The birth of Step Out Adventures as told by Scott:

"Even though I was raised in the city of Atlanta, I grew up with a love for the outdoors. I would disappear for days at a time into the wilderness. Sometime I would go with friends and sometimes by myself. Nature became my sanctuary. It was something that could challenge all levels of my being, teach me who I was, expose my flaws and insecurities and yet I was completely at home in her depths. It fueled me with a carnal instinct for exploration and taught me that there are unimaginable rewards and incomparable beauty at the cost of a little effort.

In college I quickly found that I could make sharing this experience with other people my job. So for the next thirteen years that is what I did. I have taught rafting, climbing, caving, canoeing, kayaking, backpacking, mountaineering, and high ropes courses to children, adults, schools, corporations, adjudicated youth and many family and friends from the rolling hills of North Carolina and the peaks of Colorado to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and the rain forests of Thailand. It is my love.

After a few years of some solo exploring it became time for me to start my own company and make this my life. It was then that I met Mark. We met in San Francisco and immediately became inseparable friends. We both share a love for adventure and exploration and we both really enjoy people.

Mark was raised in Florida. He has had a life of adventuresome experiences and a plethora of job titles from making cheese to selling DNA. None of these had anything to do with the outdoors. While he has always enjoyed nature, his experiences have been limited within it. However, his knowledge of business, organizational ability and lovable personality made him a perfect match. So we made a trip to Alaska and I took him on his first backpacking trip in Denali National Park. This was extreme backpacking with no established trails, forests crawling with bears and wolves, freezing cold nights, steep climbs and roaring, icy creek crossings. In spite of the challenge he finished with flying colors and a huge grin, not to mention an unbelievable sense of accomplishment and experience he will never forget. He was sold and Step Out Adventures was born."

Mark and I are both gay. We both enjoy going out dancing every now and then, checking out a gay event and hanging out in the scene every once in a while. However, we feel that there is a lack of opportunity for gay people to enjoy organized outdoor adventure activities in a comfortable, nurturing, and fun environment.

Step Out Adventures is our way of reaching out to our gay brothers and sisters and sharing our love of nature in a non-intimidating, non-extreme way. We start from the beginning and foster a relationship with the wilderness as well as the people on our trips. From there we try and bring about an appreciation for nature itself and for the myriad of activities available in the outdoors.

We want to teach the basic skills to make these adventures a short reach away from the most novice outdoorsman.

You would be amazed at the opportunities surrounding us!

If you have any other questions call 415.722.1449 or email us at: