Pat Legel, the owner and founder of A Wanderlust Adventure, started the company back in 1982. The company was a lot smaller back then and consisted of one Datson pickup, one non bailing raft and Pat. Since then the company has grown into one of the largest outfitters on the Poudre River. Pat still likes to guide on the river when he isn't on a Wanderlust journey in another part of the country. He enjoys going on private multi-day trips like the Grand Canyon, Cataract Canyon, Dolores River, Tatshenshini, Snake, Salmon and you name it! Most of the time you can find Pat hiking or biking around the foothills of Fort Collins with his faithful golden retriever, Rio.

Bob Klein, the manager of the company, has been guiding on the Poudre River for the past fifteen seasons. He holds a degree in Natural Resources Commercial Recreation and Tourism from Colorado State University. Before he started managing the company full time he enjoyed living the ski bum life and taught snowboarding at Steamboat Ski Resort and Jackson Hole. Bob is originally from the western slope town of Hotchkiss, Colorado. He enjoys rowing his raft on multi-day river trips, mountain biking, snowboarding, weight lifting, bow hunting and traveling. Some of his favorite experiences include rafting through the Grand Canyon, & traveling to Costa Rica, Ecuador, New Zealand and Australia.


Paula Hodgson has guided on the Cache La Poudre River with Wanderlust for the past sixteen seasons. She attended college at Colorado State University where she earned her degree and discovered her love for the outdoors and rafting. During the off season Paula has worked with youth at risk, taught environmental interpretation at youth camps and instructed skiing at Steamboat and Jackson Hole. She currently is attending CSU pursuing her masters in counseling and plans to guide part time this summer. Paula has a passion for traveling, especially in Central and South America. Some of her favorite experiences include kayaking on the Futalafu River in Chile, kayaking thru the Grand Canyon, trekking on the Inca trail in Peru and thru the Himalayas of Nepal.


Brandy Hodgson has been a guide with Wanderlust for thirteen seasons, has worked a season on the Gauley River and has rafted several other rivers nationally and internationally. In the off season Brandy is a challenge course facilitator, has worked as a junior high science and health teacher and currently graduated from CSU earning her PHD in Interdisciplinary Wellness Counseling and Experiential Education. Favorite experiences include trekking in Nepal, hitchhiking through New Zealand and rafting the Grand Canyon, though a love for her home state and family keeps her coming back to Colorado. Brandy loves working with people and providing fun experiences and learning opportunities for people who want to improve the quality of their lives. Brandy is a certified Swiftwater Rescue Technician.


Julie Geiman has been guiding on the Poudre River for the past thirteen seasons and is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. She is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Julie attended Colorado State University where she obtained a degree in Health and Wellness and then went on to attain her secondary high school teaching certificate and another degree in English. During the off season she teaches English and Health at Loveland High School. She also coaches the girls volleyball team. Julie and her husband Joe have two children named Joe and Ava. Julie and her family enjoy skiing, kayaking, mountain biking and traveling.

Aaron Crawford has been a guide with Wanderlust for eight seasons. He is a certified Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Originally from Illinois, Aaron moved to Fort Collins to attend Colorado State University where he earned a degree in Exercise Sport Science and his teaching certificate for Physical Education. During the off season he teaches P.E. at Bacon Elementary School in Fort Collins. Aaron loves teaching and enjoys many outdoor activities like road and mountain bicycling, snowboarding and climbing many of the 14 foot peaks of Colorado's mountains. During the summer of 2003 Aaron participated in the annual Ride the Rockies Cycling event touring the state for more than two weeks on the saddle of his bicycle.

Robin Conley has been guiding rafts on the Poudre River for ten seasons. She is certified as a Wilderness First Responder and Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Robin also worked one season guiding for North American River Runners on the Gauley River in West Virginia. She moved to Colorado to attend CSU and earned her degree in Natural Resources Commercial Recreation & Tourism/ Eco-tourism. Robin has a passion for the outdoors and loves to kayak and snowboard. She and her husband Jeff, enjoy traveling, snowboarding, hiking and going on multi-day river trips with friends and family.

Kate Wallace has been guiding on the Cache La Poudre River for the past thirteen seasons. She has been with A Wanderlust Adventure for the past five summers. Kate is an Emergency Medical Technician and is also certified in Swiftwater Rescue. She completed her undergraduate degree at Tufts University in Classical Studies and obtained her teaching certificate for Secondary Social Studies from the University of Colorado. Kate loves to work with children and has a passion for teaching and reading. She currently teaches in Poudre School District here in Fort Collins. Being a world traveler, Kate lived abroad for most of her life before her parents moved to Florida. She still loves to travel and enjoys scuba diving, kayaking, hiking and going on multi-day raft trips.


