“This one-day trip was a birthday present to my husband. We both loved it. It was my first time in a real kayak. Our guide, Scott, was very knowledgeable and fun … he was always singing! =0) We saw a few bald eagles, paddled right through kelp beds (which was way cool!) and had salmon [...]

Chris grew up in Cleveland, and, lacking mountains (and non flammable water!) moved to Colorado for his undergraduate degree. He majored in running around in the mountains (although some call it biology!) and developed an unquenchable thirst for being outside. This led to a semester long mountaineering and sea kayaking course with NOLS in South America. When Chris returned to the states and compared paddling in the fjords of Patagonia to Calculus 3, he knew that being outside was going to be a big priority in any future endeavors.After graduation, he moved to the Olympic Peninsula and worked as an Environmental Educator at Olympic National Park. He worked in the Olympics for 3 years and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest.

Tony is 31 and a third year guide with Outdoor Odysseys. He grew up in the foothills of the Wasatch mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah where he enjoyed outdoor activities year-round. Tony studied Geography (maps, not rocks!) at the University of Utah and later used these skills to assist with projects related to wildfire in Utah’s West Desert. He now spends his winters in Bend, Oregon coaching ski and snowboard programs.

The San Juan islands have made a deep impression on Tony’s personal and professional life through his experiences as a guide with Outdoor Odysseys. “There isn’t a day that goes by without encountering some kind of wildlife,” he says, “or witnessing a natural wonder like the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Baker or the mountains of the Olympic peninsula.”

Will grew up in the great state of Maine where he was introduced to the outdoors at a young age. After attending college at the University of Maine, a tenuous stint in corporate sales (translation: “Boring!”) quickly led to a career managing an outdoor retailer specializing in paddling gear—a position which helped rekindle his love for kayaking and canoeing.

Will became a Registered Maine Guide in 2006 and decided to move to the Pacific Northwest in April of 2010.  He spent the past two summers guiding  for Outdoor Odysseys as well as helping in the office.

Sarah began paddling on the calm waters of Lake Joy, a small lake nestled in the foothills of the North Cascades. After placing well in the Lake Joy Community Picnic Race at 10, she thought she may have reached the peak of her paddling career. Now she knows it had only just begun.

Sarah went to Western Washington University to study Geography and Environmental Education and graduated in 2005. Following graduation, she traveled in Ireland, Scotland and Germany, spent a summer guiding in Haines, Alaska, and taught outdoor education in the South Puget Sound.

A former school teacher, Clark combined his love of the outdoors and strong people skills to create Outdoor Odysseys in 1987. A native of Tacoma, Washington, Clark grew up on the shores of Puget Sound and the San Juans.

An avid paddler, he started whitewater kayaking in 1977 and sea kayaking in 1981. He has led trips for the Seattle Aquarium, The Whale Museum, REI Adventures and numerous corporations including Nike, Weyerhaueser and Microsoft.

This will be Tom’s 10th year in the San Juan Islands and 8th year guiding for Outdoor Odysseys. He graduated from Lawrence University in 2003 with a Biology degree. After graduation Tom spent a year and a half overseas, traveling through India, working for an NGO in Nepal, and teaching elementary students science in the outdoor classroom of the Swiss Alps.  The San Juans now hold a place in his heart and he can’t help but return year after year.

This summer, when he isn’t on the water, look for him having dinner on the beach with friends or chasing Suzie’s Mopeds up Bailer Hill on his bike.

Kaitlin Lorino will be spending her sixth summer in the San Juan Islands and fifth season working and kayaking for Outdoor Odysseys. She grew up in Wisconsin sailing around Lake Michigan and canoeing local rivers.  She attended the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and received a degree in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism focusing on experiential education and adventure programming.

After graduating, Kaitlin trained with NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) as a sea kayaking instructor.

Laura’s first escapades on the water were in aluminum canoes on the Ozark waterways of Southern Missouri. Graduating from the University of Missouri in 2003 with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing, she loaded up her love for the outdoors in her pick-up and headed out in the most logical direction – West!

So enchanting are the islands that, Laura herself has “gone native,” and is currently living on San Juan Island through the winter, finding out what health care in a rural setting is all about.

Magda is originally from California and started river kayaking in 1991. After she got a “bomb-proof” Eskimo roll, Magda began boating more difficult class IV and V river runs. During her college years while earning a degree in graphic design she also guided for several different rafting companies.

She has had swift water rescue training, CPR and first aid, as well as taken courses with Body, Boat and Blade to improve her sea kayaking. She discovered sea kayaking when she met her husband, Michael, who has lived on San Juan island since the mid 80s.

Michael is a native Washingtonian and, in his own words, “mis-spent his youth sailing small boats around Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.” He graduated from the University of Washington with a PHD in geo physics concentrating in a study of glaciology. As a father he purchased a bigger sailboat and raised his children by looking at tide pools and sailing various places between Seattle and Alaska, mostly in a series of gales. When he is not kayaking he teaches math and oceanography.