Guide leading women’s ATV tour

PALMER — Alaska Backcountry Adventure Tours guide Rebecca Charles is taking a unique tour this weekend. Her entire group Saturday will be women, something not common in the male-dominated sportsman’s paradise of the Valley. The group will ride ATVs through the Knik River Valley to Knik Glacier.

“Showing them exactly how easy it is to ride an ATV, we go over technical riding on narrow and challenging trails,” Charles said. “It’s fun to see timid riders learn how to ride, and by the end of the trip they’re as good as every other rider.”

This is the second time Charles has led an all-female tour this summer. She plans to take another trip in August. Charles likes the change of pace of the trip. Most of her tours are made up of men who want to see the scenery. On the ladies ride, she will focus on ATV and wilderness survival skills not all women have.

“What’s different is we’re talking about specific survival techniques just in case. A lot of the times there aren’t survival clinics geared towards women,” Charles said.

Many women on the trip will be on an ATV for the first time. Some choose not to drive their own ATV, but Charles says often by the end of the trip they want their own.

Contact Tim Rockey at 352-2252 or tim.rockey@gmail.com. Follow @trockeynews on Twitter.