Arden Bailey: Owner of Yellowstone Expeditions: Arden began working in Yellowstone in 1979 and started Yellowstone Expeditions in 1983. He has spent several summers working for the National Park Service as a park naturalist and also as a research geologist. In more recent years he has spent the spring, summer, and fall working as a geologist for engineering and environmental firms, working the last several summers in Alaska. Arden is a PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) Nordic ski instructor and PSIA backcountry ski guide. He has completed the Red Cross Advanced First Aid as well as the American Avalanche Institute avalanche safety and forecasting courses. His goal is to share his knowledge and love of Yellowstone with our visitors.
Erica Hutchings: Office Manager: Erica began working in Yellowstone as a tour guide and bus driver in 1987 and has been with Yellowstone Expeditions since 1989. She has summered as a National Park Service ranger in Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. She is an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) and has completed the American Avalanche Institute backcountry avalanche safety and forecasting course. Erica is a PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) backcountry ski guide and Nordic ski instructor. Erica manages our office and reservation system as well as helps out at the skier's Yurt Camp.
Connie Dover: Camp Cook: Connie started with Yellowstone Expeditions in 2011. She has spent many summers in the Yellowstone Area cooking at Guest Ranches just east of the Park. In addition to being our camp cook, Connie is a singer, poet and Emmy Award-winning producer and composer. Connie has produced several solo CDs, including: Somebody, The Wishing Well, If Ever I Return, The Border of Heaven, and most recently a CD of traditional Christmas songs and carols with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, entitled The Holly and the Ivy.
She received a 2007 Emmy Award for her production of acoustic music for the KCPT public television production Bad Blood: The Border War that Triggered the Civil War. Her original music earned a Grand Prize in the 2007 Yellowstone & Teton Song Contest, sponsored by the Western Folklife Center (Elko, Nevada), and she is a recipient of the Speakeasy Prize in Poetry for her book of poems, Winter Count, published in 2007 by Unholy Day Press.
Connie can be heard on NPR Radio's "Whats in a Song". Her broadcast performances include guest appearances and features on NPR's Weekend Edition (Saturday and Sunday), A Prairie Home Companion, The Thistle & Shamrock, Mountain Stage and E-Town. Connie's Web Page can be found at https://www.ConnieDover.com
Nadia Garbaj: Yurt Camp Manager and Senior Photography Guide: Nadia's love for Yellowstone runs deep, and it's no surprise she has discovered the magic of living and working in this incredible landscape. She traded in her desk job for a life of adventure and excitement and has never looked back!
Working in Yellowstone has opened a world of opportunity for Nadia. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our operation with 10 years of Yellowstone experience, a Wilderness First Responder Certification, American Avalanche Association Level 1 Avalanche Course Certification, and Certified Interpretive Guide training. Nadia is committed to providing an unforgettable Yurt Camp experience, complete with epic adventures, a wealth of knowledge, a focus on safety, and endless laughs.
From Alaska to Yellowstone, Nadia thrives in the great outdoors and loves sharing her passion with others. When she isn't out exploring the park, you may find her chatting with guests all about Yellowstone's history, flora and fauna or cracking jokes and keeping things light-hearted back at Yurt Camp. With her infectious energy and sense of humor, she has a way of making every experience fun and memorable. For Nadia, Yellowstone isn't just a job - it's a way of life.
Brandon Beshears: Guide: Brandon first moved to Yellowstone in 2017 after a reorganization of the South Dakota state government department where he worked left him unemployed. He spent five years working as a guide in the winter and spending his summers in the Xanterra maintenance department working as a carpenter on historic preservation projects. Brandon only left Yellowstone because he was hired full-time as a preservation carpenter at Mount Vernon, George Washington's Virginia home on the Potomac River and a designated National Historic Landmark.
Brandon has returned "home" to Yellowstone in order to once again experience the solitude and beauty of the Park - a big change from Washington DC.
Macee Hussey: Guide: Macee has worked the last few years as a Sea Kayak Guide where she has lead multiday/overnight sea kayaking trips into Prince William Sound out of Valdez, Alaska. Macee has also conducted research on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to determine the impact of changing benthic environments on the health and abundance of specific fish species and how reef degradation will affect benthic and fish abundance on the reef.
Macee is certified as a Wilderness First Responder, trained in First Aid and CPR and has completed the Avalanche Level 1 training and certification. She may be new to Yellowstone, but just like in her other guiding jobs, she always prioritizes keeping clients safe, satisfied, and thrilled in extreme conditions, while making sure they leave with amazing memories from the trip of a lifetime.
Autumn Ruskell: Guide: Autumn has spent ten years as a Dog Sled Tour Guide in Wyoming, has guided float trips, kayak trips and ice climbing in Alaska, and has been a hunting guide and wrangler for several years. She is trained and certified as a Wilderness First Responder, Swiftwater Rescue level 1, is Avalanche level one and two certified, and is proficient in Spanish. Autumn has summited Aconcagua in Argentina. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest mountain outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere with a summit elevation of 6,961-metres (22,840-ft).
Autumn has a degree in Fisheries biology and wildlife management from the University of Wyoming. She has spent her recent years conducting wildlife research in Colorado and Wyoming. We first met Autumn deep in the Yellowstone backcountry where she was conducting wolverine research. She loves to share the Yellowstone backcountry and her first-hand knowledge of the wildlife that lives there with our guests.