Michael Kirkpatrick started working for Wanderlust back in 2002 and has been guiding commercially for the past eight years. He is a certified Swiftwater Rescue Technician. He earned a degree in Music from Washington State University where he started guiding on many of the rivers in that area. Graduate School brought him to Greeley where he studied Music at the University of Northern Colorado. After earning his Masters, Michael had an opportunity to sing for the Santa Fe Opera which he did for one summer. His love for rafting and Fort Collins brought him back to Colorado, where he started a progressive string band named "Wildwood Holler", which plays frequently in the area.

Doug Loughry has been guiding commercially for the past thirteen years. He is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. He has been with Wanderlust for eight seasons. Doug graduated from CSU with a degree in Psychology and is back in school earning a degree in Art. Doug has a passion for many outdoor activities but his favorites would probably be telemark skiing and kayaking. Doug loves to teach kayaking and is one of the companies expert, safety kayakers during high water. He also loves to travel and has kayaked on many Class V rivers in Costa Rica and throughout the United States. If you want to learn how to kayak Doug is the man to talk to.

Jeff Smith has been a commercial guide for our company for eight seasons. He is an Emergency Medical Technician and a certified Swiftwater Rescue Technician. During the off season Jeff works for himself installing hard wood floors all over the Front Range of Colorado. Jeff also guides snowmobile tours during the winter months for Snowy Mountain Tours in Wyoming. Jeff has a passion for snowmobiling and also guided tours in Steamboat Springs during the winters of 1998 and 1999. In the winter of 2000 Jeff worked as a dog sled guide in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Jeff is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys many activities like kayaking, multi-day river trips, snowmobiling, rock climbing, snowboarding, archery and big game hunting.

Jay Henke will be entering his fifth season guiding for A Wanderlust Adventure. He is certified in Wilderness First Responder Training and is a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Originally from Colorado Springs, Jay moved to the Fort Collins area to study at CSU. After earning a degree in Landscape Architecture he pursued a career with a local firm. Jay then went back to school to obtain another degree and teaching certificate. He taught middle school science and coached basketball in Fort Collins for a couple of years before returning to landscape architecture. Jay and his wife Shala recently had a boy who they named Canyon. Jay enjoys backpacking, kayaking, mountain biking and hiking around the Front Range of Colorado.

Lucas Stanley will be entering his sixth summer guiding for our company. Lucas is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. He is originally from Colorado Springs and moved to Fort Collins because of Colorado State University. Lucas earned a degree in History from CSU and plans on becoming a teacher. He recently returned from Costa Rica where he guided on the exciting Pacuare River during the winter months. Lucas loves to fly fish and spends much of his free time enjoying this sport in the Poudre Canyon. He also enjoys rowing his cataraft down the Poudre River and other rivers in Colorado and Utah.

Brian Lee will be entering his fifth season guiding on the Poudre River. He worked one season guiding for Highside Adventures on the Arkansas River before joining our company. Brian is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Originally from Greeley Colorado, Brian moved to Fort Collins to study at Colorado State University. Brian plans to graduate this spring with a degree in Recreation and Tourism. Brian loves to kayak and spent a season working on the Gauley River in West Virginia as a video boater. After working on the Gauley he traveled to Arizona and spent three weeks kayaking through the Grand Canyon. He recently traveled to Ecuador to complete his internship and kayaked on many of the rivers down there.


Sarah Sammons will be entering her fifth season as our staff photographer. Many of the pictures on our web site were taken by Sarah. A Fort Collins native, Sarah has lived in the Front Range of Colorado for most of her life. She developed a passion for photography at an early age and enjoys taking scenic photos as much as the action shots that many of our guests purchase. Sarah is also a certified professional massage therapist and owns her own photography business. If you would like to check out more of her work please visit www.colorfulcolorado.smugmug.com

Joe Halseth will be entering his sixth season of rafting on the Cache La Poudre River. Joe is a Swiftwater Rescue Technician and is certified in Wilderness First Aid. Joe worked two seasons with A1 Wildwater on the Poudre River before joining our company. Originally from Austin, Texas Joe came to Fort Collins to study Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University. Joe has a passion for outdoor activities and enjoys multi day river trips, camping, fly fishing and hunting for big game in Colorado and Texas. Joe works as a guide for a hunting outfitter in Texas during the winter months.

