenix adventure tours ‘Elite Eight’

“March Madness” in Arizona means much more than the college national basketball tournament. The state always plays a part in “The Big Dance,” but other events such as Spring Break and Major League Baseball’s Spring Training also attract a glut of guests to The Valley of the Sun. Perfect for this time of year is our annual “Elite Eight” list of must-do Phoenix adventure tours for those visitors to dance about during their trip – whatever the reason may be.

Phoenix hiking tours: Be spontaneous & open to new experiences

During the pandemic, I drove a delivery truck to try and save my business. So, I found myself listening to a lot of radio to keep me company at that time. In particular, I gravitated to talk radio on KTAR-FM 92.3 here in the Valley of the Sun for the financial advice of The Dave Ramsey Show. One of the host’s main messages spoke to my plight at the time and has always resonated with me. “ALWAYS have a side hustle because you never know when you’re not going to have work,” Ramsey said, repeating this mantra at least once per hour. “If you’re able to find some side hustles here and there, when things inevitably dip, you’ll still maintain your sanity and continue paying your bills.” Even though I own a successful small business now – offering Phoenix hiking tours and Phoenix mountain bike tours with my Wild Bunch Desert Guides -- I still walk that talk. I even found a side hustle that turned out to be a lot of fun during Super Bowl week here in the desert.

Phoenix hiking tours wins with Super team

The top two teams in the NFL square off Sunday in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium right here in my backyard in Glendale. However, with all due respect to the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, the best team in Arizona this weekend can be found as usual in the Sonoran Desert showing visitors the best of the old Southwest. The Wild Bunch Desert Guides deliver once-in-a-lifetime experiences on their championship-level Phoenix hiking tours and Phoenix mountain bike tours.