Latest / Go Wildly Podcast / Rowing Blossom Bar at 15 — Then Jumping Out of Planes with Aaron DeSilva | Go Wildly Podcast

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Rowing Blossom Bar at 15 — Then Jumping Out of Planes with Aaron DeSilva | Go Wildly Podcast · Go Wildly Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Season 2 of Go Wildly podcast.
• 0:03
  We are Emily and Heather, 2 childhood friends who carry a
• 0:07
  mic into wild places like rivers, trails, and forests with
• 0:11
  wild people to host raw, honest conversations about adventure,
• 0:15
  healing, identity, and the transformative power of nature.
• 0:19
  In this season, we're centering the voices of people who call
• 0:22
  Southern Oregon home. Outdoor enthusiasts and outdoor
• 0:26
  professionals whose lives have been shaped, changed, or are
• 0:29
  continually influenced by time outside.
• 0:32
  Come along as together we go wildly.
• 0:37
  Hey, you wildly wonder. Thank you so very much for
• 0:40
  listening to the podcast. It means the world to us.
• 0:44
  OK, have a little mission. Pause the podcast right here,
• 0:47
  make sure that you're subscribed to this guy, OK?
• 0:50
  It's going to be a fun time over here.
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  And if you so wish, we would love a five star review or
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  Also, leaving us a review truly helps the algorithm and we
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  appreciate you doing that. Thank you so very much.
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  Also, little tidbit over on Instagram, we're having so much
• 1:08
  fun over there. Lots of behind the scene
• 1:09
  footage, some POV's, just some fun, unhinged content.
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  So don't forget to follow us over there.
• 1:19
  OK, back to the show. Hey, just a quick note before we
• 1:22
  head in. Our mics are not perfectly
• 1:24
  placed and balanced for this episode.
• 1:26
  So you're going to hear me, Emily, way louder than Heather
• 1:29
  and our guest. Fortunately, our guest does do
• 1:31
  most of the talking, so just keep your hand near your volume
• 1:34
  button to adjust for me. We'll be better next time.
• 1:37
  Thank you. We're happening here.
• 1:44
  Hello. We're so glad you're here.
• 1:47
  Hello. Hello.
• 1:48
  Today on Go Wildly, we are excited to be joined by Aaron De
• 1:53
  Silva. Aaron was born and raised in
• 1:56
  talent, OR, and he's been shaped by the outdoors since day one.
• 2:01
  He started guiding on the Rogue River at just 15 years old.
• 2:04
  That's pretty young for a guide and has spent decades on the
• 2:07
  water working as a private boater, commercial guide and
• 2:11
  fishing guide on both the Rogue and Alaska's Upper Kenai River.
• 2:16
  But the river is just one chapter.
• 2:18
  Aaron is a former pro motocross athlete who turned skydiver at
• 2:22
  21 and later served as a firefighter and EMT in both
• 2:27
  Oregon and Southern California. Service and adrenaline have both
• 2:31
  played major roles in his history.
• 2:34
  Today, he works as a scrub tech in the operating room, continues
• 2:37
  to guide on the Lower Rogue and Lower Salmon, and supports trips
• 2:41
  with Warrior Impact, helping provide resources and healing
• 2:44
  spaces for first responders and military veterans.
• 2:48
  He's also a very proud husband and father, rooted deeply in
• 2:51
  family and community. Aaron's life is one of movement,
• 2:55
  service, and grit, and we are really excited to talk with him
• 2:58
  about the experiences that shaped him and what keeps
• 3:01
  drawing him back to the river. And somehow, despite all of this
• 3:04
  history, this is the first time that we are meeting him.
• 3:07
  And we've already found out that we have tons of mutual
• 3:10
  connections and have been in the same places at the same times
• 3:14
  and just never made that connection.
• 3:16
  So here we are today. It's so nice to finally meet
• 3:19
  you. Nice.
• 3:20
  To meet you guys. Yeah.
• 3:22
  Thanks for saying yes. We are in Lithia Park in
• 3:25
  Ashland. We thought it was going to be a
• 3:27
  pouring rain day, but it's a beautiful, perfectly fine
• 3:32
  Southern Oregon day. So we're going to travel up the
• 3:34
  trail and find a nice place to sit down and see where we end
• 3:38
  up. Let's go.
• 3:40
  Awesome. Cool.
• 3:42
  Well you guys, we also, we're doing some talking as we were
• 3:45
  walking to this, getting past all the pickleballers.
• 3:49
  In the park. And things and Creek noise and
• 3:53
  such. So we already started off pretty
• 3:55
  sagging. We did we.
• 3:57
  Were making all of our connections and figuring it out
• 4:01
  and all the things. It's it's just so nice to know
• 4:05
  that like you've been involved in a community for so long, like
• 4:09
  basically our entire lives, and yet there's still people to
• 4:12
  meet. Still meeting new.
• 4:14
  People, yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome.
• 4:16
  Like, why stick with the same people that you always know?
• 4:20
  Because the like Marshall said earlier, your new best friend
• 4:24
  could be hiding right behind that tree.
• 4:25
  You got to get out and meet them.
• 4:28
  Me too. Yeah, it's crazy how small.
• 4:31
  We have friends and you know, we've been in all the same
• 4:35
  places for years and maybe met, maybe not.
• 4:38
  Yeah, really. Awesome.
• 4:40
  Yeah, he was like, you look familiar.
• 4:42
  Like, well, actually, yeah, you look familiar too.
• 4:44
  So did you go down and do marriage?
• 4:47
  Like I know that it's lying down.
• 4:49
  You did. You do Mariel, like one minute
• 4:51
  14. My no I was not.
• 4:59
  OK, so maybe not just. I think my last year was 2013 on
• 5:04
  commercial guiding. OK, maybe it was about, I think
• 5:07
  it was very soon, OK. And that would have been part of
• 5:14
  2013 I think. I don't know, I could have just
• 5:18
  missed each other but. Still.
• 5:19
  I mean, I was. Down there for four years.
• 5:21
  So yeah. And I still went down there as a
• 5:23
  private boater there too. And the trips that we were
• 5:28
  talking about, we, we would go and hang out with Pat and Lori
• 5:31
  and have coffee in the morning and stuff.
• 5:32
  OK. Sweet.
• 5:33
  Yeah, Yeah. Awesome.
• 5:35
  That's cool. Did you have a mug down there?
• 5:38
  I did, Yep. I'm not sure if it's still
• 5:40
  there, but it's orange. Erin.
• 5:41
  Erin. One might have gotten.
• 5:44
  Repurposed totally. We have to do that at.
• 5:46
  Some point. Is orange your favorite color?
• 5:49
  I no blue is my favorite color, but orange.
• 5:54
  At that time blue and orange were kind of my colors.
• 5:56
  Those are some of my motocross colors.
• 5:58
  So. I think I worked with Amber
• 6:01
  Burns and she's like, well, this one's up, you can take this one.
• 6:04
  And I was like, OK, that's perfect.
• 6:07
  That's so awesome. Do you?
• 6:08
  Have a rhythm name Do. You.
• 6:10
  I don't. Have a rhythm.
• 6:11
  Name that I'm aware of. I'm going to ask some people
• 6:17
  find out there's. A few guys out there may have
• 6:20
  something behind my back. Be pretty impressive if they'd
• 6:24
  never let it slip in your face and I'd.
• 6:27
  Have to ask Jimmy about that. One, yeah.
• 6:30
  Hey, Jimmy. Well, also let's talk a little
• 6:35
  bit about how we got on this podcast because I guess you
• 6:37
  asked Jimmy if he wanted on the pod and he's like, no, I don't,
• 6:41
  but you can. Ask.
• 6:43
  Yeah, Thanks, Jimmy. Yeah, exactly.
• 6:45
  Yeah. I was like, Jimmy's really cool
• 6:47
  and Jimmy's a part of my outdoor stories.
• 6:50
  And so I asked him and he said, you know, one, I didn't know you
• 6:55
  did a podcast. So I was like, excuse me, Sir.
• 6:59
  And two, I don't think I'm interested in doing that, but do
• 7:02
  you know Aaron de Silva? You should talk to Aaron de
• 7:04
  Silva. I was like, OK, give me his
• 7:07
  number. That's.
• 7:09
  Good, that's awesome. I've always got 1° of
• 7:12
  preparation, you know. You know, like.
• 7:15
  Someone, you're almost 1% of the same.
• 7:18
  Yeah. And whether we know it yet, it's
• 7:20
  like, right, Like there have been some, well, most every
• 7:24
  guest that we've had on, we know in some way.
• 7:29
  And I will, I do look forward to the day when I've just sent a
• 7:33
  cold e-mail to some random person and Oh yeah, I've sent a
• 7:37
  lot of cold emails. And but I'm waiting for one of
• 7:41
  them to say, yeah, sure. OK.
• 7:43
  And then they're like, how did you find out about me?
• 7:45
  And I'm like, well, I went to this organization's website and
• 7:50
  I looked at their board of directors.
• 7:52
  And then I saw that this person was on the board of this other
• 7:55
  organization. And so I went to that
• 7:57
  organization's board of directors And you seemed
• 8:01
  interesting. And I sent you an e-mail.
• 8:05
  That's that's. Outstanding people.
• 8:07
  Yep, just keep. It'll be packed, it'll be very
• 8:13
  cold. Strangers to our guests.
• 8:15
  You know, I think one of the great things about this medium,
• 8:19
  this content, this podcast content is that I don't think
• 8:24
  we'll ever run out. I yeah, I.
• 8:26
  No, no, we're not going to. I'm just saying run out of like.
• 8:29
  Our fear of, like, our immediate circle.
• 8:32
  Yeah. This valley has a lot of
• 8:34
  interesting people. Yeah, exactly.
• 8:36
  Yeah. A lot of cool things have come
• 8:39
  out of. Yeah, and come out of it and
• 8:43
  come into it like there's. A lot of passionate people here.
• 8:47
  It's just like, I'm sure every spot is like that, Like every
• 8:53
  town or the region has its own little, but like, I'm just
• 8:58
  always constantly surprised this time.
• 8:59
  I don't know, just like. What and who is here?
• 9:04
  The people. Yeah, people.