Jamie Jasinski will be returning for his third season working on the Poudre River, although he has four total years of guiding experience. Jamie is certified as a Wilderness First Responder. He worked two seasons guiding for Wildwater Ltd. on the Chattooga, Nantahala and Ocoee Rivers before joining our company. During the winter months Jamie works for the Colorado State Challenge Course as a ropes course and team building facilitator. Originally from Ohio, Jamie graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. in Recreation & Sport Sciences double majoring in Adventure Recreation and Outdoor Education. Jamie enjoys many activities including kayaking, rock climbing, snowboarding, alpine skiing, backcountry trekking, playing the guitar, traveling and working with people.

Erik Jorgensen will be entering his third season guiding for our company, although he has over fifteen years experience guiding on many rivers. He is a Swiftwater Rescue Technician and an Emergency Medical Technician. He is currently attending college to become a nurse. For eleven seasons he was the head boatman and manager of Pagosa Outside in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. For two seasons Erik worked for Borealis River Guides on many rivers in Alaska including the Eagle, Matanuska and Talachulitna Rivers. He also guided one season for Arkansas Valley Adventures on the Arkansas River. Erik enjoys traveling, exploring, volunteering, reading and of course, whitewater rafting!

Luetta Starks will be returning for her fourth season of driving with our company. During the winter months Luetta drives a school bus for handicapped children at Thompson School District. Luetta loves driving for our company and commutes from the town of Loveland, a forty minute drive away. Everyone in our company loves having Luetta drive for us because of her great sense of humor and positive attitude. She loves that her two daughters Rikke and Noelle also work for our company and enjoys spending time with them throughout the summer. Luetta and her husband Randy enjoy horseback riding and own a small farm on the outskirts of Loveland, Colorado.

Rikke Liska has worked as our hostess, photographer and receptionist for the past three seasons. If you call our office Rikke is one of three office staff that will take your reservation. Rikke is a full time student at Colorado State University and plans on attending law school after graduation. Rikke has a passion for dancing, particularly ballet dancing. She dances for the Canyon Concert Ballet in Fort Collins and has performed in The Nutcracker and other concerts for several years. Rikke also enjoys many activities especially horseback riding with family and friends.

Noelle Liska will be returning for her second season working for A Wanderlust Adventure. Like her sister Rikke, Noelle enjoys multiple tasks at our company and has worked as our staff photographer, receptionist and as our hostess. Noelle attends Colorado State University where she is currently enrolled as a open option major. An honor student at Loveland High School, Noelle joined the dive team her senior year and qualified for the state competition after only one year of training. Noelle also loves horseback riding, salsa dancing and gymnastics. Throughout high school she competed as a gymnast and also coached gymnastics in Fort Collins.

Jessica Coffee worked as one of our receptionists during the 2007 season. She attends Colorado State University and is planning on graduating in the spring of 2008 with a double major in Speech Communication and Philosophy. In 2006 Jessica spent one semester at Keele University in Staffordshire, England as an exchange student. Jessica is a Committee Head of Alpha Kappa Psi, the CSU Professional Business Fraternity. She donates her time to help local organizations after school through work in homeless shelters, elementary schools, elderly care facilities and youth after school programs. Jessica loves whitewater rafting and experienced our advanced Blast of Whitewater trip as many times as she could throughout the summer.

Ellie Wheat worked for our company as a photographer, hostess and receptionist during the 2007 season. She currently attends Colorado State University studying Wildlife Biology. During this past spring Ellie studied abroad in Kenya, Africa. While she was in Africa she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Originally from Colorado Springs, Ellie grew up enjoying the outdoors and exploring the west on many multi-day river trips with her family. She has rafted down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon several times and has also done trips on the Yampa, Green and Middle Fork of the Salmon Rivers. She loves many outdoor activities especially kayaking, hiking, backpacking and skiing.

Christina Schmidt drove for our company during the summer of 2007. She is originally from Santa Barbara, California where she attended college. Before driving for our company Christina worked as a wildland firefighter in California and other western states. She was an Engine Crew Senior Firefighter, a Hotshot and a Helitack Crewmember for five years. An accomplished scuba diver, Christina and her husband moved to Fort Collins and love to mountain bike, raft, hike and camp in the mountains of Colorado. Christina plans on taking our guide training program in the spring in order to become certified to guide our whitewater trips next summer.

Brian Smiley has guided on various rivers for the past ten seasons. He is a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Smiley worked for Rocky Mountain Adventures for seven summers guiding on the Poudre River. He then guided for Zephyr Whitewater Expeditions in Columbia, California for two seasons before coming to our company this past summer. Brian also has guided internationally on rivers in Chile, New Zealand and Peru. Smiley attained his B.A. in English Literature from Colorado State University and worked as a teacher's assistant at Cache La Poudre Junior High while attending college. His passions in life are meeting new people, traveling and the outdoors.

