“ I hike for the mental escape. Putting one foot in front of the other keeps me thinking forward thoughts. And the physical challenge makes me feel strong and confident. Tarita made sure everything was organized and delicious so I could really enjoy the hiking experience in an amazing place. She is a beautiful person in every way and I can’t wait to hike again with her. “ Marnie from Canada

Tarita is the most skilled hiking person I know. She’s a born teacher and has the ability to personalize the information to any skill level. Hands down one of the most knowledgeable hikers I’ve been out with. Happy to provide my full and unconditional endorsement.

I've done numerous hikes, backpacking trips, summits, and snowshoe trips with Tarita over the last two plus years. She is the authentic deal! Glad to call her a friend and highly recommend this endeavor!

"My first overnight backpacking trip. Tarita was amazing! She was so organized and managed all levels of personalities. She is very calming and exceeded my expectations! She educated us on our trip, and answered any question asked. She was a pleasure and I would 100% recommend her to anyone! Thank you for an amazing trip."

"Tarita was not only super knowledgeable, but her meals were delicious. She really knows her stuff! I hope to do another backpacking trip with her soon!"

"I'm so happy that my friend, Tarita, has found her calling. She took such great care of me and the other ladies on our beginner's backpacking trip. She provided the equipment and I feel like we had everything we needed. She knows all the tricks to make the experience the most enjoyable it can be and she was happy to teach us all. I highly recommend that anyone who is thinking about getting into the sport of backpacking (hiking out into the wilderness and sleeping out overnight) should try it out first before purchasing equipment and definitely talk to experienced people first - call Tarita"

"I recently went on the beginner's backpacking trip in Lake Tahoe. My friends and I made the trip from Southern California and I had an amazing time. Tarita provided all of our equipment and made sure the backpacks fit us correctly. Everything was well organized and she is very knowledgeable and teaches you the basics and answered all our questions. If you are considering a beginners backpacking trip I highly recommend her trips. I will definitely be going on more intermediate trips with her in the future."

"I signed up for Tarita's beginner's backpacking excursion and it was nothing short of AMAZING! She found a well rounded trail that allowed me to experience hiking on a variety of surfaces including a flat dirt path, going uphills/downhills,rocky terrain, and even hopping stone to stone across a small creek. She prepacked the backpacks and gave really good advice on what personal items to add. I enjoyed practicing a minimalist mindset while on this trip and it was very freeing and made me feel proud that I could get by on so few items. She provided excellent education on how to respect and preserve nature and offered great safety tips throughout our hike. I would definitely consider joining her for future adventures."

"Tarita is amazing leader, who knows about the trails and all about the backpacking camping. (August 14-15). It was an eye opening experience with one night camping. This was a first time for me I really enjoyed the hiking with the group of wonderful ladies! I'm fussy about sleeping away from home, however I'm a very light sleeper anywhere anyway. I'll have better ideas about that, simply learning about the backpacking camping. Tarita's chili was so good we all had seconds! I thought my chili was pretty good but can't compare to Tarita's vegetarian chili. It was yummy! She's awesome! Also you gotta try her hydrated fruits and vegetables, not only delicious they are very healthy, too! I like to try different things that it's new to me, thanks to Tarita and my good friend Meg, let's go to Yosemite, when you are ready Tarita!"

I used Step Into Your Journey for my very first ever backpacking trip in June. I have lots of car camping and day hiking experience, and read blogs and/or watched tons of videos about backpacking, but was hesitant to actually go out for the first time. Tarita was great! Good communication prior to and during the entire trip (to Clouds Rest in Yosemite!). She taught me how to stuff my pack efficiently, how to open my bear can more easily and how to tie my shoes better so my toes had less friction on the downward slopes (blister prevention!). Tarita was very good at dealing with all our different skill levels (group of 4 women with different experiences). Together we learned that not all rangers have the same interpretation of the rules and how to read All Trails better (those pesky latitude lines indicating elevation change) so as not to choose a return route that was more difficult than the initial hike up. All in all, I loved the trip even though it was very challenging and I would highly recommend Step Into Your Journey!