• 9:06
  That are doing cool things, following the passions, stuff
• 9:09
  like that. I mean, you need to be doing
• 9:14
  that, you know? Yeah.
• 9:16
  What else? Why else?
• 9:18
  Why else would we be alive if we weren't following our passions?
• 9:24
  It's is. Surgery, was that a process for
• 9:28
  you or was it the financial like just to give me a little bit of?
• 9:31
  It and kind of sort of, you know, like you mentioned, anti
• 9:36
  firefighter and I, when I moved back here after working in Los
• 9:41
  Angeles, young Los Angeles, you never come across the same
• 9:44
  people ever. You know, always somebody new.
• 9:47
  When I moved back here came across a lot of the same people
• 9:52
  and just kind of got tired of it a little bit.
• 9:55
  So I kind of decided I want my patients to sleep.
• 9:59
  Interesting, So they won't remember you.
• 10:03
  And or you know. So talk and.
• 10:06
  It's kind of a funny thing that we say in the EMS world.
• 10:10
  I wish my patients didn't talk. Is it just?
• 10:16
  Adds extra layers of complications, you know.
• 10:18
  With surgery, you're there to help them.
• 10:21
  Now I'm in elective surgery. So help them get better.
• 10:25
  You know, where as in the EMS world with drug addictions and
• 10:30
  stuff like that, sometimes they're not totally wanting to
• 10:34
  get that. So that just got a little hard.
• 10:37
  And so in surgery it's, it's funny, it's a whole new thing
• 10:42
  too. It was getting a little bored
• 10:44
  and burnt out on EMS and going and jumping into surgery was a
• 10:48
  whole new thing and it was a lot of fun.
• 10:50
  Cool, good. How long have you been doing?
• 10:54
  That two, let's say somewhere right around 10 years, yeah.
• 11:00
  Yeah. But I always bounce back into
• 11:03
  the river and guiding because that's my place that yeah,
• 11:07
  brings up and and it brings me back to myself, you know, being
• 11:13
  out in nature and seeing how beautiful things are out there.
• 11:17
  And also still getting a little bit of adrenaline rush rafting,
• 11:20
  you know, different Rapids. And so it gives me a nice
• 11:24
  adrenaline junkie just a little bit.
• 11:26
  That's what I've been told. The skydiving background game
• 11:30
  that's real could not do that my.
• 11:33
  Husband has done skydiving. He's like, you could do it Like,
• 11:36
  Nah, Nah. I say that everyone should make
• 11:39
  at least one skydiving in. Their life.
• 11:42
  Yeah, to feel feels that you probably never felt before and
• 11:47
  may never feel again. He made I.
• 11:49
  You know, I've had several people who they really didn't
• 11:52
  want to do it. They did it for their
• 11:53
  significant other or for family member.
• 11:56
  And afterwards they're like now that was awesome.
• 11:59
  Once I left the plane, that was awesome.
• 12:03
  I've done it one time out of a helicopter.
• 12:07
  That was that was the opportunity.
• 12:09
  I was like, I was in Switzerland and the opportunity was jump out
• 12:13
  of a helicopter, land in the snow in the Swiss Alps.
• 12:16
  It's like, how do I say no to that?
• 12:17
  I really don't want to do this. I was terrified the whole time
• 12:22
  and the like. The person I was strapped to at
• 12:25
  the end then asked me what my favorite part was and I said
• 12:27
  landing. Sometimes what you can prefer,
• 12:32
  I'm sure being being skylighting.
• 12:34
  If you don't, your stomach doesn't.
• 12:36
  Go yeah, you don't get that following feeling.
• 12:38
  I mean, you kind of get right when you're initially yeah, the
• 12:41
  job kid wasn't like super kid. Yeah, you're not.
• 12:46
  You feel more like you could It's been fallen and.
• 12:51
  Once your parachites parachutes been pulled, otherwise you're
• 12:55
  just plummeting towards the earth.
• 12:57
  And you know, being under canopy, it's awesome.
• 13:01
  You know, under your parachute is really awesome.
• 13:05
  You can see things from a whole different view than you've ever
• 13:08
  seen before. And doing it in Switzerland,
• 13:10
  that is awesome. I got to make a piece, got out
• 13:13
  there myself. Cool.
• 13:16
  That's maybe one thing We were talking on the way over here to
• 13:19
  the Ashland today. It's like I got my bucket list.
• 13:21
  I want to get my, like, private pilot to my boss one day, you
• 13:25
  know? Yeah, maybe once I do that a
• 13:28
  little bit, I feel more comfortable jumping out.
• 13:31
  Maybe. One day kind of thing for me
• 13:34
  it's got ID 1st that it was perfectly good.
• 13:38
  I actually now I don't have a hard time commercial for it
• 13:42
  because I don't have any control, you know, like where
• 13:46
  something goes to. Get out club 2000 feet.
• 13:52
  You can get out most likely, but instances where you can't but
• 13:57
  it's just that little security. Well, tell us a bit about who
• 14:03
  you are, where you came from, where you grew up and how this
• 14:08
  relationship with the outdoors got started.
• 14:12
  Got started. Just, you know, I was raising
• 14:15
  talent. My parents were both pretty
• 14:18
  outdoorsy as far as, like, rafting and erapting, camping.
• 14:24
  Erapting, camping, hunting, fishing.
• 14:26
  Yeah. So me and my dad would be out
• 14:30
  with your boat fishing outside of Great Pass and just being out
• 14:34
  on the water with my dad and that was always so much fun with
• 14:39
  just having me and him time. And then it progressed to they
• 14:42
  were doing the lower Rd. and I got old enough to start going
• 14:50
  when they felt comfortable and I fell in love with it.
• 14:53
  My first ever trip. How old were you when on that
• 14:56
  first trip? I think.
• 14:57
  I was somewhere. Around.
• 15:00
  Between 10:00 and 12:00. Can't exactly remember.
• 15:04
  I do know my first time rolling Blossom, I was 15 years old.
• 15:08
  Dang. Yeah, and I just always had love
• 15:13
  for the river. We I at heart.
• 15:15
  I'm a private boater, so grew up doing private boating and stuff
• 15:20
  like that. And then I got into a boathouse
• 15:25
  rolling boats and getting other guys going for their day trips
• 15:29
  and stuff like that and see how happy they were coming back from
• 15:33
  their trips. It's like I, I have a skill set,
• 15:37
  let's see if I can be a guide. I started doing day trips and
• 15:41
  then kind of fell out of it because of my motocross
• 15:47
  background of guiding and stuff and kind of fell out of it and
• 15:54
  then had a pretty massive shoulder injury into my
• 15:59
  motocross. Career Did you crash?
• 16:01
  Yeah. I had a pretty good crash and
• 16:04
  then I started kind of seeing that I need to do something
• 16:10
  else. And so that's where the
• 16:12
  skydiving came in. Started packing parachutes, got
• 16:15
  got my license. Yeah, I think I think this looks
• 16:20
  like a good spot to stop and set up chairs.
• 16:24
  I doubt we'll be in the way of anybody.
• 16:27
  And then we can not huff and puff.
• 16:30
  Does this feel good? We're we'll be like on the
• 16:35
  trail, but I don't think, I don't think mountain bikes
• 16:41
  aren't riding on this so. Well.
• 16:44
  They're not supposed to be, so if there's anybody walking,
• 16:47
  we'll see them with enough time to move our chairs for.
• 16:51
  Sure. Yeah, you got me with The
• 16:53
  Walking. Talking.
• 16:54
  Yeah, yeah, that's. We really do try to avoid that,
• 16:58
  but then we like got to the end of the trail and I was like oh
• 17:01
  shit, well, guess who we're going up.
• 17:04
  See any? Yeah, cool.
• 17:10
  All right, No, we'll set up chairs.
• 17:14
  Hill. That little hill got me.
• 17:16
  Well, it got me. That's what you like.
• 17:21
  You're asking me questions and. Yeah, I wasn't even trying to do
• 17:24
  that. I was just trying to like I need
• 17:27
  to work on some cardio. Hot damn.
• 17:31
  Well, it's just early this season still and I did not have
• 17:33
  a practice period so that. Happens.
• 17:37
  That's OK, We'll just sit down now.
• 17:41
  I mean, really, Like people don't hike and talk much.
• 17:44
  Wow. Yeah, I was like kind of
• 17:50
  slightly get embarrassed. I'm like I'm.
• 17:55
  No, you were too far behind. Wow.
• 17:57
  I was like, well, as we were walking up here, I had like a
• 18:01
  heart palpitation. So I was like girl, cool, cool
• 18:05
  heart palpitation. Like that's fun stuff.
• 18:08
  It doesn't affect me, but I mean, it does, but it more
• 18:11
  effects like my like, like anxiety like, rather than like
• 18:15
  it's actually doing anything. It's benign, yeah.
• 18:18
  Well, at least we have an EMT with us.
• 18:20
  Yeah, tachycardia. Tachycardia.
• 18:24
  That's. Kind of hard to EMT.
• 18:26
  Out. I need a medical shot to like
• 18:30
  get it dialed. We'll see if that works.
• 18:34
  All right. Well, cool.
• 18:35
  I had an ablation. OK, back.
• 18:37
  In the day, but I still have palpitations and I just told
• 18:40
  they're pretty benign. Yeah, nothing like to be
• 18:44
  concerned, but. But once in a while, like I'll
• 18:46
  get going and I'll have one. And then it just kind of sets
• 18:48
  the tone for like cardio because I'm like, yeah, having all my
• 18:52
  hearts, like beating at like 140.
• 18:55
  Yeah, sucks to like. Yeah, you want to be
• 18:59
  comfortable? No need.
• 19:05
  You're you're our guest if. You.
• 19:09
  Want. We will do you want.
• 19:10
  To put. This set them up if you want to
• 19:15
  be, if you want to test yourself with the puzzle.
• 19:17
  Yeah, it's a puzzle. It's a tent.
• 19:23
  I know. I take you to like my son's
• 19:26
  soccer game. And I set it up and it's, it's
• 19:29
  actually kind of a little embarrassing.
• 19:30
  I got used to it because I've done it so many times and so.
• 19:36
  Like a mom came up. Here with him, they're like, oh,
• 19:38
  shaking down your tent. Like.