Ewan McCain will be entering his third season of guiding on the Poudre River. He trained and guided for Mountain Whitewater Descents for one season before joining our company in the summer of 2007. Ewan is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Ewan is originally from the town of Leadville, Colorado. He obtained an associates of Applied Science degree in Multi Media from Trinidad State Junior College and has worked extensively as a photographer. He often fills in as a photographer for our whitewater shots and has also worked as a photographer for Vail Ski Resort. Ewan enjoys many outdoor activities especially archery hunting, snowboarding and biking.

Brian Kelly will be returning for his sixth season of guiding on the Cache La Poudre, although this is only his second season with our company. He guided for A1 Wildwater for five seasons before joining our team last summer. Brian is a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. He earned a degree in Economics from Colorado State University. Brian has kayaked all over Colorado, the U.S. and Central and South America. He has worked professionally as a safety kayaker for our company and in Costa Rica. Brian has also taught skiing at Steamboat Ski Resort. He recently purchased Poudre River Kayaks and will be providing kayak instruction and inflatable kayak trips on the Poudre River this coming summer.

Pat Varley will be returning for his second season of guiding with our company, although he has over ten years of guiding experience on rivers in New York. He worked for Whitewater Challengers in New York guiding on the Moose and Hudson Rivers. Pat earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering and now works full time for G. E. Energy in Loveland, Colorado. He guides part time for us during the summer months and loves to kayak as much as possible. In the summer of 2006 he experienced an amazing trip through the Grand Canyon with his best friends. Varlo enjoys many outdoor activities especially competitive cycling, mountain biking, back country telemark skiing and whitewater kayaking.

Peter Mosby has guided on the Poudre River for twenty years. He is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Peter started out guiding for Estes Park Adventures, now Rapid Transit Rafting, and then moved over to our company back in 1990. He earned his undergraduate degree in education from Colorado State University and taught for many years in the Denver Area. Peter now is the principal at Hinkley High School in Aurora, Colorado. He still guides part time for our company and loves the adrenaline rush of high water on the Poudre River. Peter and his wife Susan enjoy many outdoor activities with their children, especially camping, fishing, hiking, biking, hunting and of course, whitewater rafting.

Colin Coulson will be returning for his sixth season of guiding with our company. He trained and worked two seasons with Noah's Ark Rafting on the Arkansas River before joining our team in 2003. Colin is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician and is also an Emergency Medical Technician. Last year he guided sea kayaking tours off the coast of San Diego during the off season. Colin has a passion for many outdoor activities but especially loves rock climbing. He has climbed many of the routes to the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Colin also enjoys telemark and alpine skiing and worked up in Copper Mountain and Breckenridge teaching lessons during the winter months.

Braden Wilson has guided for our company for six summers, although he has nine total seasons of guiding experience. He is certified as a Swiftwater Rescue Technician. Braden worked three seasons guiding on the Animas River near Durango, Colorado before joining our company in the summer of 2002. Braden earned his Masters in Environmental Health from Colorado State University and joined the Peace Corps where he spent some time in Peru. He now teaches English as a Second Language at Steamboat Middle School in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He loves to ski and ride the powder at Steamboat Ski Resort and has the luxury of doing so on every big snow day. Braden loves many outdoor activities including kayaking, mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing.

Rio is the official company mascot for A Wanderlust Adventure and has been with the company since 1998. She has a passion for going on walks, chasing small animals and chewing on things. Although she has been on many multi day river trips she does not like to get splashed by water. Most of the time you can find Rio hanging out in our office, helping our staff book reservations and protecting them from the UPS man.

Pepper will be returning for his sixth season of working for our company. A border collie mix, Pepper loves to heard the guides to the boat barn to prepare the trips for the day. He earns his biscuits by making sure there are no slackers at this company. Pepper loves to raft and like his friend Rio, he does not like to get splashed by waves in the river. He has only rafted on Class III sections on the Poudre River. He hopes to raft some Class IV next year if his daddy will let him. Pepper's dream is to develop the first whitewater canine helmet. He hates to travel in a car unless that car is going to the park or a favorite trail. Pepper loves to go on hikes, chase mountain bikes, dig holes, go sledding, play soccer, fetch sticks and is an amazing frisbee dog.

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A WANDERLUST ADVENTURE Meeting Area at Vern's Restaurant: 4120 W County Rd. 54 G Laporte, CO 80535 Mailing Address: (Please send all mail here) 3500 Bingham Hill Road Fort Collins, CO 80521 1-800-745-7238 or Local (970) 484-1219 E-mail: info@awanderlustadventure.com