Whether it's to get more connected with nature, explore outdoor activities or just escape the work grind for a few days, we all have our reasons for going camping. 

And while many of us have enjoyed adding certain modern amenities to our excursions—no one can deny that appreciating nature from behind a mosquito net and under a sun awning while a fan powered by your RV blows the summer heat off your face is certainly comfortable—others choose an adventure that's a little more primitive, a little more wild, a little more untamed. These intrepid explorers prefer an open sky overhead, a sturdy horse underfoot, and a humble tent just enough to keep the worst of the elements away. 

These are the types of trips provided by Snowy Springs Outfitters, a husband-and-wife Montana outfitters and wilderness guide team. Shawn and Capri Little have owned Snowy Springs Outfitters for many decades, and over time have put together the largest continuous permitted wilderness in Montana — 300 square miles. In wilderness outfitting, nothing can happen by way of wheel or motor, including not just transportation but tools (no chainsawing allowed). The Littles are expert pack train enthusiasts, implementing the "old school" process of packing mules and horses into and out of the wilderness.

Shawn Little blows on a bugle, a horn meant to mimic the calls of elk. Photo provided by Snow Springs Outfitters

Snowy Springs Outfitters: Explorers of the Montana Frontier

Shawn Little grew up in the Montana mountains with horses, and his family went on pack trips during the summer and each fall went on extended hunting trips. Once grown, he settled on being a taxidermist, but the longing to spend more time in the mountains never left him. He soon turned his thoughts into an outfitter to provide a service that allows others to also experience the "wonderful wilderness" of the nation. Capri joined the outfitting business (and the Little family, having first worked with Shawn and then marrying him two years later) when it was founded in 1987.

Snowy Springs offers pack trips (outfitting on foot), fishing trips, horseback trips, sightseeing day rides and big game hunting from May through August.

"There's a lot of people that have no idea what wilderness is anymore," Capri told Kinute. "It's supposed to be, by definition, a place where man has never been. But this is one of the closest things that we have to that."

A pure, delicious wilderness experience. Photo provided by Snow Springs Outfitters

The adventures, Capri said, are not for the weak. If you go on an outfitting excursion, be prepared to put the scrolling, posting, texting and tweeting on hold until you return; cell service will be nonexistent, and the only devices that connect to the outside world are Garmin GPS devices meant to send coordinates in case of distress. 

"When you get somebody back there in the wilderness, it doesn't matter who they are in the real world," Capri said. "They're dependent on you. There's a lot of control-freak-type people that, when it hits them the position they're in, they don't take it very well."

Capri has seen a couple of Wall Street big-wigs on an outfitting trip walking through the forest holding their phone up to search for a signal. While partially comedic relief, it's also sad, Capri said. 

"Some of those guys very all of a sudden realize that, oh my gosh, this is awesome," she explained. "'I don't have to worry, I can kick back relax, breathe.' Others, you know, they're kind of antsy, just want to get out."

For many, the outfitting trips are a sweet relief: a purge from bad habits, a flowing spring of creativity, a hard reset. Authors have utilized outfitting trips as a distraction-free backdrop to write. Capri recalled a high-powered real estate executive who frequently drank alcohol as part of the wine-and-dine processes he went through with every client. When he would come on a Snowy Springs trip with his two young sons, he wouldn't have a drop to drink.

"That was one guy that saw the benefit of it and kept coming back," she said.

Snowy Springs horses cross a river after dropping off camping gear at a camp site. Photo provided by Snow Springs Outfitters

Wild, Wild Wilderness: The Outfitting Experience

Snowy Springs' groups are usually between four and 12 people that all know each other; the outfitters don't mix smaller groups of people that are strangers. 

The wilderness that the outfitters explore is federal land overseen by the National Forest Service. Located on approximately 100 acres, the Snowy Springs Base Camp is nestled between Glacier National Park and the Great Bear Wilderness. It includes the main residence and shop as well as two vacation rental cabins and numerous out buildings.

When on federal land, outfitters must play by wilderness rules. That means no permanent structures, taking everything you came with, following federal hunting rules and—perhaps most importantly—being on the lookout for bears.

This is not the ordinary campground experience, so what exactly does an outfitting excursion look like?

