David Manning brings over two decades of backcountry leadership to Square Feet. A career leader in enterprise technology sales with a degree in Electrical Engineering, David has spent twenty-five years navigating the high-stakes world of global IT infrastructure, cloud networks, and complex data environments. Having spent his career guiding enterprise customers and global system integrators through critical technological decisions, David founded Square Feet to provide fellow professionals with a high-performance, fully supported wilderness experience that leaves nothing to chance.

As the Backpacking Committee Chair for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) and an active member of its Trail Patrol, David is deeply integrated into the management of the Mid-Atlantic’s backcountry infrastructure. He balances this field-level expertise with a rigid, engineer’s approach to risk management. He views safety not as an abstract concept, but as an operational system requiring monitoring, redundancy, and protocol.

Every excursion is anchored by David’s commitment to operational discipline:

• Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certified.

• Advanced training in wilderness leadership and project-based risk assessment.

• Standardized safety protocols derived from federal land management best practices.

David does not just guide; he facilitates. By managing all logistics, route planning, and safety protocols with the same professional rigor he applied to global technology projects, he ensures your time in the wilderness is restorative, seamless, and completely focused on the journey.