The Wilderness Trekkers was the sole vision of Kim and Dave Lippy. Once their vision was set, Kim and Dave recruited numerous experienced outdoor folks who joined in with hard work to make the vision a reality. Born out of a desire to create an organization for the purpose of recreation within the wilds off Florida and beyond, Wilderness Trekkers capitalized on capable and experienced trip leaders to deliver safe events that resulted in a good experience for all involved. Education was a cornerstone of the Wilderness Trekker’s philosophy; a philosophy whose purpose was to pass on to new leaders and the general membership, the appropriate sense of responsible adventure and respect for the environment.

In 1995, Kim and Dave Lippy sought to create Wilderness Trekkers after years of involvement with the Florida Trail Association and other outdoor groups. Many dedicated friends joined in to help Kim and Dave as they used their wilderness experience and organizational skills to develop a new program oriented toward adventure trips that included hiking, backpacking and canoeing. As strong leaders, their hard work led to a dynamic and reputable outdoors organization serving people across Florida and other southeastern states. “We kept the emphasis on true wilderness/backcountry activities, and the classes we offered supported this.”.

There was a team of very committed people that got Wilderness Trekkers off the ground. It was through this dedication of service that the organization grew relatively quickly in the late 90’s. They received encouragement and help from Mike Plant, a friend and owner of Travel Country Outdoors. Dave states, “We sponsored some seminars on weekends at Travel Country that gave us exposure to outdoor people. Just having our brochure in the store drew many new members into our grand journey of outdoor adventure.” A comprehensive newsletter provided communication to members and want-a-be members with articles on future trips, story telling prose of prior trips, and news and commentary on training, the environment, and external affairs, all of which helped propel Wilderness Trekkers into a dynamic outdoors adventure club.

Kim and Dave led many of the original events and numerous ones after that. But with other well-qualified leaders and over time, the calendar of events cascaded into a continuous score of activities; often more than one per weekend. Beyond the activities, the Lippy’s always had this attachment to the public lands that was, and continues to be, so vital to the purpose of their “people-meeting-wilderness” efforts. “Another thing that helped spread the word about Wilderness Trekkers was our involvement with Florida land managers. Kim was very active as a user member of various committees that advised Florida and Federal agencies.” Kim states that, “My own personal gratification and motivation came from getting the general public out on conservation lands, to expose and educate them on their value, and consider the virtues of good stewardship thereof.”

Wilderness Trekkers had great success in not only attracting new members, but also in keeping them involved. In addition to day or weeklong events, Dave and Kim strove to build a sense of “family” within the membership, “Social activities, like the Annual Gathering, were very important to get members involved and knowing each other.” Hence, the Annual Gathering lives on today as an important event to meet that purpose. “In the earlier years, the Wilderness Trekkers also had an annual New Years Eve gathering at River Forest in Deland where members could bring in the New Year, ‘Trekker style’ with a bon fire, the lowering of a silver ball from an oak limb, and plenty of hugs and kisses.“

Today, the Lippys have moved to the western part of North Carolina where they want to build a new home to serve them in their retirement years. They continue to enjoy the outdoors and have an ambitious objective this summer of hiking the 2,178-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. They leave March 1 and can be followed at http://www.TrailJournals.com/TheLippys/. They also maintain a personal web site at http://www.thelippys.com/.