Excursions can be under the wing of an experienced guide, or entirely solo—the latter of which Capri doesn't recommend for beginner-level outdoorsman. In a guided horseback pack trips, everything the campers need for their adventure—food, clothing, shelter, cooking supplies—is packed and loaded into saddlebags. The group then roves the Great Bear Wilderness, led by the Snowy Springs Guide, stopping at various rivers, lakes and creeks to fish, hike or explore. 

Drop camping involves the use of pack animals to carry gear, allowing campers to trek off the beaten path carrying just a daypack. Photo provided by Snowy Springs Outfitters

Drop camping is a very different type of adventure, where Snowy Springs packs up everything you need for camping, fishing or rafting, and drops your gear squarely in the middle of the wilderness—the Middle Fork of the Flathead River in Montana to be exact. Campers can either ride horseback or hike to their gear, where they can spend their trip exploring the Montana wilderness unguided.

Beware the Bear

Somewhere in Montana, a weathered, sage old outdoorsman probably advises spritely young adventurers to beware the wilderness in the spring, when the grizzlies are emerging from hibernation hungry, groggy, and very cranky. 

And while the risk is certainly there, Capri says a camp could encounter six different types of wildlife in one day (including birds, deer, mountain lions and even a stupefying bear), or no wildlife in six days. With over a million acres in the wilderness area, encountering wildlife is the biggest gamble—and hunting them is the fairest chase. 

"It's very hit and miss," Capri said. "That's why our hunting is the most fair chase in the lower 48, because it's so big that there's just not any kind of guarantee."

Adult grizzly bears stand at about 3.3 feet at the shoulder and can run 35 miles per hour. Photo by Janko Ferlič | Unsplash

In fact, Capri's once-in-a-lifetime bear encounter is one she remembers with fondness, not with fear. She and the Snowy Springs team were out dropping some camping gear for some clients when she heard a commotion from across the river. Upon approaching the shore, she saw a mother bear and three cubs sunbathing on a boulder on the opposite bank. Capri dropped to her stomach and watched as the mother bear jumped into the river and floated on her back, while the babies tittered nervously on shore. 

"It was like a National Geographic moment," Capri recalled of the moment she got to see one of the cubs jump in the river after its mother. "We didn't have a camera, so that was one of the moments you just have to keep in your head forever."

Snowy Springs horses bring camping gear to a campsite. Photo provided by Snowy Springs Outfitters

Buyer Awareness: Shopping for Outfitters

The Littles want the outfitting experience they offer to always be top-notch, but they're battling imperfect reputations caused by bad eggs in the industry.

"When you tell someone you're an outfitter, it's almost a bad thing because there's so many horror stories about outfitters," Capri said. "Sometimes they don't even show up to pick people up."

Capri urges explorers to vet outfitting companies carefully. Becoming outfitters is not as simple as opening a business and buying horses; to do so legally and professionally, permits and licenses are required. 

"It's actually up to clients to verify the person they're hooking up is legal," Capri said. "In outfitting, there's some bad stories out there. You have what they call rogue outfitters, and they're the ones that don't have a license, insurance or permit."

Being a reputable and reliable outfitting option is important to the Littles. Snowy Springs is differentiated in their business by staying true to the old fashion ways of hunting, packing and camping while also delivering an authentic experience in some of the roughest and remote wilderness in the lower 48 states — the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

Snowy Springs uses old fashion ways of camping to offer clients the most authentic experience possible. Photo provided by Snowy Springs Outfitters

Get Out of the Comfort Zone with Outfitting

Why would anyone sacrifice all of the daily comforts and conveniences we lean on to be challenged and out-of-place somewhere unfamiliar?

"I think so many people have totally forgotten their imaginations," Capri said. "Especially kids." She added that the outfitting experience has benefited many families over the years, who have used the excursion as a way to disconnect from the outside world and reconnect with each other. 

Capri hopes to someday start a program where inner-city children are able to come experience all of Montana's natural resources, so they can realize how much more there is to the world.

"I want people to realize how refreshing it is to just get back there and be free," Capri continued, "to just stop and smell the roses. 

Adventure is calling. Photo provided by Snowy Springs Outfitters

Interested explorers should use Snowy Springs' contact page at snowysprings.com/contact-us to start planning their next adventure.