• 19:43
  Why don't we just have a regular?
• 19:46
  I'm like, I like these. They're really rolling ass.
• 19:58
  One of these days we'll have a sign made that we'll put up that
• 20:01
  says we're recording a podcast, I guess.
• 20:06
  We have to be right. Here probably to it's.
• 20:11
  Kind of rude to be in the trail so I don't really want to be.
• 20:13
  I want to be like in it, but also this is just where we are.
• 20:23
  Don't hate us. I bet like around that corner up
• 20:27
  here a little bit, there's like a perfect spot.
• 20:29
  Yeah, we ain't looking for it. Today we're we're here and here
• 20:33
  is where we are. I can hear voices, but I can't
• 20:38
  see anybody. We'll bring that one in right
• 20:47
  next to it. Like touching.
• 20:49
  Yeah. I mean, we'll keep an eye out
• 20:52
  and if we have to move the camera, we'll move the camera.
• 20:56
  But I think, oh, there they are. Shall we wait due to the
• 21:07
  detectives we're like. We're, I mean, really the trail
• 21:17
  is clear. So it's more just they're going
• 21:21
  to walk in front of the camera. Got some inopportune moment.
• 21:28
  But don't worry if they ask what we're doing.
• 21:30
  I have business cards in my pocket so.
• 21:40
  It's. Very nice of you.
• 21:45
  Hi. No, you're good.
• 21:47
  We're waiting for you. Yeah.
• 21:48
  Thank you. Yeah, only your legs.
• 21:51
  I mean, if you want to squat down, you can.
• 21:55
  Here you can. You can eventually come and see
• 21:58
  it online. We're filming a podcast so you
• 22:01
  can see your legs walk by in a future episode.
• 22:04
  Are you? Just catching people's legs.
• 22:07
  Yes, yes, TuneIn to see it's it's only legs.
• 22:18
  OK, we're going to put you in the middle because you're you're
• 22:20
  in the hot seat. Yeah.
• 22:23
  I know. And it's going to be, you're
• 22:24
  like a little in front of us, so it'll be a little funky, just
• 22:27
  like talking off into the nether.
• 22:29
  Just talk to the trees. 15 at Blossom.
• 22:37
  How was that? Did you nerve wracking somebody?
• 22:41
  Actually, I just got kind of like coach with people that were
• 22:46
  on the boat and. You had passengers.
• 22:49
  Yes, yeah. I had a fully loaded 14 foot
• 22:52
  multi day boat with two. Battles.
• 22:54
  This was a commercial trip, your first run, or it was a private
• 22:57
  trip. OK, OK.
• 22:59
  Yeah, but yeah, so 15 blossom well.
• 23:05
  It was right next to you, You know, to expect that you're a,
• 23:09
  you're a viewer of the pod. That's bad.
• 23:16
  It was just like up in your grill.
• 23:19
  So I'll try to remember where I got winded and losing track of
• 23:23
  thought. So yes, Rd.
• 23:27
  Blossom first time at 15 and then my motocross career started
• 23:31
  to really kind of take off. I was getting faster and faster.
• 23:35
  And so at 18 I turned pro in motocross arena, cross and
• 23:41
  supercross and for about 3 years and I had a massive shoulder
• 23:46
  injury that took me out and I had.
• 23:50
  Do we want it hold, hold? Do we want him just straight
• 23:52
  crotch in it? I mean.
• 23:57
  It is what it. Is yeah, do we have another
• 24:00
  option or we yeah, we could angle slightly.
• 24:03
  Tear in my pants. We are only legs and only
• 24:09
  crotches here. Oh.
• 24:12
  Yeah, you you're usually the camera setter upper I had.
• 24:15
  It like AI had a oops I had a whole there.
• 24:18
  We go still. Crouchy, it's still pretty
• 24:23
  crouchy. Do, yeah.
• 24:24
  Do slight up, upward angle. Do more.
• 24:28
  Do more of the sky above us rather than our feet.
• 24:35
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 24:36
  Look at those trees. That's a little too much.
• 24:38
  A little part midway between where you were in there.
• 24:41
  Yeah, I like that. Do you like that?
• 24:45
  I like that. I like it like that.
• 24:49
  I like it like that she working that back.
• 24:54
  You're welcome. Thank you too.
• 24:58
  Thank you. Awkward.
• 25:00
  Like as you're awkward. Feel a little angry for me?
• 25:07
  Yeah, these are the joys. Started to shake off.
• 25:10
  Yeah. And then I, like I said, 21 had
• 25:12
  an injury. My story's kind of all over the
• 25:14
  place. There's a little, you know, I
• 25:15
  was still an EMT firefighter because I always needed a Plan B
• 25:18
  in case I had an injury. But then I, so I got my EMT when
• 25:23
  I was 18 and and firefighter 1-2 got my firefighter degree around
• 25:29
  between 18 and 20 or so. It was student firefighter at
• 25:32
  District 5 and Talent, but had the shoulder injury and was kind
• 25:38
  of like, well, I've been doing this for a long time and maybe
• 25:44
  there's more to life out there and different things.
• 25:46
  And so that's when skydiving started.
• 25:50
  I kind of ventured off up to Eugene and would hang out up
• 25:54
  there every weekend, get my skydiving license, my A license.
• 25:59
  And then was like, well, I don't know what I'm going to do with
• 26:03
  my life. My motocross career is kind of
• 26:05
  done. And I ran into a buddy from high
• 26:07
  school and he's like, hey, come up to Alaska, I can get you a
• 26:12
  job on the upper Kenai. And I was like, OK, for sure.
• 26:15
  And so went up there, did a season up there, had a blast
• 26:20
  with there was like, I think three of us or so that all went
• 26:23
  to high school together. Cool.
• 26:24
  And we just fished and worked and fished and working.
• 26:28
  It was just awesome. I got to hitchhike a few times
• 26:31
  up to Anchorage and up to Wasilla.
• 26:34
  I was would go up there and skydive.
• 26:36
  And you said about your Switzerland.
• 26:38
  I got to do a summer solstice jump.
• 26:41
  So they took us up. We got to skydive over a glacier
• 26:45
  and then land on a glacier and then they'd come back and pick
• 26:47
  us up and that was really awesome.
• 26:49
  That was a really awesome experience.
• 26:51
  Wow, and what's it like landing on a glacier?
• 26:54
  It. Wasn't super slick, you know, It
• 26:58
  was just it, from what I remember, it was nothing more
• 27:03
  than wet grass. So, yeah, yeah.
• 27:06
  Not like an iceberg of. No, no, yeah, yeah.
• 27:10
  Never been asked that question or never even thought of it.
• 27:13
  But from what I remember, it was nothing.
• 27:15
  It was just like random normal OK.
• 27:18
  And then after, oh, I'm on. A glaze, yeah.
• 27:21
  There was grass. No, there was no grass.
• 27:23
  It was just ice. But it wasn't like super slick.
• 27:26
  It like trying to remember, it wasn't really snowy.
• 27:33
  I think it might have because it was summertime and so it was
• 27:37
  kind of warm and it was kind of like like melting ice.
• 27:41
  So it had some traction to it, like hockey, I guess you would
• 27:45
  say. Yeah.
• 27:47
  And then after my time in Alaska, I came home and was
• 27:50
  like, I'm really enjoying the skydiving thing.
• 27:52
  How do I progress in it? And so I went down to Southern
• 27:58
  California, down to Bakersfield of all places.
• 28:00
  There was a drop zone there hiring for parachute Packers.
• 28:04
  You'd pack their tandem parachutes.
• 28:07
  And so I was hanging out there packing parachutes and then got
• 28:11
  this awesome idea for some reason to go to Georgia.
• 28:15
  So I went to Cedartown, GA. I don't usually hear Awesome
• 28:18
  Idea and Georgia in the same sentence, but that's really
• 28:21
  refreshing. I was.
• 28:23
  Like, but they were hiring Atlanta Skydiving Center and I
• 28:28
  just wanted to travel. I think I just needed to get out
• 28:30
  of small town Oregon. And so I went to Cedartown, GA,
• 28:34
  worked there for somewhere between three and six months.
• 28:39
  And then I always wanted to be like a Southern California kid,
• 28:44
  you know, I wanted. To be.
• 28:47
  Maybe it's from being from a small town, but I also still had
• 28:52
  my EMS firefighter background and I was like, you know, one of
• 28:56
  my goals was to actually end up in like New York City being a
• 29:00
  firefighter that was. Fun.
• 29:03
  That's a. Big goal because like those
• 29:05
  firefighters, they're like renowned.
• 29:07
  Yeah, big, big city firefighter. Damn.
• 29:10
  Experience it and again, and here it's.
• 29:13
  Its own culture, almost. Yeah, I never made it to New
• 29:16
  York, so I. Don't know.
• 29:18
  Yep, get one. On the pod.
• 29:21
  We'll go to Yeah, a Reformed 1. Moved here yeah, shout out if
• 29:26
  you know anybody tag them if you know anyone that came from a
• 29:30
  firefighting and. New York City.
• 29:32
  Yeah, yeah. And now lives in Southern Oregon
• 29:35
  or the general region, OK. So no worries so.
• 29:40
  That was the end game. But yeah, so, but I so I did go
• 29:43
  to Southern California for a skydiving job back in parachutes
• 29:47
  again and opportunity. I had risen through my licenses.
• 29:52
  So there's four different licenses that you can get a
• 29:55
  license, B license, C license and D license.
• 29:58
  Brilliant. And so I had progressed up and
• 30:04
  the opportunity kind of arose itself while I was in Southern
• 30:07
  California. I was at Skydive Elsinore in
• 30:09
  Lake Elsinore, CA to run the school there and with my EMT
• 30:13
  background kind of be their safety and training advisor also
• 30:18
  so did. You make it to deep.
• 30:20
  Yes, yeah, yeah. You've done tandem jumping.
• 30:24
  I have not. I never got my tandem
• 30:26
  instructor. I offshoot, yeah, yeah.
• 30:29
  So there's coaching. I ended up being a coach.
