Between Two Chollas - An Interview With Brad Hooker, River Guide

JM: Today I’m interviewing Brad Hooker, one of our guides here at NMRA. Brad, What brought you into rafting?

BH: What brought me into rafting? I did a Wilderness First Responder course and a lot of the people in that course had some great stories; just about things they’ve responded to out on the river, and rafting in general… and I met Wendy Meyer and Jamie Viers. The two of them were just these awesome women who had a lot of fun stories about it, and they pulled me into the rafting world.

 

JM: So, how long have you been professionally guiding?

BH: About 5 years now. A good 4 seasons out on the Rio Grande, and 1 season out on the Gauley River in West Virginia.

JM: What’s the most epic trip you’ve done?

BH: I did a 16 day Cataract Canyon trip; that was pretty epic, in terms of being really long, and out in the wilderness, it was just wonderful. It makes me excited to get out there more… It’s between that and the first Class V paddling I ever did, it was up at the Burnt Ranch Gorge in California, on the Trinity River. That was pretty scary- I was swimming away from walls as fast as I could, with water charging underneath them, I was getting saved by safety kayakers

JM: Wow! What do you consider to be the hardest part about being a guide?

BH: Well, learning to be adaptable. You have to adapt to situations changing out on the river, logistics changing all the time- before the trip even starts- the amount of people on the trip changes… Yeah. There’s all these variables and you have to keep your head on a swivel to be able to make it all work.

JM: And the best part of guiding, for you?

BH: The best part of guiding is the little giggles I get when I hit a wave with a raft full of people, and it splashes over them, and we all start laughing together. Just enjoying those little moments.

JM: What are any trips or rivers you haven’t done that are on your “bucket list?”

BH: Definitely the Grand Canyon. I really want to do a Grand Canyon trip, it hasn’t come up for me yet. Yeah, I want to get out and see as many rivers as I can, so really any river that’s runnable, but definitely the Grand Canyon.

 

JM: Alright, last question… What’s your favorite kind of boat, and why?

BH: My favorite kind of boat is one that has air in it, and is coming into a giant wave- actually it’s just come through a giant wave; and is filled up with water like a bath tub, and a bunch of happy, laughing human beings.

JM: Wonderful. Thank you very much for your time, and I hope you have a great trip out on the Taos Box today!

BH: Thank you!