Wild Maine Adventures is a small family run backpacking guide business run by Charlotte Clews, Jerome Lawther and their two daughters Lucy (14) and Georgia (13). We live in Blue Hill, ME and have dozens of years of backpacking and trip-leading experience between us. Summer 2020 was our first season offering backpacking trips to Maine kids and it was a huge success.
These are super-affordable, low-key, no-frills trips that offer a break from media and the stressors of daily life. We believe in the healing power of wilderness and that spending time in Maine’s abundant wilderness is exactly what kids need!
Because we are a tiny operation please forgive our lack of on-line savviness. Pleas don’t hesitate to contact us personally with questions but also please give us 48-hrs to get back to you as we are often out of cell-range.
Wild Maine Adventures is a feminist, queer-friendly, safe and welcoming family-run business. All genders, gender expressions, sexual orientations, races and ethnicities are welcome.
Charlotte Clews
(she/her or they/them) Charlotte is a Registered Maine Guide and Wilderness First Responder. She has backpacked thousands of miles through some of North America’s most remote wilderness areas, worked as a NOLS instructor in Alaska and the Yukon and as an interpretive Park Ranger at Acadia National Park. She loves bird watching, trail running, spider* petting, and drawing and strongly dislikes cooking, cleaning and most things indoors. Charlotte is Wild Maine Adventure’s chief trip planner, leader and band-aid sorter.
* She also loves snakes, turtles, sow bugs and pretty much everything that’s not a tick.
Jerome Lawther
(he/him) Jerome has a B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Science and currently teaches social studies at Bucksport Highschool. He started backpacking when he met Charlotte though he was already an expert with map and compass, which turned out to be handy during their first date which was a weeklong backpacking trip through The Maze in Utah’s Canyon Land’s National Park. On their next trip together they spent five months orienteering along the U.S. Continental Divide where there was mostly no trail, despite the Name “Continental Divide Trail“. Since then he has fearlessly led his children on numerous hikes, including to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and on the entire length of the John Muir Trail. He is known for being a dependable, if not always gourmet, outdoor chef and has a great sense of humor.
Lucy Clews
(she/her) Lucy has been hiking since she was a month old. She was barefoot for the first six years but has since found suitable shoes. She has section-hiked most of Maine’s Appalachian Trail, all of the John Muir Trail in California and the entire Long Trail in Vermont. She is a strong and bold hiker, as skilled at setting up camp as setting a steady hiking pace for the day. She enjoys quiet camp time and is a dependable partner for cards at the end of the day.
Georgia Clews
(she/her) Georgia has also been hiking her whole life though as the youngest she may have spent a few more years in the backpack than her older sister. Her favorite trip was hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back) when she was seven years old but she’s most proud of getting to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley after hiking the entire John Muir Trail. She’s also been to the summit of her favorite mountain, Katahdin, seven times! She thru-hiked the Long Trail in Vermont and is the youngest person to thru-hike the 800-mile long Arizona Trail. Georgia is director of trail entertainment, always brings a deck of cards, jokes and games. She knows what it’s like to not love hiking but love being outside.
Contact Us:
Wild Maine Adventures
P.O. Box 1333
Blue Hill, ME 04614
(207) 239-1700
charlottedowneast@gmail.com