We’re Not Just Guides, We’re Escape Artists
Our goal is to creatively help people escape from the chaos and stress of everyday life and appreciate the natural and cultural beauty of our region. This task is an art form like painting or poetry – one must always work to master his/her craft.
Our Escape Artist guides not only come with a variety of backgrounds, amazing skill sets and dedication, but we also strive to continually educate ourselves on everything there is to know about the region. We pride ourselves on providing first-class service as we escort you through the most magnificent highlights of our region and impart our knowledge of the local culture, history, industry, agriculture, cuisine, wines, microbrews and sustainability.
Many of our guides are ecologists, marine biologists or have taught natural history both in the field and in the classroom.
Depending on your tailor made itinerary, we will match you with a guide that we feel best fits your destination, interest and activity.
The Team Behind the Scenes
JAKE HAUPERT – Founder & Chief Escape Officer
A Pacific Northwest native, Jake Haupert owns and operates acclaimed eco-friendly adventure travel companies EverGreen Escapes & Explorers 3 Adventures based in Seattle, Washington. Jake graduated from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon with a Business degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management. He added a certification from the World Leisure Travel Academy shortly there after. An avid outdoorsman and a responsible and active traveler, he has turned his passion for the transformational power of travel into his life’s work. Even his closest friends cannot decipher when he is working or playing. Professional experience was gained at reputable travel companies such as Four Seasons Resorts, Marco Polo Expeditions, Galapagos Cruises, Cruise West and Down Under Answers. An unquenchable entrepreneurial spirit and genuine personality has resulted in two adventure travel companies that combine a deep appreciation of nature, wildlife and active pursuits with sustainable, intimate and exclusive culinary, wine and luxe lodging experiences. Explorers 3 Adventures sends clients to Alaska, Antarctica, Latin America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. EverGreen Escapes welcomes visiting tourists and locals alike on authentic and experiential northwest adventures, treks and tours.
DAN MOORE- Chief Outings Officer, Escape Artist
My mission is to create an exciting and comfortable learning environment in which people feel inspired AND a sense of accomplishment. I grew up in Minneapolis MN and spent a large percentage of my childhood out exploring the wilderness and wild areas around home and afar. In 1996, after graduating from college in St. Paul MN (Macalester College), I left to spend most of a year in South America – trekking and researching tropical forests in Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. It is here I discovered the importance of creating positive experiences for people in the outdoors: “You can’t love what you don’t know, and people won’t protect what they don’t love.”
In 1998 I completed a certificate course in Environmental Education from the University of MN at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and shortly thereafter moved to Seattle. After nearly a decade in the non-profit / public sector, I merged my passion for education with my spirit for entrepreneurialism by joining forces with EverGreen Escapes. My work with EverGreen Escapes is the best of all worlds. Duties include: guiding trips in the most beautiful part of the world (Cascadia), recruiting and training passionate guides, developing programs and scouting out destinations around the world and helping push the travel industry to higher levels of sustainability. My favorite activities include: cross country skiing, rock climbing and bird watching. My favorite Cascadia destinations include Vancouver Island and the Columbia Gorge.
When not leading tours or working in the office for Evergreen Escapes, I play guitar in the band Roxbury Pound. Regionally focused for now, the world tour might be just around the corner….
MARIA BORISOV- Sales Manager
Maria was born in Ukraine, raised in St. Petersburg, Russia and moved to the Seattle area in grade school. She traveled often with her family, road tripping throughout North America, riding camels in Turkey, trekking along the coast of Italy – developing the travel bug at an early age. After spending her adolescence and college years exploring Europe and North America, she jumped on a plane and continued her dream journey of visiting all seven continents! Maria spent several months backpacking around New Zealand and the South Pacific followed by some time walking along the Great Wall of China and island hopping in Hong Kong. Driven by her love for the outdoors she then made her way down to South America to explore the beaches and jungles of Ecuador, the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, the high altitude villages of Peru and the peaks and lakes of Patagonia. She’s now settled in Seattle and spends her time exploring the mountains, rivers, and islands and tasting the incredible wine, brew and local fare of the bountiful Pacific Northwest. Maria is excited to share her passion for travel both throughout Cascadia and Internationally with you!
Born and raised in Portland, OR, when Jeff studied International Affairs and Geography in Washington, D.C. he had an eye on working in the foreign service – being a naturalist and tour leader was nowhere on his map. But upon graduation, his father asked: “So, what was the most important thing you learned back East?” And after a moment’s contemplation, he replied: “That I belong back West.” Travel became a central theme in Jeff’s life, and he learned quickly that a good guide can make or break a traveler’s experience. Inspired by his own travel experiences with guides both skilled and dubious, he started his interpretive guiding career in Southeast Alaska, and branched out year by year, working in the Pacific Northwest, then Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and British Columbia. Jeff is a National Association of Interpretation Certified Interpretive Guide, and has learned from some of the best around as an Interpretive Ranger at Glacier Bay National Park in ’09 and ’10. After seven years guiding at all latitudes from 30 to 60 degrees North latitude, he has returned to his roots in the Portland region – smack in the middle at about 45 North – where he is prepared to put the places that are nearest and dearest to him on center stage and make them shine for you.
ERIC KOCAJA- Base Camp Manager, Cascadia
After growing up in almost every part of the mid-west, I spent one summer in Colorado and knew instantly that I find comfort, peace, and inspiration in the mountains. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 2002 (go Badgers!), I immediately headed west and landed in Seattle which I am proud to call home. I am continuously amazed by the endless bounty this region of the world has to offer. I’ve been kayaking, climbing, hiking, mountaineering, birding, sailing, backcountry skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing – and I haven’t made a dent in the list of places to experience and enjoy. Having started at EverGreen Escapes in early 2012, I am excited to be surrounded by people who share the excitement of exploration and the passion to share this incredible part of the world with others.
TYLER DAVIS- Director of International Programs, Lead Escape Artist
A native Seattlite, I’ve been exploring the Pacific Northwest since my earliest childhood memories, escaping at every opportunity to experience the beauty that this area has to offer. My childhood endeavors to turn over every rock or log and find the creepiest of crawlies blossomed into a desire to learn as much as possible about the flora and fauna of the region as I grew older. My ever-developing passion for ecology and conservation took me to Cornell University, where I obtained a B.S. in Natural Resources with a focus in ecology. While Cornell was a perfect fit for me, four years on the East Coast taught me what I’ve always known: that I’m a Pacific Northwesterner at heart and Seattle will always be my home. Thus, after a variety of field jobs around the world – from searching for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the swamps of the Southern Mississippi to studying Superb Starlings in central Kenya – I’m glad to be back in the Pacific Northwest, escaping to and exploring some of the most beautiful environments the world has to offer by bike, ski, kayak, boot . . . you name it! I’m even more excited to share what I know with others – and have the opportunity to make a positive impact – through hands-on, exciting, sustainable adventure ecotourism.
Kirt Hodges – Director of Adventure Activities & Team Building, Escape Artist
Kirt is a native to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, born and raised outside of Covington. He spent five years living in Lexington, Kentucky, during which time he both discovered and introduced many others to backpacking and rock climbing and began his career as a naturalist, educator, and guide in 2001. Before leaving Lexington for the Pacific Northwest, he earned a BA in Creative Writing and Environmental Studies from the University of Kentucky and met his wife, Diane.
Kirt has worked as a program/course director, field instructor, and corporate facilitator for many schools and organizations, including Rite of Passage Journeys and EverGreen Escapes’ officemate, KAF Adventures, leading clients and students on wilderness and adventure expeditions of up to 22 days in all seasons.
Kirt is particularly smitten with rock climbing, snow and avalanche science and winter travel (especially skiing), and the experience of deep wilderness. He also passionately studies ethnobotany, the mutual history of people and plants. He defines guiding as “empowering others to go deeper and further than they would be able to go on their own.” Kirt believes that in nature, as in life, to lead is to serve and cooperate; to teach is to never stop studying; to tread lightly is to leave the greatest impact upon the Earth and its inhabitants.
Kirt is a certified Wilderness First Responder, AMGA Single-Pitch Rock Climbing Instructor, and he holds a Level 3 avalanche certificate. He is also a proud member of the Friends of the Northwest Avalanche Center (FOAC), and the Wilderness Guides Council.
The two great passions of my life are art and nature and this is apparent in almost everything I do. The foothills of the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico were my backyard growing up. I spent much of my youth exploring these mountains, but while the desert is still in my bones, I longed to be closer to water. I studied photography at the the University of Oregon and then moved to Seattle in 2003. I have spent the last eight years exploring the region from “urban hiking” all around the city, to back packing, rock climbing, rafting, kayaking, sailing, snow shoeing and skiing all around the state. When I’m not playing outside or leading tours, I am an avid vegetable gardener, owner of my own portrait and special events photography company, Mirastories, and volunteer with the Nature Consortium working on the annual Arts in Nature Festival to teach conservation lessons through the arts. Seattle is the perfect city to practice conservation and be immersed in art and nature simultaneously. I feel so lucky to get to share this fascinating place with others and to teach photography while showcasing my favorite city.
