{"id":5,"date":"2010-02-15T22:51:24","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T22:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mos.mazzaweb.com\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2014-09-13T08:37:16","modified_gmt":"2014-09-13T13:37:16","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/?page_id=5","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Who or what is Middle of Somewhere Expeditions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Middle of Somewhere is an ad hoc, not-fot-profit social cooperative for wilderness travel and education.\u00c2\u00a0 Translated into plain English, we’re a bunch of outdoorsy people who get together to travel in the backcountry.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re not a corporation or a\u00c2\u00a0business of any kind, we’re not a guide service, we have no revenue and do not offer services to the public.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re just people who, together, bring the wilderness experience to our growing group of friends.\u00c2\u00a0 We all pay cost for our trips, the same cost to everyone.\u00c2\u00a0 There are no profits – only experiences.<\/p>\n

HISTORY<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1992, a collection of college students decided to organize a canoeing and camping trip to Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.\u00c2\u00a0 For a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds piled into a car, it was a cheap, fun vacation.\u00c2\u00a0 And it was so fun, that word got out, and suddenly a wave of friends wanted to go on the next trip.\u00c2\u00a0 So there was a next, and another, and another.<\/p>\n

Here in our 20th year, MOS has done over 30 trips to 9 states and provinces in the US and Canada.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Over 50 different individuals have\u00c2\u00a0backpacked, canoed, mountain biked and camped in wild places all over the continent with us, often multiple times.\u00c2\u00a0 Our co-op grows every year.\u00c2\u00a0 We now have this website, and even a Facebook page.<\/p>\n

But what we are most proud of is this: there are dozens of people who now have experienced our wilderness lands, because as a group we made it possible for\u00c2\u00a0our friends\u00c2\u00a0to do so.\u00c2\u00a0 Many of these are people who would not otherwise have known how to, or even thought to, give themselves this unique experience.<\/p>\n

HOW THIS WORKS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the people who organized our first trips, along with other regular trip participants and experienced outdoorsmen, discuss ideas for trips.\u00c2\u00a0 These folks, who we call Advisors, are individuals in the co-op\u00c2\u00a0who are willing to put in some extra time to handle some of the details.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0We plan routes, equipment needs, meals, and all manner of logistics, for the group as a whole.\u00c2\u00a0 The current Advisors – Matt, James, Don, Dan, Greg, Mark and Scott – all have extensive experience in wilderness travel, including planning and organizing.\u00c2\u00a0 These seven individuals are members of the co-op just like all the rest, who just happen to volunteer extra time and effort to make the trips go more smoothly.<\/p>\n

Everyone pays the same – we all pay cost for the trips.\u00c2\u00a0 We also all pay $50 per trip that is used to purchase group equipment that everyone uses\u00c2\u00a0– like tents, cooking gear, and radios.\u00c2\u00a0 This website has a cost too, but its covered by our Associate links to Amazon, REI and Moosejaw (please make sure to use them!).<\/p>\n

As groups form up for trips, we get together to discuss all manner of details.\u00c2\u00a0 The more experienced trekkers help the less experienced participants get up to speed, and answer questions.\u00c2\u00a0 We make sure everyone going is aware of what they are signing up for; our trips are often strenuous and challenging, in addition to being rewarding.\u00c2\u00a0 We use the power of the combined knowledge of our cooperative to help each other learn.<\/p>\n

And of course, afterwards, we put diaries and pictures up on our site, so we can forever share our stories.<\/p>\n

WHERE WE ARE GOING<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what’s next?\u00c2\u00a0 More trips to more wild places.\u00c2\u00a0 More people getting to experience what its like to truly be in the backcountry.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re always looking for new ideas – so please don’t hesitate to let us in on yours!\u00c2\u00a0 Check out the Upcoming Trips page, and leave a comment if you’d like.<\/p>\n

SOME LEGAL STUFF<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are not a licensed guide service.\u00c2\u00a0 We are not incorporated or registered as a business of any kind.\u00c2\u00a0 We do not bring people out on trips who we do not know personally – this is a social cooperative.\u00c2\u00a0 We sell nothing to the public.<\/p>\n

Money that comes from the Equipment Fund ($50 per trip per person) goes solely to buying equipment that is used on MOS trips only, for use by the entire group.\u00c2\u00a0 Money from the Associate links covers our website costs.\u00c2\u00a0 Other than the website and that group camping gear, there are no other assets owned cooperatively or individually that come from any funds from any trip.\u00c2\u00a0 We have no debts or liens.\u00c2\u00a0 Basically, there is no “we”, other than our collection of individuals.<\/p>\n

CONTACT US<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have any questions at all, please send us an email: dwt -at- middleofsomewhere -dot- com.\u00c2\u00a0 Sorry for the lack of link there, we have had a bit of a problem with spam in the past, and this helps us avoid the spam bots.<\/p>\n

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Who or what is Middle of Somewhere Expeditions? Middle of Somewhere is an ad hoc, not-fot-profit social cooperative for wilderness travel and education.\u00c2\u00a0 Translated into plain English, we’re a bunch of outdoorsy people who get together to travel in the backcountry.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re not a corporation or a\u00c2\u00a0business of any kind, we’re not a guide service, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleofsomewhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}