Rowing is loosely defined as the act, or the art, of moving a boat through water with two oars, powered by a human. As a professional river guide, Kelsey Pfendler rows boats down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In early May of 2026, she will embark on a 2,500 mile row across the Pacific Ocean from south of San Francisco, California, to the islands of Hawaii. Kelsey will make this journey solo, taking about 80 days. Her vessel, Lily, is built for the task. She has a small cabin for sleeping and reading charts and weather and communicating with her land crew. Why is she rowing solo across the ocean? There are many answers. One answer is to bring attention to the Whale Foundation, a guide support organization focused on Grand Canyon guide health. The other reasons? She tells us why. This is her second Mid Pacific crossing, but the first solo. What she learned on the first crossing brings more depth to the power of the solo crossing. 

yourowkelsey.com

Whale Foundation

@yourowkelsey

TikTok:  @yourowkelsey

Tracking

Kelsey's first row

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The waters of the Rio Grande form the entire 1,254-mile border between the state of Texas and Mexico. Some portions of that border are open, with no physical barrier and monitored primarily by surveillance. Other sections have a full wall, with others are slated for new construction. One long stretch through Big Bend is defined by deep, rugged canyons that seem to function as a natural barrier. And it is here that survey crews are working toward the possibility of building a wall. This region is known for the Rio Grande flowing through national and state parks, Wild and Scenic canyons, and vast wildlife areas all consistently remote, powerful river country. Supporting that riverscape is a long-standing river outfitting community. A wall could cut off access to the river for outfitters, for do-it-yourself boaters and potentially disrupt the local economy built around it. River runners, ranchers, residents, and five border-county sheriffs are speaking out about the wall, standing against a wall and for the wild canyon country they call home. In this episode, we talk with Tara Shackelford, an outfitter, and Judge Greg Henington, a former outfitter and current county judge, to understand their connection to the river.

GUEST
Tara Shackelford
Hidden Dagger Adventures
@hiddendaggeradventures
FB Hidden Dagger Adventures

Judge Greg Henington
2020 Texas Highways article featuring Greg Henington

SPONSORS
American Rivers
@americanrivers
FB American Rivers

Valley Nissan
@valley_nissan

RESOURCES
Rio Grande
Big Bend region
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend Ranch State Park
Black Gap Wildlife Management Area
Lower Canyons Wild & Scenic Rio Grande
Cañón de Santa Elena Flora and Fauna Protection Area
Ocampo Flora and Fauna Protection Area
Maderas del Carmen

REGIONAL MEDIA
Big Bend Sentinel
Marfa Public Radio

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Jess Lewis started her company, Wyld Heart Co., to support river runners in the early stages of learning to run rivers. Her work focuses on mindset and heuristics that support personal growth alongside the technical skills needed to get boats down the river, and the mental skills required to grow through the challenges and “stuck on rock” moments that are inevitable for all river runners.

She teaches skills for all river crafts, and her favorite and most common teaching setting is in a raft, with her students rowing the boat. We talk through the details of the oar setup she provides, the types of boats she uses, and the various learning styles of her students.

Jess believes—and teaches—that even if a river runner has had moments on the river that scared them, or scared their kids who were in the boat, those fears can be worked through and skills can be adapted to support river running that is more prepared and more adaptable to each situation.

Jess grew up with river-guiding parents, and at 13 she hiked the full Continental Divide Trail with her family. She describes both of these early life experiences as foundational to the work she does today.

GUEST

SPONSORS

Valley Nissan
@valley_nissan

Down River Equipment
IG @downriverequipment
FB @Down River Equipment
Raftopia 
April 6-11, 2026
In person sale April 11

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This episode was recorded live at the America Outdoors annual conference and is a conversation with three members from the Returning Rapids Project in Utah.  The Returning Rapids Project is documenting the changes and restoration happening to the reservoir-affected areas of the Colorado River and the San Juan River as Lake Powell continues to recede out of the river canyons it inundated with reservoir waters for the past several decades.  The deeper focus of this episode beyond this research project is the powerful observational ability of river guides who work on rivers day after day, year after year, and how they can notice the most minute changes.  In the case of the Colorado River and the Returning Rapids Project, it was this guide observation that witnessed a subtle shift to the river.  This observation has developed into a powerful project that is learning how rivers recover from life under a reservoir. 

Mike Fiebig, American Rivers

America Outdoors
2027 Conference

Watch this episode on the America Outdoors Youtube Channel

Giveaway: "Raft the Last Wild River Sweepstakes"

OARS
@oars_rafting
Stillwater & Cataract Canyon Hiker
Cataract Canyon Whitewater Rafting

AMERICAN RIVERS
@americanrivers

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Rivers are always photogenic, even telegenic, and rivers often become the setting for many films. Each year since 1981, the National Paddling Film Festival (NPFF) has provided a collective presentation of river films. This year’s festival is happening on February 21, live and in person in Kentucky with a virtual streaming option available for the price of a cup of coffee. We have 3 guests bringing us details about the NPFF. Stephanie Hoelscher is the director; Devin Ashley Brown is the featured paddler in the film “Mother River” about her Mississippi River run; and Nishan Thapa is the creator of the film “The Jewel of Wild West Nepal” about paddling the rivers in his home country of Nepal. 

