The Rivers of My Life

The How and Why of My Journey to be a Boatman

Family Tradition

One might ask why one would want to get in a raft and go down a river after seeing a picture like the one above. In my family these moments tend to be treasured memories, as was my flip in almost the exact same spot 34 years later (still one of the few times I’ve put a boat upside down). One would further question the sanity of doing it for a living. Having chosen to pursue the family occupation of whitewater hazard avoidance specialist, I follow a line of boaters in that stretches back into the mid 1960s. My grandfather, Ron Hayes, got the tradition going in the early 60s in old military surplus boats, doing trips in the West as time allowed.

Eventually he and his longtime friend and business partner, Vladimir Kovalik, started Wilderness World in 1972, running rivers such as the Colorado through the Grand Canyon and the (now damned) Stanislaus. Their biggest supporter, commercially speaking, was taking Sierra Club members out on the river. This stemmed from a close friendship Ron had with Sierra Club Executive Director Dave Brower, whom he had met during the dam fights in the early 60s. Part of the idea behind these trips was immersing people in the environments that would drastically change if the US continued to dam the West (another story for another time). My grandfather gave me some great advice about preserving rivers, and I’m paraphrasing, but he told me if you show someone the beauty and uniqueness of a river canyon, they’ll never let a dam destroy it.

The company remained in business until the early 80s (1983 I believe), and when the gear was liquidated, my father, Chuck bought a 16 ft boat from his father in law (Ron). This boat took me on my first decade plus of rafting trips, including my mother doing an overnight on the Tuolumne River while pregnant with me! Yes, I can honestly say I went on my first trip before I was born. Once I was big enough to fit in a life jacket, around 3ish, I got to do the Class II rapids of the Kings RIver, in the central Sierra Nevada. Eventually growing old enough to do the whole stretch, I graduated to the fun of the class III. I went for my first whitewater swim in that river (first of many hahaha), going out of the boat in Banzai. Those trips continued until my early teen years, but I would soon find myself in command of a commercial boat.

A Commercial Boatman

Fast forwards to the summer of 2002 and my father has dropped me off at my first season as a commercial boatman on the American River in California. I was 17, and after a few hard lessons to be learned, I began my career officially on July 5, 2002. I stayed on the American for 12 years, guiding full time most summers until 2014. While working in Coloma, California, I was invited to head south and spend the 2013-14 winter working the Rio Pacuare in Costa Rica. I spent four winters down there, yelling in two languages, and enjoying some amazing class IV whitewater.

As the 2014 season began, it became apparent I needed a new summer river, and I headed east to Arkansas in Colorado. It became a home river for 7 years and I look forward to returning this coming season. I really began to learn about the stretches I worked and began giving more of an interpretive experience on the river. I found that guests appreciate having a better understanding of the area they are visiting, and enjoy their trip way more if the get the story told as they float. As I developed this knowledge base I was reminded of an old saying from my grandfather’s business partner.

“If rock could cook, don’t need guide.”

Imagine that in a thick Czech accent and you have it haha! His point was anybody can drive a boat, but to be a “guide”, you need to do more. As I started to learn about the rivers I’ve worked I found it to be extremely enjoyable to share that knowledge on the river. That’s what an interpretive guide does, he/she fills in the captions for the amazing sights you get to see. My particular area of interest as a guide became the geology of the area where I guide, and I continued to hone those skills as I traveled to Washington, with the 2022 summer spent in the North Cascades on the Skykomish, Skagit, Wenatchee, and Tieton Rivers, and Wyoming, with the 2023 summer on the Shoshone near Cody.

The Future

After wandering the West for a few years, I decided to return to the Arkansas, and try something new. As I get ready for the 2024 season on the Arkansas, I look forward to bringing a new option for people looking to learn more about the river they raft. One of my big goals with this whole project has been to partner with an established company doing specialized, interpretive trips(about me). The owner of Browns Canyon Rafting, and boss of many past seasons, has allowed me to do exactly that. This summer I will be starting that next chapter with a special offering called Rocks, Trees, and Trains. It will be a full day trip through Browns Canyon National Monument, with stops and hikes to explore the relationship between the geology, ecology, and the human story of the Upper Arkansas River Valley in Colorado. Even if that’s not your style of trip, I can still take you out on wild Class IV or mellow Class II.