Hugh Russell
Favorite Trail Snack: Beef Jerky or Pickles
Sunrise or Sunset: Sunset
Cat or Dog: Dog
Favorite Beverage: Lukewarm Rainier
Guilty Pleasure: Candy or Ice Cream
Go-To Camp Game: Threes
Favorite Camp Chore: Groover Duty
Three Words to Describe Yourself: Professional Fun Haver
“I remember working at Mt. Bachelor, looking for something to do, and feeling like I didn’t have a ton of direction. Or, I had a direction that I didn’t want to continue going on. I met some people who were like ‘Try rafting.’ And, I grew up rafting with my family. One overnight was a huge experience for me when I was twelve.
I was very uncertain, not being an outdoorsy person, not sure I was capable of doing that. But, I did the guide training, was a rookie for a year, and the rest is history.”
“Not everyone gets to float down a river on a yearly basis. It’s pretty cool to get to do that not only many times, but to facilitate a great experience for people experiencing a new setting outdoors. Talking about bear safety and all the random things to talk about in camp. It’s really fun for me to tell people how crazy this is. ‘What do you mean there’s snakes out here?’ ‘Of course there’s snakes out here.’”
“I remember being scared or uncertain about beta from somebody else. Not even knowing what shoes to wear. I didn’t know what to trust to somebody else. I’d never done this before. And, I think those moments are the most important learning moments in life. Big water, Class V, big stuff is really intimidating, but it’s important to test those limits. Your brain can put up a lot of barrieres. And, I think it’s really cool to see how those are mental barriers, and not real barriers. Trusting yourself, so to speak, can really do some cool shit that you might not be aware of.”
“I would say that historically, I’m not a very confident person in terms of my own abilities, just the way I operate in the world. It’s kind of been a part of my life forever, a certain level of in-confidence in my own abilities which is why I think I love rafting so much. Because that’s a way that I can show myself that I’m competent and capable.”
“I always joke that if I was ever a millionaire or a movie star or something like that, I would still be a river rat. I would plan all my movie trips around applying for permits, getting to do cool stretches, and paying people to shuttle my vehicle. If I had unlimited sums, I would probably do the exact same thing just for pleasure.”
“One of the more powerful overnight trips I’ve been on was a Girl Scout trip on the Deschutes. Three day, two nights. Our canyon caught on fire. The other side. Not from us. But, there were wildfires raging and they were coming down the canyon side.
We did a fire watch all night. So around 11pm at night, you could see the glow of the flames on the other side of the canyon starting to creep up. Then, I don’t know, 2am, actual flames are coming over. By the morning, they were coming down the canyon. I don’t know much about fire. It sounds like we weren’t in too much danger.
But, it was cool to be with a team of people: guides on the trip and really game Girl Scouts. It was really fun to be able to snap into a situation that I’d never been in, that I don’t think the other guides had ever been in. Everyone kind of just fell into a pattern of get this done and make it safe.
After the trip, they sent us patches from their Girl Scout troop which I keep in my car.”
“I think that is where the growth happens. I think I grow the most when I’m rafting, outdoors, camping, or trying to set up a shelter in a windstorm. With rain it’s like, ‘Man, this is not what I want to do, but it’s where I am and I need to deal with this.’ So, I think there’s a lot of those moments in rafting that come up and I think those moments are really valuable.”
“I think, ‘who am I to give advice?’ But also, I am really proud of the fact that I follow what fills my cup and chase what makes me happy. And so, I think I would encourage others to do the same thing. If something really excites you, you really get into it, it seems to have some internal calling or pulling towards it, shut up and listen to that. Do whatever that is.”
