Let's get some!
A Little Back Story
After my time working at a summer camp, catch up on that here if you want, I wasn't ready to go back to the regular 9-5 grind. So I spent 2006 unwinding the life that I had built up to that point.
I sold my condo, traveled a bit and moved into a tiny cheap apartment as I plotted what my next move would be. As life would have it, while at summer camp I had taken a whitewater rafting trip down the New River in West Virginia. That trip had been amazing. Our group had met up at the starting point and a group of guides loaded us up on an old school bus and drove us an hour into the woods. From there they loaded us up in boats and we floated through some of the most beautiful scenery this planet has to offer. Of course, the scenery wasn't even supposed to be the main attraction, that would fall to the whitewater. We ran all kinds of rapids and had an absolute blast.
Somewhere in the middle of that trip I commented to one of the guides that they had one heck of a life. I could easily imagine myself enjoying exactly that kind of living. The laughed and told me it was actually pretty awesome. That little nugget had stayed with me as I went back to my normal world and by the time the fall of 06' had rolled around it had resurfaced.
Going in a New Direction
I was ready to try combining work with play. I love the outdoors and had spent far to much of my time inside working my life away. It was time to make play and work the same thing.
I'm fortunate enough to live in a state that has plenty of great whitewater opportunities. We also have quite a few different companies that run guided whitewater trips. Since I had no experience, I was going to need to be trained. So I started there. Almost every company offers a guide training course. Basically, you pay for the course which takes 6-8 weeks and then upon completion, if you make it through, they offer you a job. Sounded good to me. So I signed up and started.
Time to Simplify
Class didn't start until the spring of 07' so I spent that winter planning out what this new adventure was going to look like. I decided I was going to stop renting the little apartment, buy a truck and live out of it during the summer. I would have no official home. It was an exciting prospect for me actually. Most of my friends thought I was crazy, but I was wanting to experience life at a very simple level.
So I found a used truck with a canopy on it and built it out to be my own little home. I bought some wood and constructed a frame that gave me a platform for a bed on top and plenty of space underneath to store everything I'd need for my new life. It took me awhile to get it all together but I was super stoked with how it turned out. With my new rig ready to roll, I bought all the camping gear and supplies that I'd need and was ready to begin learning how to guide.
Guide Training
Guide training started in March. The way it works is that you show up at the river on Friday night and then spend all day Saturday and Sunday out on the water learning the ropes. You then head back home for the week and do it all again the following weekend. You start out on rivers with lower class rapids and by the last weeks of training you're doing the higher class stuff.
Now, March in Washington state isn't exactly sunshine and t-shirt weather. That first weekend we woke up to snow on the ground and we would be rafting on water coming down from the glacial peaks of the cascades. You learn real quick just how important it is to have good gear. The torrential down pour started at some point during the day and ended up lasting all through the night. I shared a tent with a fellow guide in training and we woke up floating in a pool of water in the cheap tent that was supposed to be our shelter. Cold and miserable had very real meaning to me after that! It also taught me that I needed better quality gear asap. I don't think I was dry for a moment at any point that weekend, but I made it through and came out better for it. I was on the water and loving it. As you can see from the picture below, there were much better days ahead!
We had about 30 people in my class with about 8 instructors. Over the course of the next 3 months we learned how to read the water, execute fairy angles, spot holes, swim rapids, flip overturned boats, whitewater rescue and the thousand other little things that you need to know to guide a raft down a river as safely as possible.
The training was intense but more so for some than others. Whitewater isn't something that you take lightly and it can be intimidating to deal with on your own, let alone being responsible for the lives of others, as a guide is. In the end you need to end up with not only the skills, but also confidence in those skills. After months on the river, I had gained both and after graduation was offered a job.
The Life of a Guide
The whitewater season for us starts up usually in late May early June. As soon as it gets warm enough to start melting the snow on the peaks, it all comes down the mountain with a vengeance. As whitewater enthusiasts, this is what we live for. The rivers get big, the rapids get crazy and everyday is an adventure.
I'd wake up every morning in the back of my truck and head over to our shop to prep everything we'd need for the day. Boats needed to be loaded up, gear put together and food prepped for the after float meal. When all that was done we'd head on over to the park where we'd meet our guests for the day.
We'd get everyone geared up with wet suites, life jackets and paddles then load them on the bus and head off to the top of the river so we could ride it all the way back down. I couldn't help but smile realizing that I was now on the other side of the experience that had so intrigued me just a couple years prior. I was now living the dream!
Every trip down the river is different. The goal is always to make sure your guests have the best time possible while you share your love of the river with them. You end up being just as much entertainer as you do guide. Guides are known for tall tales and stretching the truth. We want lots of laughs and smiles and they both tend to show up a lot in that world.
Everyday I'd meet a new group of people just out to have a good time. We'd bond on the river over the thrill of hitting the rapids and tell each others' stories as we floated on the calmer water in between. It's a great way to be.
At the end of the trip, us guides would cook up a steak dinner and when everyone had had their fill we'd say our goodbyes and they'd go on their way back to the real world. We'd clean up all the gear and get it put away for the night then crack a beer and call it a day.
We'd spend the rest of the evening just hanging out or spending the time as we saw fit. When I was ready to turn in, I'd drive my truck into the woods somewhere and call it home for the night.
Final Thoughts
I spent two summers living that life and loved the simplicity and freedom of it. I had never felt so free. On days off, sometimes I'd go down the river with other guides and we'd do crazy stuff that we couldn't do with guests. Other days, I'd just take off hiking up into the mountains. I finally felt like I was able to connect with life in a way that resonated with me. I was living in line with what filled my soul.
Although I don't guide anymore, the experience I gained from hundreds of trips down the river helped open doors for other adventures in my life. One of my favorites being packrafting, where you basically hike a small boat deep into the wilderness to raft out on the wild rivers that come from them. The two summers I spent on river time were incredible and not just for the experiences and lifestyle of rafting, but also for the experience gained from living life in a way that I hadn't up until that point. Simply. It changed me, and helped shift my perspective on what really mattered to me in this world, and of all the amazing things I learned from my time guiding, that was probably the most impactful.
About "Get to Know Me"
I've got a series going where I share snippets of my life that detail a little bit of where I come from and the things that have helped shape me into the person that I am today. If you care to share something about yourself I encourage you to use the #gettoknowme tag and help us all get a glimpse into what helped shape you into the person you are today.
Some of my other recent posts:
 |  |  |
