Our Mission
It is our mission to provide the opportunity of an extraordinary outdoor experience for our customers
Our guides
All our guides fully embrace the river lifestyle and look forward to sharing it with you.
Larry Koster (aka the Rev)
Raised in Northern Michigan, I moved to Oregon to be near mountains in 1981. In a barter for carpentry work, a river outfitter introduced me to the Owyhee River in Eastern Oregon in 1982. It didn't take long to see the benefits of river time and mountaineering soon became my second-favorite outdoor pursuit...
Over the years, I have guided sea-kayaking trips, long-distance bicycle trips, backpacking and mountaineering, and plenty of rafting trips. There were a few years in there with over 200 nights hunkered out in a sleeping bag.
Now, however, my wife Sylvia and our 100-year old farmhouse in Ashland call to me between trips. Having a river like the Rogue so close by is a true delight.
If asked about a favorite river story, I would have to say my first Grand Canyon adventure ranks right up there. I was a complete novice, a lucky but determined bonehead who had no idea the power of that place. It remains 21 of the most memorable days of my life.
John Leistner
John was born in Oberlin, Ohio, and will be eternally grateful to his parents for moving to Oregon when he was 8 years old. 2009 is his 20th season as a river guide. John has always loved the water. Swimming, diving, running through the lawn sprinklers on a hot summer day - if there was a pool, a river, a beach, he was there.
In his early 20s he found himself working in a cannery on the south coast of Washington, and quickly realized that the boats bringing the fish from the ocean to the cannery might be a much more interesting place to work. Thus began four years on salmon, shrimp, and black cod boats, traveling the ocean from Morro Bay, California to Kodiak, Alaska.
Halfway through his career as a deckhand, John got the chance to do a couple of raft trips in British Colombia and southeast Oregon. Now he was hooked on freshwater too! He bought a raft, and squeezed in all the trips he could in the spring and fall when he wasn't working on the ocean.
But rafting is best in the summer time, so in 1981 he got a job as a river guide, and never looked back. In 1985 he guided his first trip on the Rogue, and knew he'd found his home. In the quarter-century since, including 15 seasons as a Rogue guide, he's run the wild section of the river over 150 times, in every month of the year, and from water so low that the guides had to let air out of the big gear boats so they would fit through the middle chute at Rainie Falls, to water so high (on winter trips) that the whole 44 mile, 3-day trip that we do from Morrison's Lodge to Foster Bar could be done in 4 hours! He always brings his guitar on the river, and loves to play and sing in camp and at the lodge.
Bryce Tedford
Bryce was born and raised in Washington state in 1978. He got his start running rivers on the Skykomish River after signing up for an early spring Swiftwater Rescue Course when he was 17. After catching the river bug, he started guiding out of high school, moved from Wash. State to Oregon, where he began guiding commercially on the John Day, Deschutes, Grande Ronde and Hells Canyon rivers of Oregon while obtaining his business degree at Eastern Oregon University.
In addition to his focus on the rivers of Oregon, Bryce's guiding travels have led him to Idaho's Middle Fork of the Salmon River and various rivers in Argentina and Chile. When Bryce is not guiding for Morrison's Lodge on the Rogue River, he can most likely be found fishing some watershed in Oregon, California, Montana, Argentina, Fiji, or anywhere for that matter where he might catch a fish with a fly rod.
Bryce loves the Rogue River of Oregon because of its shear Northwest beauty, wildlife and the wilderness experience with a mix of comfortable lodging opportunities. In addition, he loves the fact that he gets to share such a unique and incredible place with the families, friends and guests. Bryce simply enjoys the opportunity to explore and share the river with you!
Dave Freeman
A native Oregonian with 10 years experience on the rivers of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Australia, and the Grand Canyon (Colorado), I bring my insatiable love of the great outdoors, the thrill of white water rafting, my training and enthusiasm to give each member of every group taken down the river an unforgettable experience that they can’t stop talking about, and leave wanting to return to repeat the adventure.
No two trips are ever the same. Day trips, 3-5 day trips, even the 21 day trip down the Grand Canyon; each trip is unique and satisfying in its own right. Camping on the side the river at night, looking at the night sky, clear, filled with stars, waking through the crisp fresh morning air, in time to watch the sun rise, smelling the fresh brewed coffee.
My training includes, White Water Guide School; Wilderness Medical Institutes; NOLS Wilderness First Responder and “Wolfer” Certified.
Celine Buczek
All my life, I have loved the outdoors and being around water. I began rafting in 1989, originally trained to raft with people who have disabilities from mild-severe degrees. I was so impressed with how much the great outdoors is such an equalizer and provides such bliss to so many people. And given the right amount of supports, anyone can go rafting. I wanted to continue to be a witness to this magic with people. So, I moved to Southern Oregon in 1989. I just landed here on a whim and the promise of being able to raft on such beautiful rivers here. I officially launched my life as a “river rat”. I figured that having a full summer of guiding on the river, I would get my “ya yas” out and then get serious about life. My favorite river memory consists of a trip when I was newly into rafting; it was my most radical run I have ever taken. It was on the Cal Salmon, Nordheimer Run. I was in a boat that flipped 3x/s and that was even before we hit the “meat” of the run!? This happened in my first year of guide training. It taught me humility and so much respect for the river! In addition it provided me with an insatiable thirst for rafting and adventure that has never waned.
Hannah Sohl
Hannah was born and raised in Ashland, Oregon, and fell in love with the rivers of Southern Oregon from an early age. Some of her fondest childhood memories are of watching ospreys and looking for trout and salmon the Rogue and Umpqua rivers. She started working on rivers when she was 17, and since then has gotten the chance to run some incredible rivers including the Middle Fork of the Salmon and the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. However, she still thinks that the Rogue is one of the most incredible places in the world! One of her favorite things to do is to go floating down the upper Rogue with her dogs Stanley and Stella and a fly rod. She is currently studying Sociology and Botany at the Colorado College in Colorado Springs. When she isn't rafting or in school she loves biking, music, playing ultimate frisbee, painting, and trying to play the guitar!
Delmor Healy
I am a native Oregonian, born in Eugene and raised on the Nehelam Bay on the northern Oregon coast. I grew up fishing and hunting. I moved to Grants Pass, to start up a plywood mill. In my off time I fell in love with the Rogue River and added rafting and fishing to my list of outdoor activities. Rafting the Rogue River has become a family activity that I enjoy with my children and grandchildren.
I am retired now except for guiding in the summer for Morrison's Lodge.
Russell Heard
I have spent close to my whole life in, on or around the water. I started sailing at 5 years, certified for SCUBA at 11 years, and spent all four years of high school on the swimming, diving and water polo teams.
In ’95 after 8 years in the U.S. Coast Guard I found myself landlocked here in the Rogue Valley and eventually started paddling where I never looked back.I’m working full time at the local hospital in Grants Pass to support “my habit” of paddling rivers year round and working as a river guide
Matt Clason
I started my guiding career on the Snake River near Jackson Hole, Wyoming in the summer of 2000 and have been finding my way back to the river ever since. Having been raised in Ashland, Oregon I spent my youth hiking and camping in the region with my Boy Scout Troop where I earned the Eagle Rank. I find the wilderness to be a source of energy and joy unlike any other, an idea and state of mind that cannot be simulated.
I worked in Alaska at a remote wilderness lodge and on fishing vessels and enjoy skiing and all types of sports. I am currently a student at Southern Oregon University continuing my pursuit for a degree in Geology. I play a bit of harmonica and eagerly anticipate jam sessions on the sandy banks of the Rogue River after a delicious dinner and the laughter and conversation that fill each trip we take.