BaseCamp Seattle
TYLER DAVIS- Lead Escape Artist
A native Seattlite, I’ve been exploring the Pacific Northwest since my earliest childhood memories, escaping at every opportunity to experience the beauty that this area has to offer. My childhood endeavors to turn over every rock or log and find the creepiest of crawlies blossomed into a desire to learn as much as possible about the flora and fauna of the region as I grew older. My ever-developing passion for ecology and conservation took me to Cornell University, where I obtained a B.S. in Natural Resources with a focus in ecology. While Cornell was a perfect fit for me, four years on the East Coast taught me what I’ve always known: that I’m a Pacific Northwesterner at heart and Seattle will always be my home. Thus, after a variety of field jobs around the world – from searching for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the swamps of the Southern Mississippi to studying Superb Starlings in central Kenya – I’m glad to be back in the Pacific Northwest, escaping to and exploring some of the most beautiful environments the world has to offer by bike, ski, kayak, boot . . . you name it! I’m even more excited to share what I know with others – and have the opportunity to make a positive impact – through hands-on, exciting, sustainable adventure ecotourism.
Grew up in Pennsylvania but realized early on that I yearned for the West. Graduated from the University of Utah in Recreation and Leisure Studies and continued to pursue my love of the outdoors. I quickly realized that my true passion was to live in the mountains and teach downhill and cross country skiing which I did in Park City, Utah and Sun Valley, Idaho. I continued my studies abroad and then taught skiing in Courchevel, France before arriving in Washington State. I owned my own tour company for many years and guided over 250 tours in the Pacific Northwest, Canada, Central America, and Europe. Most recently I have focused my business acumen on hospitality /travel sales and marketing. My 30 year love affair with Seattle continues and my passion of exploring and sharing my knowledge of the Pacific Northwest excites me every day.
JEFF CARTER- Escape Artist
Born overseas (in Spain), I caught the travel bug early on in life. I’ve traveled around the world, lived for two years in Niger, Africa (as a Peace Corps volunteer), and continue to explore as often as possible. I grew up in Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania, lived in Michigan (while earning a graduate degree and working in environmental education) and moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1999. Since then, I’ve worked as a seasonal sea kayak guide in the San Juan Islands and outreach specialist in salmon recovery and marine resources. I’ve hiked, skied, biked, and paddled throughout the Northwest and enjoy sharing my knowledge of this beautiful area with others.
I was fortunate enough to be born into my vocation – literally. I was born as the daughter of a ranger in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and my formative years were spent living in a State Park in Pennsylvania. I have turned my childhood wanderings through the woods into a full time job at the largest park in the City of Seattle – Discovery Park. I have spent several years leading programs in the meadow, beach, forest, or wetlands for children of all ages (2 to 92) in Seattle’s crown jewel park – allowing visitors to discover their own joy in nature. While my natural history knowledge is extensive and well-rounded from the intertidal zone to creatures of the night, my first passion is birds. As a Master Birder I have led trips throughout Washington State. An ideal birding trip with me is the chance for everyone to see a diversity of species, discover something new about bird habitats, and perhaps “get” a life bird or two!
Kirt Hodges – Director of Adventure Activities & Team Building, Escape Artist
Kirt is a native to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, born and raised outside of Covington. He spent five years living in Lexington, Kentucky, during which time he both discovered and introduced many others to backpacking and rock climbing and began his career as a naturalist, educator, and guide in 2001. Before leaving Lexington for the Pacific Northwest, he earned a BA in Creative Writing and Environmental Studies from the University of Kentucky and met his wife, Diane.
Kirt has worked as a program/course director, field instructor, and corporate facilitator for many schools and organizations, including Rite of Passage Journeys and EverGreen Escapes’ officemate, KAF Adventures, leading clients and students on wilderness and adventure expeditions of up to 22 days in all seasons.
Kirt is particularly smitten with rock climbing, snow and avalanche science and winter travel (especially skiing), and the experience of deep wilderness. He also passionately studies ethnobotany, the mutual history of people and plants. He defines guiding as “empowering others to go deeper and further than they would be able to go on their own.” Kirt believes that in nature, as in life, to lead is to serve and cooperate; to teach is to never stop studying; to tread lightly is to leave the greatest impact upon the Earth and its inhabitants.