• 30:31
  There's videographers, tandem and AFF, which is accelerated
• 30:36
  freefall. So you're teaching people that
• 30:38
  want to become sky dumpers. So I ended up going the coach
• 30:42
  route and videographer route, but I was also kind of running
• 30:45
  the skydiving school there, just making sure that.
• 30:50
  Did you ever have any coach calls?
• 30:53
  Oh yeah, I've got some really good.
• 30:55
  Oh yeah, yeah. Heather wants to hear him.
• 30:58
  I'll. Get there.
• 31:03
  So I was just running the Scott Evans School, doing coaching and
• 31:09
  videography, went to Switzerland and I was doing some experience
• 31:15
  level coaching over there and it was just an awesome opportunity
• 31:19
  to go to Lacarno and Interlochen and do some skydiving open
• 31:23
  there. Wouldn't it be crazy if we were
• 31:25
  there at the same time? Yeah, that.
• 31:27
  I was there. I was there in 2010.
• 31:31
  That is, no, no, I was there in 2007, 2008.
• 31:40
  No, actually 2006, 2007. That would be way too crazy if
• 31:44
  we. Oh God.
• 31:47
  I've got a 13 year old and that goes around the house.
• 31:49
  Luckily, it's dying off. Now thank God.
• 31:52
  I've attended as well. He's on.
• 31:54
  Yeah, awesome. You hear it all the time.
• 31:57
  But then I was like, hey, I need to keep up on my EMEMT license
• 32:02
  and firefighting and stuff. So I applied for Los Angeles
• 32:05
  County AMR and got hired there. I worked in Baldwin Park,
• 32:10
  Irwindale, which I call at that time was the New Compton.
• 32:14
  It was, it was there was a lot of stuff that would went down as
• 32:17
  far as gang wise car accidents. We were right off the 10
• 32:22
  freeway, so and I was on a 911 car.
• 32:25
  So we were seeing it all. It was you've seen lots of dead
• 32:30
  people. Oh yeah.
• 32:32
  But that's what I wanted. The kids.
• 32:34
  Would Yeah, that's where, you know, maybe we'll get to it.
• 32:37
  Warrior Impact comes in, you know, getting resources for
• 32:43
  veterans and 1st responders who've been through a lot of
• 32:45
  trauma and stuff. You've been through a lot of it.
• 32:48
  Well, that's one of those things.
• 32:49
  When I got this like opportunity to do this through a friend, I
• 32:54
  was like, yeah, I want to give back, but also maybe I can get
• 32:57
  something from. You know.
• 32:58
  And get some tools in my toolbox.
• 33:01
  Yeah, that's how I feel when I do the Sundance and 1st descent
• 33:04
  trips. I, my dad died of cancer and
• 33:07
  then I get to support people who are in their own cancer journey.
• 33:10
  And like, my first week there, it was probably just as healing
• 33:15
  and therapeutic for me as it was for them.
• 33:17
  Like. My first trip with Warrior
• 33:19
  Impact, it was, I felt like I kind of felt guilty because it
• 33:22
  was so much help for me and around people who've been
• 33:26
  through a lot of the same stuff, you know, and it was just very
• 33:30
  healing. And that's why I still do these
• 33:32
  trips. Too.
• 33:32
  It's so much easier to heal together than to try to do it
• 33:36
  all on your own like. As firefighter EMTs, we
• 33:38
  compartmentalize. We just sort of like leave it
• 33:41
  back there. Yeah, you can't take it with
• 33:43
  you. You can't.
• 33:44
  Take it with. You, but you are taking it with
• 33:45
  you. It's with you all the time.
• 33:47
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you try to sometimes.
• 33:51
  Mm hmm. So I got what I wanted.
• 33:54
  I wanted to get that experience in Los Angeles County.
• 33:58
  And then I met my wife and we're like, I don't think we want to
• 34:02
  raise a kid in Southern California.
• 34:04
  So that's when we moved back here.
• 34:05
  She's from North Carolina. She said it reminds her a lot of
• 34:09
  North Carolina being here in Southern Oregon without the
• 34:12
  humidity. So.
• 34:14
  But back to skydiving in accidents, One of my first one
• 34:22
  big accident when me and my wife just got together.
• 34:24
  We were just dating. We went skydiving together and
• 34:28
  oh, she's skydiving. She's also skydiving, too.
• 34:30
  Cool, is that how you met? That's how we met, Yeah.
• 34:32
  So she, there's more to it, too. I know we got kind of limited
• 34:36
  time and stuff, but being the safety and training advisor, on
• 34:39
  the weekends when we were super busy, if there was some sort of
• 34:41
  accident or something going on, I'd be running out with my radio
• 34:45
  for people to either call 911 or figure out what's going on.
• 34:48
  And on the weekends she'd be there, Scott, Ivan, and we'd
• 34:50
  kind of meet up at the same time as we're running out into the
• 34:52
  field and stuff like that in one, one time I'm running out
• 34:56
  there, I'm looking for my wife. I'm like, where's Jack's at?
• 34:59
  And I kind of look out there and I see the canopy kind of go up
• 35:02
  in the air and it's her canopy. And I was like, shit.
• 35:06
  And but we hadn't started dating yet, so.
• 35:09
  But I had some feelings for her. Yeah.
• 35:13
  And so I get to her and she is awake and stuff and she's like,
• 35:18
  I can't feel my legs there. And I'm like, OK, you know, I
• 35:22
  get on the radio, call 911 and then she looks at me and says,
• 35:25
  you need to get my, my rig off of me.
• 35:27
  That's what this skydiving rig's called.
• 35:29
  And I'm like, if you can't move your legs, I'm not moving you at
• 35:32
  all. And she's like, Aaron, you have
• 35:34
  to because they're multi $1000 like 7010 thousand dollar rigs.
• 35:38
  And so she kind of talked me into it.
• 35:41
  So I started loosening her leg straps and stuff and trying to
• 35:44
  get her arms out without, you know, withholding C spine.
• 35:47
  And all of a sudden she's like, I can feel my legs.
• 35:51
  So what had happened is she had a heart opening and her leg
• 35:54
  straps tightened down really, really hard and just.
• 35:59
  Cut off circulation. After out from what I remember
• 36:03
  she ended up going to hospital. She had like slight bruise on
• 36:05
  her heart and she ended up being totally fine, but that's how.
• 36:11
  And then after that, I was like, hey, you want to go on a date?
• 36:14
  Dating. Yeah.
• 36:18
  And so we're few weeks, maybe a couple months into dating and
• 36:23
  stuff. We're skydiving together and I
• 36:25
  went from like flying in my belly to free flying is where
• 36:28
  you fly on your head or on your feet.
• 36:31
  And my shoulder popped out and I that shoulder injury from
• 36:34
  motocross, I thought it was fixed.
• 36:37
  It wasn't. So I I am all of a sudden I
• 36:41
  start flopping around in the air and she's looking at me like.
• 36:44
  What are you doing? And I'm like showing off.
• 36:47
  Yeah, kind of. That's what she thought.
• 36:49
  She wasn't sure what I was trying to do, was trying to
• 36:51
  reach my handle, to pull my parachute with my right
• 36:56
  shoulder. And I couldn't reach behind.
• 36:58
  So then I'm trying to reach with my left, trying to get around.
• 37:00
  Then finally I'm like, we're getting to altitude of pulling
• 37:03
  your parachute. And I'm like, turn, I don't want
• 37:06
  you to see this. I don't know what's going to
• 37:07
  happen. So I can't get it.
• 37:10
  So I have reserves on the left. So I your reserve is meant to
• 37:15
  open pretty instantaneous to save your life.
• 37:18
  And it's not meant to be at terminal velocity, which is 120
• 37:21
  miles an hour. And so she turns away and I pull
• 37:26
  my reserve. It opens and it was the
• 37:29
  gnarliest pain. I was bruised through my crotch,
• 37:32
  through my chest. It was, it was really gnarly,
• 37:34
  but it put my shoulder back in. I don't know, but that's why
• 37:41
  there's handles on both sides. Oh, now they have handbags.
• 37:44
  On both, well, my right side is for your main parachute, your
• 37:48
  left side is for your reserve. So that's kind of one of the so
• 37:52
  you have two hands, it something's going wrong, you can
• 37:56
  use your other hand, but it popped it back, it popped it
• 37:58
  back in. So that that was the so that was
• 38:00
  a really scary. I've got it on video.
• 38:03
  That was one of my scarier ones. I've had a couple other like
• 38:07
  close calls and stuff. But skydiving is actually really
• 38:11
  a safe sport when you go into a tandem or you are doing AFF.
• 38:17
  But where it gets dangerous is when you're adrenaline.
• 38:20
  You've been scouting them for a while, you're pushing the
• 38:22
  limits, and that's where the deaths happen and all of that
• 38:28
  fun stuff. Well, you know, because there's
• 38:29
  things called swooping where you go across the ground at anywhere
• 38:31
  from 60 to 90 to 100 miles an hour, skimming across ponds and
• 38:36
  things like that. Wow.
• 38:37
  Yeah. Works for you.
• 38:39
  Like grab a pastram, pastrami, pastrami you're.
• 38:45
  One of my heroes growing up, yeah.
• 38:47
  Have you ever wanted like with the skydiving experience?
• 38:50
  Has it ever encouraged like transition into paragliding or
• 38:57
  squirrel suiting or BASE jumping or any of those other like
• 39:01
  falling? Sports, definitely.
• 39:03
  I've thought about the idea of paragliding, just haven't really
• 39:07
  done it. I've got a good friend who I
• 39:09
  guide with with Warrior Impact that just got into paragliding.
• 39:13
  He's been chatting me up like you need to get into this, you
• 39:15
  need to get into this. I think I'm just going to take a
• 39:19
  hiatus from air sports until my daughter's around 18 or so.
• 39:23
  I know she was going to want to make a skydive, so she'll be OK.
• 39:25
  With you if you die in a tragic. Well, she wants to do it with
• 39:29
  me, so yeah. So she's even at 13.
• 39:35
  Like, how much longer, Dad? How much longer?
• 39:37
  So I'll definitely probably get back into it when she gets turns
• 39:40
  18. I have, I want to make a base
• 39:43
  jump before I'm pass away. I want to make a couple of base
• 39:48
  jumps. I've got a couple of hot air
• 39:49
  balloon jumps. Oh, helicopter.
