I've been a ramblin man....

So I was living the rock and roll lifestyle for a long time, too long in fact. It began to wear on me. So, I loaded up the truck and went on a whitewater soul surfin/ searchin mission. Its been during this voyage that I realized two things: I'am an adventure guide and its what I love to do. Second, If im going to do this for a living, I need to go into it 100%. I need to be fit too.

Over the past 2 months, I have covered over 4,300 miles in my trusty old '92 4runner, and have kayaked 11 new & different sections, and worked commercially on 3, soon to be four.

Kayak Runs:

-N. Platte River, Whitewater Park in Casper, Wy.

-Fremont Canyon, N. Platte River, Near Casper, Wy. (see photo)

-Snake River Canyon, Jackson Hole, Wy.

-Gros Ventre River, Jackson Hole, Wy.

-Hoback River, Jackson Hole, Wy.

-Salmon River, near Stanley, Id.

-Yankee fork of the Salmon river, near Stanley, Id.

-Blackfoot river near Missoula, Mt.

-Lochsa River, Id.

-Rogue River, Or.

-White Salmon, Wa.

-South Fork of the American River, Ca.

-Middle Fork of the American River, CA.

This is on the N. Platte, after Pathfinder Reservoir near Casper Wyoming. Pat and I had to scout from essentially this point. Looks a lot smaller than it is! I forget the name of this rapid, but I'd guess its at least a IV+.

I did some commercial raft trips, but these deserve stories of their own:

-Snake River Canyon, Jackson Hole, Wy.

-Alberton Gorge, Clark Fork River, Missoula, MT.

I left Colorado in such a hurry, I didnt take any of my river gear. The original plan was to head to Oregon to stay with my aunt and uncle for a little while to visit, and get away from all the bad stuff. While on the way, I figured it would be best to do a little paddling, but i needed gear.

I got on the horn and called an old friend and one of my greater paddling mentors Pat. I just wanted a boat, paddle, life jacket, you know, the basics... Pat has been boating a long time, so he has acquired a little gear. He ended up lending me All the basics, PFD, Paddle, helmet, spray skirt, dry top, AND a sweet play/ surf kayak and a nice big boat for creeks and big water, etc.

He totally styled me out. We surfed at the Casper Whitewater park and ran Fremont Canyon the next day. The surf session was in honor of our fallen friend, David Charles Schmitt.

This is a picture I took of David (I called him Indy) On Homestake creek, Co. He was just getting warmed up in the realm of professional kayaking, and was on his way to the big leagues. He passed in a tragic accident in the War Memorial Stadium, Univ. of Wyoming (where he attended) in early May. He will always be in the big leagues of the hearts of all who knew him. You will be dearly missed, David Charles Schmitt May 24th, 1988 - May 7 2011.

I headed up to Jackson Hole to check out the scene there. I met Aaron Pruzan, the owner of Rendezvous River Sports (See link) in Jackson and a well known paddler. We paddled the Med.- high Gros Ventre river together, and I bummed around the shop for a while. While in Jackson, I had talked with a few companies about work. I kayaked the snake river canyon, and later, found my self running a 16' Safety Cataraft(like a pontoon boat, for whitewater) for a high-water(23,000 cubic feet per second) commercial trip(with Lewis and Clark Expeditions). Everything went well, except one boat had a few swimmers at the famous Lunch Counter Rapid (III+). While in Jackson, I also got to see the Hoback river with a few instructors from Rendezvous.

After that, It was on up to Idaho. I stopped at the first outfitter i saw, White Cloud, in Stanley, Id. I talked to Jeremy, the owner, and got myself a free shuttle to run the lower Sunbeam stretch (III) of the Salmon river. After the trip, I ran into Ranger Rich from the National Forest Service. He was going to run the upper stretch including Sunbeam Dam and Shot gun (both III+) for work. So, i got to tag along. After that, I found another boater to run the Yankee fork of the Salmon (creek style III). Ran it once, with a 3 mile jogging shuttle back to my truck, picked up my boat, posted my bicycle at the takeout and soloed the run one more time.

I tried to beg my way onto a middle fork of the salmon, but was unsuccessful, mostly due to funds. So, I headed on up to Missoula Montana.

I camped at Craters of the Moon National park, and ran into a guy named Collin, from Washington State. He ended up knowing someone from Friday Harbor, where my parents were staying at that very moment. Its a small world.

I went to Montucky (Montana.) Pat and I have a mutual friend there, Wes(I had met years earlier when he worked in the Royal Gorge region.). I was hoping he could hook me up with some work, place to stay, etc. Wes was, however, on a multi day trip, unable to get a hold of.

In Missoula, I found myself in a relatively large city, bigger than what i wanted, I met traffic, pay-for-parking, and a maze of downtown and one way streets. It was more than I bargained for. Fourtuantely, there was a surf wave in town, I headed over, for a much needed surf session. I was poaching some internet in the parking lot, when I thought of my friend Jeff, whom i met on the Costa Rica- Panama border, some 1.5 years earlier, I had a hunch that he was near. Sure enough, Jeff lives in Missoula and i got a hold of him. I ended up staying roughly a week in Missoula, helping Jeff down the class II Blackfoot river, and working commercially on the Clark Fork river. I had spoken with yet another Lewis and Clark outfitter, which interestingly enough was where Wes was employed. I was to kayak along with a commercial trip. When i showed up, the owner was pacing around uneasily, he finally came up to me and asked if I was a guide, Yes, in fact, thats what i do for a living. So, I switched my kayak stuff for rafting stuff, and guided the Alberton Gorge of the Clark Fork river, Blind, that is, never seeing the river before. ( I followed some other rafts on the trip, thats how i knew where to go....) I ended up meeting with Wes, and Jeff showed me a dern-tootin' good time around Missoula. Oh, and one time, we went over and ran the Famous Lochsa River in Idaho for a few birthdays of some of his friends. Good Day, except the day after, my already slightly irritated shoulder had me bail off of another run down the Lochsa. It was time to get some R&R in Oregon.