Painting Pack Trip
August 30 - September 6, 2026
Ranch-based Retreat & Wilderness Pack Trip
Come along with artist and outdoor educator John Springer to experience the grandeur of the American wilderness as you never have before, through the practice of oil painting. With the support of horse-pack, we will have the rare opportunity to create artwork deep within the mountains. Over the course of a week performing this contemplative exercise immersed in nature, we will together share in that feeling so well phrased by John Muir, that going to the mountains is going home.
The first three nights will be spent in the comfort of the ranch. The first two days will take place in the nearby surroundings with introductory instruction from John in drawing and color theory. By painting, we will become acquainted with the materials. John will assist in developing your ability to look into nature and find motifs which can move you. We will spend the next three nights on a wilderness pack trip, accompanied by the wildlife and the equine, traveling high into the mountains to create an alpine painting basecamp. For three mornings and afternoons, we will venture out in the surrounding cirque to experience painting from a variety of aspects in the changing mountain landscape. Whether painting sunrises or sunsets, the dew of the morning meadow or the ominous afternoon clouds above the peaks, we will attempt to paint our momentary experiences on the motif and render the fleeting sensations found within the timeless wilderness of the Wind River Range.
This pack-trip is open to not just painters, but to anyone of any discipline. Whether you are an artist, an athlete, a sportsman or simply someone who has the innate need to get up in the mountains from time to time, this is an adventure of inspiration and rejuvenation with no artistic background required.
Take this chance to learn more about yourself and your relationship to nature by giving visual voice through painting to your authentic experience in the mountains.
TRAVEL: Arrive at the ranch at 4:00pm on Sunday, August 30. Depart on September 6 by 10am. Closest airport is Riverton, WY - you can use a shuttle service from Riverton to the ranch - or fly into Jackson Hole, Rock Springs, Casper, Denver, or Salt Lake City and rent a vehicle.
PLANNING: Please read our Terms & Policies to learn more about our ranch facilities, riding policies, etc. and visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
QUESTIONS: Please contact Jessie at jessie@diamond4ranch.com or John at john@societyofirregulars.com
COST: $4250 + gratuity (suggested 15-20%)
HOW TO SIGN UP: Please follow this three-step process to get signed up.
Fill out this RESERVATION FORM
Sign this DIGITAL WAIVER
Pay the 25% DEPOSIT of $1060
After completing those three steps, you’re signed up! We will then follow up with helpful trip planning information. We will be excited to meet you in the Wind Rivers!
Meet your leader:
John Springer
John Springer is an American artist who lives in Aix-en-Provence, France. He grew up in Georgia and North Carolina and graduated from The University of the South: Sewanee in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources. Nature coupled with art has been a driving force throughout his life. From 2012 to 2021, John lived mostly in Jackson Hole, Wyoming working in outdoor education with the National Outdoor Leadership School as well developing his career as a landscape artist. In 2021, John came to Aix-en-Provence, France to pursue a Master of Fine Arts Degree at The American College of the Mediterranean with an emphasis on oil painting, European art history and art criticism. Since he received his MFA degree in 2023, he has remained in France working as an artist, painting the diverse natural and cultural landscapes of Western Europe. In 2023 he formed his artistic enterprise Society of Irregulars which specializes in art dealing, art education, and environmental advocacy. Currently, John spends his time between France and America where he arranges art exhibitions, conducts workshops in painting and drawing as well as leading immersive experiences in museums and nature.
John’s approach to teaching painting and drawing is to always maintain a beginner’s mindset. In this way one can give pure and honest voice to the experience in the changing landscape. He is not concerned with the creation of articulate masterpieces, but rather creating work that gives an effect of wholeness and atmosphere, maintaining within it the unique vivacity of the artist’s imaginative experience of observation. John adheres to a tradition of painting founded in both eastern and western art that revolves around the study of light and volume. He demonstrates how by focusing on the essential elements in a motif you can create movement in a painting and evoke life.