GUESTS

Stephanie Hoelscher

Devin Ashley Brown
@afrodiskayak
Harvest Film Company

Nishan Thapa
@riverratmountainkat
@summit_to_sea2026

SPONSORS
Denver Area Nissan Dealers
@nissanusa

FILMS

NATIONAL PADDLING FILM FESTIVAL
@npff.paddling
Tickets: live & streaming

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Do you ever get those wild ideas about running a river in a unique way, but they just stay ideas, and you kinda always wish you had followed through?  This episode is about an idea that became a reality.  In November of 2001, 3 people zipped up their drysuits, pulled on their swim fins, strapped their dry bags to river boards, and slid into the Colorado River beginning a 300 mile trip where river boards were their only water craft.  Kelley Kalafatich, Julie Munger and Rebecca Rusch floated, swam, kicked and paddled their way in and down the Colorado River, successfully and joyfully, and they have a film documenting this story.  The film has just published and they joined The River Radius to have a reunion of sorts and tell their river boarding story 25 years later. 
 

THE FILM:  
"Three Women, Three Hundred Miles: Introduction by Meryl Streep"
Producer: Carr Clifton

GUESTS

Kelley Kalafatich TEDX
Kelley Kalafatich IRF

Julie Munger

Rebecca Rusch website
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
 

SPONSOR

Denver Area Nissan Dealers
@nissanusa
 

EPISODE THUMBNAIL IMAGE
Carr Clifton
 

ARTICLES

"Grand Adventure: River Boarding the Colorado"

"Three Women, 300 Miles"

RIVER BOARD

Carlson River Board at NRS

Churchhill Swimfins

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Ben Stookesberry paddles kayaks in his home state of Montana, and around the world. In his teen years he learned to make home movies showing off his rollerblading moves, and in college he learned to kayak. Today he blends the paddling and film making as he runs rivers in global settings. He has created deep and lasting friendships in his travels, and returns to rivers again and again, to paddle more stretches, to learn more, and sometimes to engage in protection work. In this episode, Ben talks through all of this with us, and goes into depth about his current paddling and film efforts on the Jatunyacu and Mulatos Rivers in Ecuador.

GUESTS
Ben Stookesberry
@benstookesberry

Bio @ Kokatat
Bio @ Jackson Kayak

Latest Film:  ¡Ay Chihuahua!

Diego Robles:  @ecuskayaker
 

RESOURCES

Ecuadorian Rivers Institute
@ecuadorianrivers

Steven Donzinger story

Savages, book, by Joe Kane
 

PADDLERS TO FOLLOW

@ecuskayaker (Diego)
@williehenkel
@wyatt_doyle
@salmonsourcetosea
@elizabeth.tobey
@brookehess
@oceansandmountains (Hailey)
@pedroolivakaiak
@riverratmountainkat
@mayuwarmikayak
@teepee_boys
 

SPONSORS

Denver Area Nissan Dealers
@nissanusa
 

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Podcasting is incredibly unique and fun work that has allowed me to meet so many rivers and river people. And podcasting is a job that I really just created for myself. Yes there are other podcasts and podcasters, but by nature of the work, we are all kind of hidden in quiet places behind microphones and editing screens, so finding a podcasting friend is so helpful. Ed Roberson has built the Mountain & Prairie Podcast and we have become colleagues and friends that can support each other when we have questions and challenges. For this episode, Ed and I decided to interview each other in a single episode and go deeper into our work, and publish it on both of our respective podcasts. Ed is a leading interviewer finding some of the most humble and impactful people of the American West and Ed is in the process of writing his own book. To start off 2026, here is an episode with two podcasters talking about our work, focus and plans for this coming season of episodes. 

GUESTS

Ed Roberson

Mountain & Prairie Podcast website

On Apple

On Spotify

@mtnprairie

SPONSORS

Denver Area Nissan Dealers

@nissanusa

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The Vjosa River in Albania is one of the largest of the last free running rivers in Europe and recently it was protected with the new Vjosa Wild River National Park. The Vjosa sources from the mountains of Greece and flows north through Albania where it meets the Adriatic Sea. Eco Albania has led much of the work to create this National Park and our guest Dr Olsi Nika founded Eco Albania.  Dr Nika tells us about this long and beautiful river in his home country, how people in Albania use this river, about life in Albania, and how they did the work to project this river. 

GUESTS

Dr Olsi Nika

RESOURCES

Vjosa River

Vjosa Wild River National Park

Eco Albania

Albania

Balkan Peninsula

Mediterranean Basin

Rewinding Europe

Video:  Blue Heart - Eco Albania

SPONSORS

Denver Area Nissan Dealers

Over It Raft Covers

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Amidst a flourish of media about Paddle Tribal Waters, a new film has published from Oregon Public Broadcasting & Jessie Sears, giving focus to the 2025 source to sea run completed by the indigenous teens of PTW. The film, “First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath”, is there to meet the paddlers at the Pacific Ocean when they complete their journey, is with them along the river and the film also engages with the families of the paddlers to hear their perceptions of their kid’s work and pursuits. And finally, the film’s producer, Jessie Sears, is a member of the Karuk Tribe from the Klamath River basin, and by creating this film, she is exploring her own connections with this river and these families. 

The Film:  “First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath"

Jessie Sears professional website
Instagram
Jessie Sears at Oregon Public Broadcasting
Karuk Tribe

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Paddle Tribal Waters & Rios to Rivers

New York Times about Paddle Tribal Waters

Underscore Native News
Instagram

Swiftwater Films
Instagram 

River Roots
Instagram

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