• 39:52
  Jump out of a hot air balloon, Yeah.
• 39:55
  Cool. It's close to a base.
• 39:56
  You know, you're not, you're, you're still, you're not moving
• 40:00
  and stuff. So those are fun, but I really
• 40:03
  want to make some base jumps and.
• 40:05
  The hot air balloons can go that high, like yeah, they.
• 40:08
  Don't go to full altitude all the time.
• 40:12
  Which full altitude is around 12,000 feet?
• 40:16
  They usually forget where mine was, it was right around 8000 or
• 40:20
  so. A regular balloon.
• 40:22
  Yeah, like. There's no, I know there's like
• 40:24
  specialty high outs. Of people, yeah, I don't, I know
• 40:27
  there's, you know, like Felix who did the from almost outer
• 40:30
  space. They made him a special hot air
• 40:32
  balloon and stuff like that out of a blimp much about the the
• 40:37
  hot air balloons and stuff. So.
• 40:40
  But so that's my skydiving side of things, I guess.
• 40:44
  Yeah. I wasn't expecting it to go that
• 40:45
  direction, but you know, it's still it's outdoorsy.
• 40:50
  Yeah. It's awesome.
• 40:51
  I've gotten to do, I got to skydive with my dad.
• 40:54
  He was also a big time skydiver. Unfortunately, he passed away
• 40:57
  around 13 years ago or so, but I got to get that in and with him
• 41:00
  and that was really awesome, very special.
• 41:04
  And to be able to experience that stuff with your parents is
• 41:06
  really, really cool. Yeah.
• 41:08
  No, she passed away eight years ago.
• 41:11
  Yeah, Speaking of cancer, she got cancer.
• 41:14
  Yeah, young vibrant lady who was awesome, but cancer sometimes
• 41:18
  just can't beat. It yeah, yeah.
• 41:19
  And it surprises you and a lot of times people don't know why,
• 41:24
  why I got them, but it's it doesn't discriminate, that's for
• 41:28
  sure. A. 100%.
• 41:30
  Damn. But we could, if you wanted to
• 41:32
  talk about my, what I call the trip from Hells yeah cancer with
• 41:36
  my buddy Jim. Yeah, absolutely comfortable.
• 41:38
  Brain tumor. So they called me up.
• 41:42
  They were my mentors, you know, the guys that and ladies who
• 41:47
  took me down the river as a lot as kids with their kids.
• 41:49
  We had a big group of like 15 people, you know, it's a big
• 41:53
  thing. We'd get together once a summer
• 41:54
  and we'd all go everybody. Had their community.
• 41:57
  That's when I was listening to your story.
• 41:59
  It's like, I can totally relate to that.
• 42:00
  We have our Little River group that everybody comes together in
• 42:03
  the summertime with. But they called me up and I,
• 42:06
  well, I knew that he had an inoperable brain tumor, but he
• 42:10
  wanted to go down the river one last time with most of his peers
• 42:16
  and friends and family and stuff.
• 42:17
  So we gathered a big group of people.
• 42:20
  I think it was close to 20 people or so.
• 42:22
  There was grandsons on the trip, long time friends.
• 42:26
  And so we do it. You know, we leave Grave Creek
• 42:30
  and we're headed down. They're looking at me because I
• 42:33
  was commercial guiding at that time for a lot of guidance and
• 42:36
  stuff. And they're getting older and
• 42:39
  don't, they hadn't been on the river for a few years.
• 42:41
  And so we're heading down. We get through Wildcat and then
• 42:45
  rush in on the next corner and I'm like just guys at this water
• 42:49
  level, be careful. There's a lateral wave that
• 42:51
  comes off that bank right there. And especially at this water
• 42:54
  level, it's pretty gnarly it. Can be very surprising.
• 42:57
  Very surprising and my wife knows that one too because years
• 43:01
  before that I about kicked her out on that rapid.
• 43:04
  So that's why I was like, OK. You think you're all clear after
• 43:07
  Wildcat and then Russians like boom.
• 43:10
  Yeah. And so we go around and I'm like
• 43:13
  everybody's going through and the last I, I go through second
• 43:17
  to last and I kind of just pull into an Eddy and one of the guys
• 43:21
  comes through and just hits it sideways. 16 foot fully loaded
• 43:25
  boat flips upside down. Oh my God.
• 43:29
  That was my first tru out of all my trips and stuff.
• 43:31
  First flip I've seen on the lower Rd.
• 43:34
  Wow. In Russian, of all places.
• 43:37
  In a fully loaded 16 foot boat, I'm just like what you.
• 43:42
  Get. One of them in my boat, I get
• 43:45
  trying to get their boat and it goes all the way down to I
• 43:48
  forget the next Creek that's on the left down there.
• 43:50
  We finally I pin it in, get lines on it and all the guys and
• 43:55
  stuff. We get it flipped back over and
• 43:58
  the frame is just tweaked and stuff.
• 44:00
  Like that? And the guy that was rowing that
• 44:01
  boat was like devastated. He's like, I, I don't want to
• 44:04
  row anymore. And I'm like, we have a whoa.
• 44:08
  We're probably on day one. We are in day one, yeah.
• 44:12
  And so Jim's wife decided to row the rest of that day that boat,
• 44:20
  which she's never. She's rowed the whole lower row,
• 44:22
  but in a lighter boat and she didn't have her oars that are
• 44:25
  counterbalanced and but she made it to camp that day.
• 44:29
  But right as we're coming into camp at Lower Horseshoe, she's
• 44:34
  rowing with one of my she's like a mom to me.
• 44:37
  Kathy was on the front of her boat and Lynn couldn't get the
• 44:42
  boat off the Left Bank on Wildcat as you come down and she
• 44:46
  just hits it and Kathy goes in the water and gets pinned up
• 44:51
  against the rocks right there. And I'm like.
• 44:53
  Oh my goodness. OK, so I get back in, jump over
• 44:57
  the rocks and pull her up because she's just pinned there
• 45:00
  and so get her back and she's, you know, startled and stuff.
• 45:04
  We get to camp and I'm like, OK, this is going to be a great rest
• 45:07
  of the trip. You know what else can go wrong?
• 45:09
  We've had a boat flip in Our Lady tandem day one and.
• 45:13
  Famous last words. Everybody's getting their stuff
• 45:16
  together. The boat that flipped had bags
• 45:20
  in it. They pull everything out.
• 45:22
  It's soaked. It.
• 45:23
  Is just soaked, not so dry. Dry bags and so we're getting
• 45:29
  their stuff out, trying to get it dry.
• 45:31
  Was this at least a summer trip? Yes, it was.
• 45:33
  OK. Yes, yes.
• 45:35
  That makes everything a little bit easier.
• 45:37
  Had. To sleep in soggy wet.
• 45:38
  Yeah. Clothes and so felt really bad
• 45:42
  for him. So the next day we head on down
• 45:46
  and one of the ladies were going by Sports Illustrated rock and
• 45:52
  she's like, I've always wanted to jump off of this rock and I'm
• 45:54
  like, OK, you know, these are kind of my mentors.
• 45:58
  How do you tell people that are your parents age to know?
• 46:02
  And I don't even jump. I've jumped off the rocks
• 46:04
  several times, but now it's like I don't jump off rocks anymore,
• 46:08
  but she wants to jump off the rocks.
• 46:10
  So she climbs up and jumps off the rock and comes up and I just
• 46:14
  look at her face and she's like my knee, my knee and I'm like
• 46:19
  what? So I go out in the water and I
• 46:21
  bring her in. She's like Aaron, I dislocated
• 46:23
  my knee and I'm like, OK, that's a for sure evac like you know,
• 46:28
  cuz there's your arteries in there.
• 46:30
  Yeah. I get her to shore talking to
• 46:33
  her and I'm looking at it and it looks like it's just her
• 46:36
  Patella. It's just slid off to the side.
• 46:38
  She's like, this has happened before and I'm like, OK, well
• 46:41
  here we go. And so I just kind of like touch
• 46:43
  it and just slides right back on.
• 46:45
  OK. Oh, perfect.
• 46:46
  OK. Just loose tendons.
• 46:48
  Yeah. And so then we float down to
• 46:54
  Mule Creek and we have camp there.
• 46:58
  Everything's good. And I think we laid over.
• 46:59
  So nothing happened that next day.
• 47:02
  So we're good and then? That's especially good
• 47:04
  considering most injuries happen in camp.
• 47:07
  Exactly. Yeah.
• 47:08
  So everything I think from what I remember, you know, I blocked
• 47:11
  some of this trip away, so for sure.
• 47:14
  So the next day or that day, we talked on our layover day like
• 47:18
  who's going to row the big boat through the Canyon and through
• 47:23
  Blossom And Jim's like, I'll do it.
• 47:26
  And I'm like, I don't know if you have the strength to do it.
• 47:28
  So we kind of brainstorm with a few of the guys and stuff.
• 47:31
  And his grandson was on the trip and I'm like, and he was like
• 47:35
  1718 really well built kid. And I'm like, OK, if you're
• 47:39
  going to row this boat, I'm going to put him in the front of
• 47:41
  your boat. You can tell him what to do if
• 47:43
  things happen, you know, or if you have a flip.
• 47:45
  I trust that he can swim good and you know all these things.
• 47:49
  And so Jim, I run sweep and I'm right behind him the whole time.
• 47:55
  His wife is on my boat with another guy and Jim has like the
• 48:01
  most amazing. It's like picture perfect run.
• 48:06
  Run through through the Canyon like coffee pot was gnarly.
• 48:12
  I ended up getting hung up and did a tour in there and banging
• 48:15
  stuff and he just like floated right through.
• 48:16
  It I was like, wow, that's awesome, meant to be.
• 48:19
  Totally meant to be and then we get to blossom, we pull over, we
• 48:23
  talk and everybody goes. Then Jim goes and I kind of ran
• 48:30
  a little bit closer than I wanted to with him, but he goes
• 48:35
  and then he gets caught on that perch rock right after the
• 48:37
  slide. There's a like kind of sandstone
• 48:39
  right there, just right there and I pull in the picture taking
• 48:42
  Eddie and I'm like mom of Jim's grandson is in a boat.
