Why do we guide?

Why guide? ✨
These photos depict a fairly honest day in the life of a river guide.
Mornings that start in the pitch black, accompanied by head lamps and the gradual scent of crispy bacon and fresh coffee.
I often lick my front teeth while opening my eyes after five days of the 9-5 river grind and sand crunches between my teeth and tongue. ✨
Followed by yoga and boat-rigging, morning push off is typically a chaos-filled launch at 10am under direct sunlight. Many hours each morning are spent story telling, laughing, scouting rapids and stopping for hikes and pictographs. We spend our afternoons deep in play, grateful and excited to be at camp. In the heat of July we don’t eat until 8pm and we spend our camp time playing games, chatting, dancing and singing around the fire, cooking steaks and portobellos, and debriefing long days in the Frank Church Wilderness.
✨
I guide for the feeling I get when I watch fellow guide and dear friend, Sadie Anne stomp her boots around hot coals and swing dance people into the sunset all the same breath. ✨
I guide for the ability to not only indulge in my own love for the river, but for the ability to share that love…to share knowledge and history of a protected wilderness area with hundreds of people from around the country. ✨
I guide for the adrenaline I get every time I drop into whitewater with 12 kids screaming on the front of my boat. ✨
I guide for the stories I get to tell and the stories I get to hear. ✨
I guide because I get to be celebrated for being silly. ✨
I guide because I get to make mistakes and learn from and with the people around me. ✨
I guide because the look in a once-stranger’s eyes after after a week on the river is what life is all about. ✨
Join the MFRE familia this summer, we know how to have fun!