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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 |
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