• 48:51
  That's just and she, I'd look at her and she's freaking out.
• 48:53
  She's like my grandson or my son with my dad and all this stuff
• 48:57
  ended up the river. Just picks him up and puts him
• 48:59
  over it. Awesome run through blossoms.
• 49:01
  Great miracle. We get down to Tacoma, set up
• 49:06
  camp, and I'm kind of just like burnt to this, you know, of all
• 49:12
  the things that are going on. So I go to bed pretty early and
• 49:16
  I hear, I wake up in the middle of night and I hear scurrying
• 49:20
  and I'm like, what is this? And I look under my cot and
• 49:23
  there's a skunk under my cot. My dry bag's wide open.
• 49:28
  I'm like, what do I do? So I kind of like slowly get off
• 49:34
  the cot. He kind of moves away and I get
• 49:36
  up on this rock and I'm like, what do I do?
• 49:39
  There's thousands of dollars worth of gear there.
• 49:41
  Yeah, like, so I just start getting these little pebbles out
• 49:44
  of this rock and throwing it for two hours, 2 hours.
• 49:49
  The skunk, he was just He went to sleep under my cot.
• 49:52
  Oh my God, over. There and they came back after I
• 49:55
  got off the cot. So I just sat there for two
• 49:57
  hours and finally he leaves, goes up into the BlackBerry
• 50:01
  bushes and stuff. The only creature you can't
• 50:03
  scare away. Exactly.
• 50:06
  So I finally he goes up towards everybody's tents up there.
• 50:08
  I started throwing big rocks and I'm like go be someone else's
• 50:11
  problem. So that was and then the rest of
• 50:14
  the trip was awesome. Just on the next day getting out
• 50:18
  to the boat ramp and stuff. But all those things happening
• 50:21
  in one trip was just. It really puts you on edge like.
• 50:27
  So I say all of my river trips, all the things that could go
• 50:31
  bad, for the most part, all happened on one trip.
• 50:35
  And every other trip has been been.
• 50:36
  Pretty darn good. You know, I mean, commercially
• 50:39
  I've seen some things, we've had a couple of evacs and stuff like
• 50:42
  that on different things, but nothing like continuous, Yeah,
• 50:46
  we're getting. Some rain, yeah.
• 50:50
  Yeah, just. Maybe since we are getting a
• 50:52
  little rain like this is a good little point we can pack up and
• 50:55
  just like have our talk on the way back through.
• 50:58
  For sure, sure, I'm good with William.
• 51:00
  Well, I just, I'm fine with being here too.
• 51:02
  I'm not like feeling it hardcore but.
• 51:05
  I'm fine either way. Maybe let's do the like.
• 51:10
  Your Rapids. Or are like, well, like once
• 51:14
  again, like your whole life has been centered around the
• 51:16
  outdoors and all of these sound like pivotal experiences, but do
• 51:21
  you have one that like 1 core memory or experience that
• 51:25
  changed the trajectory of your life or change the way that you
• 51:28
  look at the world or look at being outdoors the way you
• 51:31
  think? I think it was about four years
• 51:34
  ago when I got to do a trip with Warrior Impact that really made,
• 51:40
  you know, we talked about trauma and different things like that.
• 51:43
  I finally got kind of to be around some people that I could
• 51:47
  talk with that have been through a lot of similar situations and
• 51:52
  to know that life is still good and life is still beautiful.
• 51:56
  And I think that was kind of a pivotal point for like, rafting
• 52:00
  with me and to be able to open up to people instead of storing
• 52:05
  all that stuff inside. And War Impact offers so many
• 52:09
  different things, but I haven't taken advantage of those.
• 52:15
  Don't worry, we only have your legs.
• 52:18
  I haven't taken advantage of the other resources, but just being
• 52:21
  out there with guys who have been through guys and women who
• 52:26
  have been through similar things, whether that's through
• 52:29
  war stories or things that have happened in the EMS fire world
• 52:32
  and stuff like that. So I think that's kind of one of
• 52:35
  my most pivotal points as far as like life and being able to deal
• 52:41
  with myself, I guess, you know, so.
• 52:43
  Yeah, is are those trips on the river like?
• 52:46
  They are multi day lower rogue trips or lower salmon trips and
• 52:54
  they're free to veterans and 1st responders.
• 52:56
  You just have to show up at the river and we will supply
• 52:59
  everything from food to splash gear to dry suits to whatever
• 53:03
  and let's just go have a good time.
• 53:05
  And if you want to talk, you can talk.
• 53:06
  If you don't want to talk, you don't have to talk.
• 53:09
  But just. We just don't show up like you
• 53:11
  register and get all dialed in. Yeah.
• 53:13
  But we. Yeah.
• 53:14
  Yeah. You ready?
• 53:15
  Yeah. So like on Thursday, June 22nd,
• 53:21
  1:00 PM we. We'll be right there.
• 53:24
  Yeah, no, no. There's a thing that goes out on
• 53:27
  like Facebook or social media and you sign up and that kind of
• 53:31
  thing. But once you are signed up and
• 53:32
  we know you're going on a trip, all you have to do is show.
• 53:34
  Up yeah, for the toothbrush. Yeah, yeah, in a bag full of
• 53:38
  clothes. Yeah, we supply almost
• 53:40
  everything. Else are there like like on the
• 53:43
  first trips that we do, it's also like, yeah, you can talk if
• 53:48
  you want. You don't have to talk if you
• 53:49
  don't want to. Inevitably everybody's talking.
• 53:52
  But also we have very like facilitated conversation where
• 53:56
  like we sit in a circle and ask an inquisitive question and then
• 54:00
  like popcorn style volunteer contribution.
• 54:04
  Is it we do about like that you can participate or not, but you
• 54:08
  know, the founder Kevin, he kind of starts that off.
• 54:13
  We start off in a circle and he talks about his story and why he
• 54:17
  started Warrior impact. That also works with Saw which
• 54:21
  is save a Warrior that you can go if you really want more help
• 54:26
  and. Howdy friends, quick little
• 54:30
  pause on the adventure. First of all, we just want to
• 54:33
  say thank you. Truly.
• 54:35
  The fact that you're out there listening to this weird little
• 54:37
  outdoor podcast we started means more to us than you probably
• 54:40
  realize. We're just two little feral
• 54:43
  childhood besties that had an idea, grab some microphones, and
• 54:46
  decided to record conversations in the wild.
• 54:49
  And somehow you showed up for it.
• 54:51
  Thank you. So if this podcast has ever made
• 54:54
  you laugh, taught you something, or kept you company on a drive,
• 54:57
  a hike, or a day at the river, we have one small favorite to
• 55:01
  ask you. Give the show a follow, tap the
• 55:03
  stars and leave a review if you can.
• 55:05
  And also, here's a little fun exercise.
• 55:08
  Think of the first person who popped in your head while
• 55:10
  listening to this episode because let's be honest,
• 55:12
  everyone on podcasts, remind somebody of somebody or somebody
• 55:16
  you know that'll enjoy this podcast.
• 55:18
  Send this episode to them. That's honestly the best way
• 55:22
  this little wildly podcast grows.
• 55:25
  All right, thanks for being here with us.
• 55:27
  Now let's go out together. We're going to take this
• 55:32
  opportunity while we change the battery to shout out the
• 55:35
  organization. Aaron's been most impacted by
• 55:38
  Warrior Impact, that's Warrior impact.com.
• 55:41
  They run healing programs specifically for veterans and
• 55:45
  1st responders focused on preventing suicide and
• 55:48
  supporting mental health. This year, 2026, they've got
• 55:52
  rafting trips on the Rogue River and the North Umpqua River.
• 55:56
  So if you or someone you know has served, check
• 55:59
  themoutandapply@warriorimpact.com. We will.
• 56:04
  Yeah. OK, so we're on the Warrior
• 56:08
  project. Are those do does the
• 56:13
  coordinator work with us like specific Outfitters or is it
• 56:17
  just like hey random people with experience and gear come support
• 56:22
  us totally. Cool, just random people come
• 56:25
  help support us who tries to look for, you know, guides or X
• 56:28
  guides. But it's we doing all of our
• 56:32
  trips in the offseason so we don't have to get permits.
• 56:35
  So we usually do a trip in May and October on the lower Rd. and
• 56:41
  then right after the permit season on the.
• 56:44
  Is that pointed well? Yeah, yes, I'm, I'm looking at
• 56:49
  it. Do it do.
• 56:49
  You want to hold my steps? Sure, our usual.
• 56:58
  And then the lower statement trips are in non permit season
• 57:04
  also. And then we're picking up with N
• 57:08
  Umpqua Outfitters doing day trips so we can do paddle trips
• 57:12
  and fishing trips. Just so not everybody can get
• 57:17
  away, you know, 3-4 days of your.
• 57:18
  Time. So giving people the opportunity
• 57:21
  to hear about the resources and you know, that there's still
• 57:27
  awesome life out here for day trips.
• 57:32
  Yeah. And so just more and more things
• 57:37
  are being added to, to help people because we all know that
• 57:46
  being a veteran, the first responder, but sometimes we it's
• 57:49
  hard to ask for help. Yeah, yeah.
• 57:51
  You're the ones who are expected usually to be giving the help.
• 57:57
  Do they show up with having like experience in the outdoors or I
• 58:04
  mean, they're, they're passengers, they're not like
• 58:07
  learning how to become river guides, but.
• 58:10
  You know, we've had people that have never been on rivers
• 58:14
  before. And we've also had.
• 58:16
  People that grow their own but just want to come out on a river
• 58:20
  trip with with people. So anybody all walks, the first
• 58:26
  responders we've had, we have they come from all over the
• 58:31
  United States. Basically, as long as you sign
• 58:33
  up and you can get to the river, we'll take you down the river.
• 58:37
  So we've had people, you know, from Arizona all over the.
• 58:42
  World. So do they pay for it or is it a
• 58:46
  free as long as do they pay to get themselves there and then
• 58:50
  the trip is free? Amazing.
• 58:54
  And it's pretty awesome. I was going somewhere I totally
• 58:57
  forgot my train of thought. Not your fault.
