ABOUT YOUR GUIDE… A philosopher, environmentalist, photographer, and licensed Adirondack Guide, Wayne Failing…Middle Earth Expedition's primary guide & owner…has helped thousands of people discover the value of the wilderness and how it can enrich their lives. Wayne, with twenty-five years of experience in the Adirondacks, has spent this time climbing, backpacking, canoeing, skiing, hunting, fishing, rafting, and studying the flora, fauna, weather and history of the Adirondack Mountains. He is a graduate of the Mountain Leadership Training Course in Colorado and has been trained in rock climbing, mountaineering skills, emergency care, search and evacuation techniques, wilderness ethics, and human relations training relative to wilderness instruction. As an adventurer, Wayne has traveled, sailed, and climbed extensively around the world including three international expeditions of the highest mountains in North America (Mt. McKinley…15,771 ft.), South America (Aconcagua…23,067 ft.) and the European Alps (Mt. Blanc…15,771 ft. and the Matterhorn…20,320 ft). In addition, Wayne has tested his skills on rafting/kayaking expeditions through the Grand Canyon and on Costa Rican rivers. A professional outdoor educator for the past twenty years, Wayne has planned and led six cross-continental camping tours of the United States and Canada (with visitors from thirteen countries) for Trek America, organized programs for corporate and school groups, designed and taught accredited Therapeutic Outdoor Leadership courses for the State University of New York College of Technology at Utica, instructed and led the wilderness and counseling aspects of 28-day Therapeutic Adaptive Outward Bound Courses for the New York State Division for Youth, and is certified in Advanced First Aid, Basic Water Safety and C.P.R.