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Mike Masek spent his childhood exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and the Appalachian foothills of Pennsylvania during family vacations. His love of wild places eventually led him to the Southwest.

Mike attended the University of New Mexico and Northern Arizona University and has a Master’s degree in Education. His main focus of study is ethnobotany; the way humans have used and interacted with the plant world. He currently specializes in traditional medicinal and wild edible plants of the American Southwest. He is adjunct faculty at Northern Arizona University and has taught programs at national parks, community colleges and outdoor education centers throughout the southwest.

His travels and studies have also taken him across North America, including Alaska and Canada. He spent 8 years in Asia, investigating the flora of China, India, and the Tibetan Plateau, including a year trekking in the Nepali Himalayas.

For the past several years, Mike has been guiding in Sedona, the Grand Canyon and southern Utah. Whether by foot, horseback, raft, van or helicopter, Mike enjoys sharing the beauty and magic of the natural world with visitors. His friendly personality and hands on approach to the outdoors make his trips memorable to all ages.