• 59:03
  But then yeah. Do the guides that do it, do
• 59:08
  they usually have a related background, are they also first
• 59:13
  responders or veterans or is it like any anybody goes for that
• 59:17
  anybody. Kind of goes for that.
• 59:18
  We have a couple of guides that are not veterans or first
• 59:22
  responders, just long time river people and just want to be there
• 59:27
  to give back and or help you know in any way that they can.
• 59:32
  Most of our guides are have veteran or first responder
• 59:37
  experience, but we do have a few that don't and they just want to
• 59:41
  help us help out. I think, I mean, I have a very
• 59:46
  soft spot for nature therapy and letting people like we were
• 59:54
  saying slightly off camera that you can have a a mental break or
• 59:59
  stress scenarios in the built life and getting outdoors can
• 1:00:05
  take it all away and really put into perspective what's
• 1:00:09
  important in life and give you challenges that are.
• 1:00:14
  Are hard but you still overcome and it helps to build up that
• 1:00:18
  resilience for the rest of other life of like exactly sometimes
• 1:00:23
  when I find myself in stressful places in regular life I'm like
• 1:00:27
  well I can row blossom bar yeah yeah exactly so like I can do
• 1:00:32
  this like and. Then there's something also by
• 1:00:37
  just sitting on the beach and watching the water die and then
• 1:00:40
  you know, you're looking at CFS and you're like, that is moving
• 1:00:44
  that fast right there. And just how powerful it is
• 1:00:46
  also. And there's just so many
• 1:00:48
  therapeutic things in all of outdoors.
• 1:00:51
  Mine is mostly on the river or in the sky.
• 1:00:55
  Yeah, the the negative ions from moving water, the sounds of
• 1:01:00
  nature, the recalibrating your circadian rhythm with your up
• 1:01:04
  with the sun and down with the sun, not having you know what it
• 1:01:08
  is? Fluorescent lights, snow.
• 1:01:10
  Yes, the smells. I breathe so much better
• 1:01:15
  outside. I was thinking about it on the
• 1:01:18
  drive here and I was thinking about river trips and different
• 1:01:21
  things, and one of my favorite things though is being on the
• 1:01:23
  water and all that stuff, but is getting off the river and having
• 1:01:27
  pizza like getting. You're a pizza after the river,
• 1:01:30
  not Mexican or burgers. OK.
• 1:01:32
  And not having to cook it, Yeah, it's like, yeah, there's
• 1:01:36
  something about that, too. Really makes you appreciate your
• 1:01:38
  home, though, too, you know, Wore out and tired.
• 1:01:41
  You come back to your house and you're like, then you're
• 1:01:43
  thankful for that. Yeah.
• 1:01:44
  So yeah, it really does help to maintain perspective.
• 1:01:51
  Hike the grass is green everywhere and.
• 1:01:54
  It's not like type B fun. They call it, you know, it's
• 1:01:56
  like it's kind of like it's taxing.
• 1:01:59
  It's, you know, tiring sometimes it's yeah, you have your moments
• 1:02:02
  of fun on like a river trip, but like, it's really when you sit
• 1:02:05
  back and you get off the river and you reflect and you're like,
• 1:02:08
  that was so nice because you're in the mode for like.
• 1:02:11
  I guess I can't really relate it too much to river trips because
• 1:02:14
  there's a lot of fun built in, but like a biking, just like a
• 1:02:20
  mountain biking, like actually mountain biking, like I'm having
• 1:02:23
  fun while I'm doing it. It's really exhilarating and
• 1:02:25
  stuff. But it's kind of after the fact
• 1:02:28
  where I'm really like reveling in the experience and the like.
• 1:02:33
  Oh my God, that was wonderful. I don't know.
• 1:02:35
  Yeah. Breaking setting up camp and
• 1:02:38
  breaking camp every day on the roof.
• 1:02:40
  It's kind of at times you're just like, why am I doing this?
• 1:02:42
  And the logistics of like, where are we going to camp tonight?
• 1:02:46
  And oh, well, we were aiming for this spot, but now it's occupied
• 1:02:49
  and oh, the, well, the wind is really blowing us upstream.
• 1:02:52
  I don't think we're going to make it there.
• 1:02:54
  So we got to find somewhere sooner.
• 1:02:56
  And there's there's a lot to deal with in the day.
• 1:03:01
  But really, yeah, once you're like sitting in camp, all the
• 1:03:06
  work is done and you just get to take a deep breath and.
• 1:03:10
  Then when you get home, you get to take a shower.
• 1:03:12
  Yeah, therapy and that. Yeah, Extra.
• 1:03:16
  Warmth and numminess and the after shower.
• 1:03:19
  So you were telling us that you have not yet taken your
• 1:03:23
  daughter? No, I have.
• 1:03:24
  You have. OK.
• 1:03:24
  Summer was. The first lower road trip.
• 1:03:26
  OK and she had the time. Her name is NIA.
• 1:03:32
  Shout out NIA. Hey girl, that.
• 1:03:34
  Means river. Yeah, Say what?
• 1:03:36
  That means River Naya. Means river.
• 1:03:37
  It means water, water nymph or something.
• 1:03:41
  It also means, I think in Hawaiian it means dolphin.
• 1:03:44
  That's amazing. Yeah, we couldn't.
• 1:03:47
  We were coming up with names and she was born right after my dad
• 1:03:51
  passed away and couldn't name her Tom.
• 1:03:55
  So me and my wife were looking at something that, you know, we
• 1:03:59
  had a lot in common. We're both love water, scuba
• 1:04:03
  divers, surfers, rafters. And so she found the name Naya
• 1:04:08
  and I mean I'm pretty sure it's water nymph.
• 1:04:11
  And then her middle name is Saron, which is sweet little.
• 1:04:16
  Sweet little water now and. She is.
• 1:04:20
  She just started swimming two years ago as a competitive
• 1:04:25
  swimmer. Awesome.
• 1:04:26
  She has yes. Yes and she has come a long ways
• 1:04:32
  in two years. She is doing things that aren't
• 1:04:37
  even possible. She's had a Senior Open this
• 1:04:40
  year where it's open age and she was 12 beating 18/19/20 year
• 1:04:47
  olds. Damn girl, She's, she's
• 1:04:49
  something special. And we're just getting ready
• 1:04:52
  next weekend for state and then regionals up in Washington two
• 1:04:56
  weeks after that. Wow.
• 1:04:58
  So she matches her name perfectly.
• 1:05:01
  It's like did she choose the name or did the name choose her
• 1:05:05
  100? Percent.
• 1:05:06
  Yeah, my son I so I had cruise right after I finished up like
• 1:05:11
  my I think I worked with him for like a little bit too while I
• 1:05:14
  was pregnant down there. And his middle name is Ilahi.
• 1:05:19
  Oh, OK. Yes, yes.
• 1:05:21
  And that was like on purpose, because that was like such AI
• 1:05:24
  just came from that experience. Yes.
• 1:05:26
  And it's also a Native American term.
• 1:05:28
  And he, his dad is like pretty significant blood quantum
• 1:05:34
  native. Awesome SO.
• 1:05:35
  I was like, oh, a Native American term with this really
• 1:05:38
  cool like spot on the. River and does he connect when
• 1:05:42
  he's on the river like? Yes, the times that have like
• 1:05:46
  brought him down there specifically, yes, he does love
• 1:05:49
  the river and being outdoors and stuff.
• 1:05:51
  He thrives outdoors because he's very hyperactive.
• 1:05:57
  He needs a lot of space. It'll.
• 1:05:59
  Be like everywhere. Yeah.
• 1:06:01
  Well, that's like Nya, She's water.
• 1:06:03
  She all of a sudden like that's her therapy.
• 1:06:06
  Yeah, she's just like, at home. At ease.
• 1:06:10
  Yeah, In it, around it. She she'll be having a bad day,
• 1:06:14
  say school didn't go that great or whatever, and as soon as she
• 1:06:17
  touches the water she is it's like a whole new kid.
• 1:06:21
  Yeah. That's cool that you she has you
• 1:06:24
  guys and she has found her outlet.
• 1:06:26
  Yeah, I feel like martial arts. Is that for Cruise already?
• 1:06:29
  And he's only been going for like 2 weeks.
• 1:06:33
  Yeah. Is she a Pisces or a Cancer or
• 1:06:36
  an Aquarius or January 28th probably an Aquarius?
• 1:06:41
  No, that's I would know. Yeah, it was.
• 1:06:45
  I don't know. I don't know.
• 1:06:48
  I think early January, I think is an Aquarius.
• 1:06:52
  I don't know. But.
• 1:06:57
  But I'm always very curious like people who connect to I think we
• 1:07:00
  got to go down there a specific element is that in in their
• 1:07:06
  chart or it's interesting. Yeah.
• 1:07:09
  Star to life because I'm I'm a Pisces and I feel the same way.
• 1:07:16
  Like being around water and. So I'm a Cancer too.
• 1:07:19
  Like I'm a Cancer, but all of my like, closest people in my life
• 1:07:23
  are Pisces. My well, no, Sean's on the cusp.
• 1:07:27
  Yeah, yeah. But he's in March and but my
• 1:07:30
  mom's Pisces, my other best friends I see she's on the fest
• 1:07:35
  as well. You.
• 1:07:37
  Yeah. A lot of my best friends are
• 1:07:39
  cancers. Yeah, yeah.
• 1:07:43
  We Co we coexist really nicely together.
• 1:07:45
  But I love all. That connection.
• 1:07:48
  So that would be very interesting fact that we think.
• 1:07:53
  Do you think that Naya will become a river guide?
• 1:07:55
  Like, do you see that in her future?
• 1:07:57
  He. I, you know, if swimming is, I
• 1:08:01
  think didn't take her very, very far.
• 1:08:02
  So I don't know if she will become a river guide.
• 1:08:06
  I know she'll be a river rat forever.
• 1:08:08
  You know, she just loves it so much.
• 1:08:10
  And I mean, like we got off the river and I was like, oh, I'm so
• 1:08:14
  happy to get some pizza and a shower and stuff like that.
• 1:08:16
  She's like, can we just go again?
• 1:08:17
  Yeah, yeah. And I.