Kirt is a certified Wilderness First Responder, AMGA Single-Pitch Rock Climbing Instructor, and he holds a Level 3 avalanche certificate. He is also a proud member of the Friends of the Northwest Avalanche Center (FOAC), and the Wilderness Guides Council.
I grew up in Alberta, Canada, and spent many hours as a kid mucking about in the Canadian Rockies. After completing a bachelor’s degree in Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership, I traveled to SE Asia where I taught English, ate a lot of green curry and met my husband- in that order! We spent a year hiking and snowboarding around New Zealand and now call the Pacific Northwest home. I love the Northwest for the lush green forests, the access to the mountains and the copious amount of great coffee. I have had the great fortune of combining my passion for the natural world with my work and have held a diverse range of jobs from Park Ranger to Naturalist to Snowboard Instructor. When I am not sharing my love of this landscape with clients, or leading youth in the backcountry, I can be found running, biking, hiking, or working on expanding my knowledge of the local microbrew culture!
BRENDAN MCGARRY- Escape Artist
As a native of the Pacific Northwest with a serious case of the travel bug, it means a great deal that I’ve been around and found my way back. This region has been my life’s blood largely because it was here at age eight that I became inextricably enamored with birds. I’ve been studying natural history all my life, be it understanding the ecosystems of the Cascade Mountains or learning to identify our native plants. Graduating with a Bachelor of Science from the Evergreen State College in 2008 I spent the years following traveling to places like Southeast Asia and Australia and conducting Ornithological field work before returning home. As well as being excited to share the beauty of the Pacific Northwest as an Escape Artist, I am extremely passionate writer and photographer focusing on the natural world around us. When I’m not out observing and interpreting nature, I’m likely enjoying my vegetable garden, home brewing, or baking bread.
Jeremy is a New Hampshire native with a passion for Washington state’s dramatic landscapes as well as its delicious food and drink. He received his BA in Communications from the University of New Hampshire in 2003 and his MA in Education in 2009. A jack of many trades, Jeremy has had many careers but is most happy as a teacher/naturalist/instructor in the great outdoors. He spent a few years working for summer camps, outdoor education programs, and schools before finding a place with Evergreen escapes in 2011. His favorite attributes of being an escape artist are meeting new people from all around the world and sharing his love and understanding of Washington with them. He keeps a modest home with his wife Kristin and two cats Remy and Petunia and when Jeremy is not working with Evergreen Escapes or working on his house, you will find him climbing, hiking, skiing, and generally recreating in what he believes is the best place on Earth: Washington State.
DARREN GUYAZ- Escape Artist
Darren hails from the northern Appalachians of Maine, spending his formative years hiking, backpacking, camping, canoeing, and kayaking the forested countryside. After finishing his MS in Environmental Studies in Missoula, Montana, he continued westward, landing in Seattle over five years ago. EverGreen Escapes’ ethos attracted him to join the company in 2011, thus aligning his values (not to mention working with a bunch of great folks). In his spare time, he writes & plays music, practices yoga, bikes everywhere around the city, and eats scrumptious food.
Andy has passionately explored the wilds of Washington, California, and Wyoming for many years. He loves adventuring up steep rock, skiing down cascade volcanoes, and traversing solitary meadows. After 18 years of tipping cows in Wisconsin he moved around the country for undergraduate and graduate studies in science, theology, and social work. Following a multi-year stint teaching science and English indoors in Honduras and Ecuador, he returned to the US. He continues teaching, but now gets to do is outside! He provides experiential learning about avalanche safety, rock-climbing, and skiing while working part time at the hospital. He came to Evergreen Escapes for the wilderness loving co-workers, its sustainability mission, and a chance to connect people to the story of our land and culture.
JULIA NELSON- Escape Artist
A native Cascadian, Julia spent a good chunk of her childhood romping around the backyards and beaches of Seattle and poking at things with sticks (her “Leave No Trace” education didn’t come until a little later in life). While earning her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Whitman College she spent a semester studying coastal ecology in Zanzibar, Tanzania – it was her first time outside North America and the travel bug bit hard (as did many feisty mosquitoes). Upon graduating, her adventures took her to a pickle kitchen in New England, an organic farm in Western Colorado, and a geodesic dome on Orcas Island where she resided while working as a sea kayak guide. Recent adventures include trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, staying with a host family in Palestine, biking around ancient temples in Burma, and swimming in the Dead, the Red, and the Med (seas!). She has returned to Seattle to “settle” for awhile and is proud to be part of the EGE crew. Off duty, Julia dabbles in jam making and is trying her best to become a morning person.
