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Robby
Robby was the trip leader and did a very good job of keeping things in order, not that he really had a lot to do aside from picking nice places for lunch and good camping spots for evening. He commented himself on several occasions that our group did not need much in the way of leadership and that we handled ourselves very nicely. I think he was pleased to be able to relax and enjoy the trip himself.
One of the things that I will remember best about Robby was his ability to recite. While rowing down the river he would often recite from the report of John Wesley Powell's first expedition down the Colorado River in 1869. It was a very nice touch and on those occasions when he did this it would really put me in the mood for what was around me and what lay ahead. He also read to us on a couple of occasions from books that he had stowed in his raft and one reading that I will always remember is one that he did from The Wind in the Willows where Rat takes Mole for his first ride in a boat on the river.
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Fabry
Fabry... wow... I wish that I had more time to get to know him. I wish that I had read Canyon, by Michael Ghiglieri, right before taking this river trip instead of two years prior. It was that book that set the plans for this river trip in motion but, alas, Fabry's name did not stick in my mind.
Fabry is a Colorado River veteran and a legend in his own time. He is a good friend of Michael Ghiglieri and is mentioned often in the book. Fabry has numerous "badges of courage" that been given to him by the Colorado River and the first mention of him in Canyon is during a run of Crystal Rapids at 30,000 cfs, where he is thrown from his boat, has his life jacket beaten to shreds and ends up breaking a shin bone in the Rock Garden below the main rapids. We ran Crystal at only 20,000 cfs and I could not imagine it with 50% more water running through it.
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Chris
Chris was very cool dude and I enjoyed chatting with him whenever the opportunity presented itself. Chris has his own ideas about how the Park Service administers the Grand Canyon and the river that flows through it and he is not afraid to share his ideas, especially with one so willing to listen. I would say that I have to agree with him on most of the topics that we discussed and the ones that I disagree with him on are probably only due to the fact that I am still an Easterner and I've got a feeling that my attitudes will change once I bridge the gap and head west. People who live out west have vastly different opinions and concerns about how public lands are administered and controlled than those of us back east. It makes sense actually as they live among the public lands and the easterners are for the most part just visitors.
Chris is also a great cook and there's a good reason for it, he spends his winters as a chef at some ski resort in Taos, New Mexico.
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Kurt
Kurt was another very cool dude and probably one of the guides that I could relate to the easiest. He told me that his favorite movies are Caddy Shack and Animal House so what's not to like. He is very laid-back, has a very pleasant personality and it seemed that he could talk to anyone about anything. I think that he was probably the youngest of the guides but that may just be the impression that he gives due to his extremely relaxed demeanor. He suggested that another great river trip would be running the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho and I hope to take him up on that someday. He claims to be the only O.A.R.S. guide who runs trip on all of the rivers that they deal with. There are quite a few rivers in that list and he must have a blast.
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Al
Al is probably where the definition of the word "dude" comes from. What a guy! It seemed like it took him a few days to open up to the group but once he did he was a barrel of fun. Maybe he just didn't care for the cool, damp weather that we had those first few days. He was always great to have around and told us some great jokes at camp in the evening.
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Dave
Dave liked micro-brewed beers as well as lots of other beers and that was good enough for me. I was extremely disappointed with the choice of beers that O.A.R.S. had provided for the trip (Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite and Budweiser) and one afternoon he slipped me a bottle of Sam Adams from his own private stock. He is now a friend for life! We had some great times at afternoon camp discussing various micro-brews and I learned that he is really addicted to these and has accumulated great deal of knowledge about the subject. Dave is also a fireman and a paramedic and he and Chris pulled Robin through a bit of a rough time with a contact lens that did not want to come out.
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