• 1:08:19
  Was like OK. Maybe she needs to get into
• 1:08:22
  kayaking. Yeah, Oh yeah, you have to
• 1:08:25
  kayaking. Yeah, how old is she, 13?
• 1:08:27
  Oh yeah, she'd be perfect in the youth kayaking camp with
• 1:08:30
  Sundance. You might need a single file
• 1:08:36
  here. OK, appropriate high.
• 1:08:46
  OK, so our our rapid wrap up questions.
• 1:08:52
  What is a piece of advice that you would give to your Oh, Oh
• 1:08:59
  yeah, totally, totally. I'm like to the microphone.
• 1:09:03
  I know I always tell people like if you're facing forward and I'm
• 1:09:06
  behind you, I can't hear you, you're talking to to nobody.
• 1:09:10
  What is a piece of advice that you would give to either your
• 1:09:14
  younger self or somebody trying to get into a life like you've
• 1:09:20
  lived? She's a little.
• 1:09:20
  Younger son, follow your gut. Follow your gut and be happy.
• 1:09:28
  You know life is going to swing at you so many different
• 1:09:31
  directions. Sometimes you got to take the
• 1:09:33
  hit, but just roll with it. It'll it it if you it'll all be
• 1:09:38
  OK. I always say every little thing
• 1:09:41
  is going to be all right. I've said that.
• 1:09:44
  Yeah, Bob, some some famous guy told me that.
• 1:09:49
  I love that. I mean, great lesson in that, in
• 1:09:52
  being in the water. Like if you just relax.
• 1:09:56
  Calm. Down, yeah.
• 1:09:56
  What's your advice to somebody looking to maybe get into the
• 1:10:00
  skydiving community? What does what?
• 1:10:02
  How would somebody start that journey?
• 1:10:05
  Yeah, go research where like a local drop zone.
• 1:10:10
  So DZ and go and find the counter people.
• 1:10:15
  You. Know like the staff there and
• 1:10:18
  start picking their their brains about it.
• 1:10:21
  And maybe go. Well, definitely get love.
• 1:10:25
  One or two, yeah, one or two tandems under your belt.
• 1:10:28
  And if it's for you, then pursue that dream, you know, just.
• 1:10:33
  Start talking to the instructor. The person.
• 1:10:35
  Not the yeah yeah and the random person.
• 1:10:37
  The skydivers are very open about the sport and you know,
• 1:10:41
  the safe, the true safety of it. So many people think it's such
• 1:10:44
  an unsafe sport, but you're more likely to get hit by a car
• 1:10:47
  walking down the side of the road.
• 1:10:52
  Many pavs. Amazing.
• 1:10:56
  And what is one piece of outdoor gear that is either your
• 1:11:03
  favorite or the thing that you always have with you?
• 1:11:08
  My newest one is actually this jacket that I'm not wearing.
• 1:11:11
  I love it because it's actually got dry suit.
• 1:11:16
  Oh gaskets on the wrist fishing is nice.
• 1:11:19
  Raising up, it's not sliding down your your arm, getting the
• 1:11:24
  rest of the stuff wet. But piece of other equipment is
• 1:11:32
  life jacket, you know? Yeah.
• 1:11:35
  Wear your life jacket. And you know, that's a good one,
• 1:11:39
  yeah. Yeah.
• 1:11:40
  And have a have a good comfortable life jacket so
• 1:11:43
  you're not wanting to take it off and.
• 1:11:45
  That's a modern I need to. Invest I just I just last year
• 1:11:51
  got a new life jacket after my one.
• 1:11:54
  It doesn't really float. So.
• 1:11:58
  Comfortable. Because it's so worn down and
• 1:12:02
  fits to your body. My mouth is underwater.
• 1:12:06
  Oh. Yeah.
• 1:12:07
  So no, it's not. It's a no life jacket and top of
• 1:12:14
  mind advice for somebody looking to recreate in Southern Oregon.
• 1:12:22
  So repeat that question. Like where of?
• 1:12:26
  The other. Question, yeah, but like
• 1:12:27
  specifically to Southern Oregon, a place that you would recommend
• 1:12:33
  that people go to, to get outside or explore like favorite
• 1:12:37
  place try to? Find, I guess you would say a
• 1:12:41
  local community of voters, you know, like you were saying about
• 1:12:45
  Sundance, get different programs if you want to become a kayaker.
• 1:12:51
  I know NW rafting company has good guide schools.
• 1:12:56
  Most of the companies do, but they have one that is kind of
• 1:13:00
  row your own type situation. And, you know, if you really
• 1:13:05
  want to get into it, just, you know, start to dive into it and
• 1:13:08
  find a good positive group of people to mentor you, I guess.
• 1:13:14
  Awesome. And when your soul leaves this
• 1:13:20
  plane of existence and your body expires, how do you want to be
• 1:13:24
  remembered? You know.
• 1:13:28
  I, I don't know, you know, like I want to be remembered as a
• 1:13:32
  good person for sure. But like when I'm on the river,
• 1:13:35
  I always look for a bald eagle because when my dad passed away,
• 1:13:39
  I said I'll see you again. And there's a big story around
• 1:13:44
  that that, but I just, I know that's my dad.
• 1:13:49
  So. And then butterflies are my mom.
• 1:13:54
  And so I don't know what I'll be, but I just want to be
• 1:13:57
  remembered as. You like that aspect of maybe
• 1:14:00
  your kids remembering you in a thing?
• 1:14:02
  In a little, yes. Nature.
• 1:14:03
  There you go. If you see a ladybug, that's me.
• 1:14:06
  Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
• 1:14:08
  But I just want to be remembered as a good person and a positive
• 1:14:11
  person and that I was a loving father and husband so.
• 1:14:18
  Awesome. And if if people want to find
• 1:14:23
  you and learn more about you or get on the river with you, hang
• 1:14:26
  out with you and you want to be found, where could they find
• 1:14:30
  you? And you don't have to want to be
• 1:14:32
  challenged. We'll, we'll curate y'all out
• 1:14:37
  there. That's totally fair.
• 1:14:38
  Do you? Have social media or anything?
• 1:14:39
  I do have Facebook, yeah, yeah. Yeah, a lot of people, a lot of
• 1:14:43
  like, true, not like you don't have to be a true major lover
• 1:14:46
  and not have social media, but like a lot of people that are
• 1:14:51
  just heavy outdoorsmen. Yeah, women.
• 1:14:55
  Yeah, like they're outside, they're not on social media.
• 1:15:00
  Yeah, but yeah, literally they can contact you guys and you can
• 1:15:04
  get the info. I just don't want to put it out
• 1:15:05
  of the podcast. Yeah.
• 1:15:07
  By e-mail and all that. Totally fair.
• 1:15:09
  Yeah. If some, if somebody reaches out
• 1:15:11
  to us, we'll, we'll say give us your info.
• 1:15:14
  We'll pass it on to Aaron. He'll decide what he wants to do
• 1:15:16
  with it, Right? Well, maybe it would be for like
• 1:15:19
  getting involved with the. With the Wounded Warrior Project
• 1:15:22
  or. That's Warrior.
• 1:15:23
  Impact. Warrior Impact.
• 1:15:25
  Dot com too. Everything's there for sign ups
• 1:15:28
  and all that stuff, but if people have more questions about
• 1:15:32
  skydiving or anything like that, like a motocross career or
• 1:15:36
  anything like that, they can reach out through cool through
• 1:15:38
  you guys for sure. Awesome.
• 1:15:40
  Thank you so much for saying yes to this and hanging out with us
• 1:15:45
  and great stories, making some more connections in Southern
• 1:15:48
  Oregon. Then what the hell, Yeah.
• 1:15:50
  You guys so much and had a lot of fun.
• 1:15:52
  Sorry I got so winded going up there trying.
• 1:15:54
  To see. I was like I'm a.
• 1:15:57
  Mile behind you. I'm not out of shape, but I
• 1:16:00
  really was feeling like out of shape and.
• 1:16:02
  I'm like you. I'm trying to answer the
• 1:16:04
  question. I'm going all over the place
• 1:16:06
  like I'm like a workout. I mean, that's a special kind of
• 1:16:11
  cardio to be able to hike and walk and, and really we do try
• 1:16:17
  to avoid that. It was just kind of like
• 1:16:18
  circumstantial. I'm like, I don't want to walk
• 1:16:22
  and talk because I know I start getting winded and and then we
• 1:16:25
  started up that hill and I'm like, oh shit.
• 1:16:27
  She just asked me a very specific question.
• 1:16:29
  I got to finish this. You did.
• 1:16:33
  You did so good I. Was back there being like.
• 1:16:36
  Too hard. Oh, here's the bike right here.
• 1:16:39
  Yeah. Oh, I was breathing hard.
• 1:16:42
  It'd be funny to hear that. That's part of the adventure,
• 1:16:45
  right? Yeah, indeed.
• 1:16:48
  What kind of trees are these? Pretty.
• 1:16:52
  Cool ones, Pretty cool ones. Tall ones with high branches
• 1:16:59
  that we can't climb up. We need to come with an arborist
• 1:17:11
  sometime. Maybe there's one through
• 1:17:15
  Ashland. Like parks, like somebody's on a
• 1:17:18
  tour of the park and like. Yeah, the Parks and Rec Center,
• 1:17:21
  we walk through their parking lot.
• 1:17:23
  They probably have someone that. Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:17:27
  Well, we'll find out. I'll reach out.
• 1:17:30
  I'll send a cold e-mail. Awesome.
• 1:17:34
  Well, thank you again so much, all of you.
• 1:17:38
  Thanks for being here. Like, subscribe, comment, share
• 1:17:41
  with a friend. Share with five friends and
• 1:17:46
  we'll catch you next time. I'm Emily.
• 1:17:48
  I'm Heather. Together we're Go Wildly.
• 1:17:54
  That's a wrap on this episode. Go Wildly from the bottom of our
• 1:17:57
  backpacks. Thank you for listening.
• 1:17:59
  We know you enjoyed the show, so tap, follow, tell a friend or
• 1:18:02
  two, and leave a quick review if you can.
• 1:18:05
  It makes a real difference. Your support allows Go Wildly to
• 1:18:08
  reach new listeners and bring more outdoor stories to the mic.
• 1:18:12
  Until next time, go wildly and go outside.