BaseCamp Portland
KIERON WEIDNER - Lead Escape Artist
As a kid I was constantly in the outdoors. Twelve years in Boy Scouts and growing up in rural Wisconsin provided plenty of opportunities to explore all kinds of outdoor recreation. In high school, I logged hundreds of hours canoeing in Canada, hiking the Rockies, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, and just about anything else I could do outside. At the University of Wisconsin – Madison, I earned a degree in Biology with a focus on Environmental Studies, Landscape Ecology and Conservation and spent a semester studying Tropical Ecology and traveling in Costa Rica and Panamá. I also participated in a UNESCO program in Europe in which I learned how cultural and political factors affect natural resource management. Since college I’ve further broadened my knowledge of the natural world via work with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Washington State Department of Ecology, and most recently, EverGreen Escapes. I have lived, worked and played in a full spectrum of environments from deserts to rain forests and in addition to learning the natural history of a place, it has also been my hobby to explore the recreational opportunities that exist there as well. I love to share my knowledge and thirst for adventure with any who are willing to take the road less traveled and gain enlightenment through nature.
JEFF PIETKA – Lead Escape Artist, Operations Manager
Born and raised in Portland, OR, when Jeff studied International Affairs and Geography in Washington, D.C. he had an eye on working in the foreign service – being a naturalist and tour leader was nowhere on his map. But upon graduation, his father asked: “So, what was the most important thing you learned back East?” And after a moment’s contemplation, he replied: “That I belong back West.” Travel became a central theme in Jeff’s life, and he learned quickly that a good guide can make or break a traveler’s experience. Inspired by his own travel experiences with guides both skilled and dubious, he started his interpretive guiding career in Southeast Alaska, and branched out year by year, working in the Pacific Northwest, then Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and British Columbia. Jeff is a National Association of Interpretation Certified Interpretive Guide, and has learned from some of the best around as an Interpretive Ranger at Glacier Bay National Park in ’09 and ’10. After seven years guiding at all latitudes from 30 to 60 degrees North latitude, he has returned to his roots in the Portland region – smack in the middle at about 45 North – where he is prepared to put the places that are nearest and dearest to him on center stage and make them shine for you.
LAURENCE COTTON- Escape Artist
I have worked in the field of international humanitarian assistance, served in state government, directed nonprofit organizations, produced and hosted programs for public radio and public television. From my early academic training in cultural anthropology environmental studies, film and photography at Hampshire College to the present time, my love and passion for the natural world for regional history have proven to be an abiding interest. After moving from Boston to Portland in 1995 and serving as Executive Director of the World Affairs Council of Oregon, I returned to my earlier interests. A recent project detailed the story of the Nez Perce War. A current project focuses on the Olmsted park legacy, nationwide and here in the Pacific Northwest.
I contributed to the planning of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial, provided content to the Confluence Project, under the guidance of landscape architect Maya Lin, served as Board President of Columbia Riverkeeper, and I continue to serve as historian and naturalist on board a sternwheeler, taking passengers on week-long journeys along the Columbia and Snake Rivers. An avid outdoor recreationalist, I also consult in the fields of cultural, heritage and eco-tourism. I am all about engendering a sense of place. As I tell tales from the “Oregon Country” I also strive to provide some gentle education about the cultural history and natural history of this unique part of the world, and to encourage all, residents and visitors alike, to treasure and protect its heritage.
These travels took me up and down the West Coast by foot, thumb, plane and train until I set up shop in the Portland area, which I now call home. I continued my outdoor pursuits while attending college at Western Washington University where I earned my Bachelor’s of Arts in Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Education on top of an Associate’s Degree in Fitness Training. I began to learn the arts of tracking, the essentials of wild edible and medicinal plants, fire by friction, and other so-called primitive ways of life (not to mention other technical skills such as ice climbing, mountaineering, and rock climbing). I continue to expand my base of knowledge while sharing it with anyone that wants to learn, as I believe the only way to fully appreciate and protect our natural world is to spend time with her, and learn to love.
I was brought into this world on a sled pulled behind polar bears in the depths of Alaska, while my mother and father were roaming the globe in search of a place to call home. After fishing, hunting, hiking and backpacking in one of the most remote corners of the world, I left Alaska at 18 and joined the military. I spent five and a half years in the Marine Corps and several continents later began my own wandering – now my explorations are self-selected and self-guided!
