Meet Our Adirondack Guides & Staff

Pete

The man, the myth, the legend! Pete grew up along the Hudson River, and he’s managed to work on it for over thirty years, thus avoiding the pitfalls of a real job. When he’s not running BBO you can find Pete perfecting his golf game, flying small planes, and playing the dobro in the widely acclaimed “dad band” The Backstabbers. He unwisely relinquished control of the website to his daughter, who can choose whatever pictures she likes for the staff page.

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Bone

No last name needed. Bone is co-owner of Beaver Brook and is the general manager at Gore Mountain. Make sure to contact him directly with any and all questions regarding winter, skiing and how the heck chairlifts stay in the air. Along with being an exceptional outdoorsman and guide, Bone plays a mean guitar and is one half of the world renowned duo BoneDoctor, #BoneDoctorworlddominationtour He is also one heck of a story teller and clearly figured out the slideshow feature. Ask him about the time he played harmonica at the opening ceremony of the 1980 Olympics.

Cassandra

Cassandra is daughter number one in the Burns family.  She manages BBO alongside Pete and they try to finish the father-daughter bickering before anyone else gets to the office. Cassandra is the lunch lady, HR department, bus driver, web developer, and tech support — sometimes all at once. Cassandra is somehow closing in on 20 years of guiding which is so surprising considering her youthful good looks and natural child-like whimsy.

Diana

Hey, you don’t think Pete could have done this on his own, do you? Pete’s wife Diana (aka Queen Beave) pitches in all over the Beaver Brook empire, making tasty food, giving our gardens love, and jumping into whatever tasks need doing. She’s also a physical therapist, which is definitely handy to have around. When she’s not at the Beave, you can find Diana painting, kayaking with her rat pack of kayaker chicks, or checking in on one of her many gardens.

Autumn

Bone’s wife, librarian, part-time whitewater guide, and full-time fun-haver. Autumn is a heck of a whitewater guide, a tubing pro, and one of the funniest people at the Beave (which is saying something). When she’s not guiding or at the library, you can find Autumn learning the ins and outs of graphic design and creating hit products like Buck Bait, which is clinically proven to attract only deer with more than 26 points.

Buzz Saw

We truly don’t know how he got his name, but Buzz is always dressed for success. Buzz has been guiding the Hudson for as long as we can remember and is one of our most requested whitewater guides. Buzz is also the inventor of the Ocho-Opener, (patent pending). The Ocho 4.0 is at the Beave right now, come give it a test run. Buzz is quick to smile and his guests always have a great time. Just don’t look the dragon in the eye.

Marnie

Marnie is a Peace Corps vet, Special Ed teacher, and a longtime Hudson guide. She has a long list of badass credits to her name but is too humble to brag about them. At the Beave, she keeps us laughing, makes sure our lunches are in order, gives a darn good safety talk, churns out happy customers, and pumps everyone up for Dress Up Day on the river. Marnie loves a good Dress Up Day, and if you’re lucky enough to be in her boat that day, you will too. Marnie met her husband Mikey (see below) on the river and together they’re two of the best guides (and cat owners) on the water.

Chad

Chad has 20+ years of guiding experience on the Hudson Gorge (maybe more?? we can’t count that high). He’s also a high school science teacher who taught about 10 of our other guides while they were in school. Luckily, he doesn’t make guide trainees dissect frogs as part of their training. Chad is also the bass player in The Backstabbers and he takes requests, make sure to yell Freebird at their next gig.

Mikey

Mikey contains multitudes: he’s Marnie’s husband (see above), an excellent cat dad, a top-notch realtor, a VW enthusiast, and a longtime whitewater guide. Mikey is also singlehandedly keeping the whitewater canoeing tradition alive and can roll one of those crazy crafts if you can believe it. At the Beave he guides whitewater trips and fixes all the boats that need fixin’, so thank Mikey if you make it to the bottom still afloat.

Siobhan

Siobhan is the photographer extraordinaire on the Hudson! She spent many years guiding before switching to taking photos, so she knows how hard it is angle your boat the right direction for photos and takes pity on us. If the photographer on the side of the river is managing to take your picture while wearing a baby and keeping tabs on a toddler leashed to a tree, you’ll know it’s Siobhan.

Marko

Once upon a time, Marko ran a competing rafting company. He “retired” but, luckily for us he just can’t seem to let go of his guide stick. Pete and Marko have lived across the street from each other for decades, and have been known to terrorize their neighbors by talking to one another other using megaphones. If you’ve met Marko before, you know he’s got plenty of volume without a megaphone. If you’re lucky enough to spend the day in a boat with him (or have him officiate your wedding) you’ll also be yelling “BEST DAY EVER!”

Emily

Emily is Burns daughter number 2. Even though she lives in Maine now and doesn’t get home to guide that often, she has taken up winter surfing to fulfill every raft guide’s need to be wet, cold, and covered in neoprene. Emily is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French and can yell paddle commands at you in whatever language you choose! She’s also a lawyer, which should make translating our waivers from legalese to raft guide speak easier for us.

Sam

Sam is Burns daughter number 2.5 and twin sister to Emily. Sam is a writer who lives in New Mexico, only coming home to guide once the water has warmed up to a balmy temperature and all the bugs are gone. She spends her downtime coming up with one-liners and sitting as close to the heater as she can get without burning herself.

Paul

Paul is a full time professor at Siena College and prefers to spend his free time outdoors. He’s a ski instructor at Gore in the winter and enjoys rafting, hiking and fishing in the summer. A long-time customer, Paul made the excellent decision to take the guide stick into his own hands.

The Brothers Harrison

With a combined height of appx 16 feet and an extremely high center of gravity, we’re not sure how Liam and Patrick manage to stay in their boats. Liam and Patrick are second-generation Hudson River guides and pretty darn good ones at that. When they aren’t guiding rafts you can find Patrick working in the forestry industry and Liam working as a mechanical engineer. They are an entertaining pair — if you hear two eerily similar booming chuckles don’t be alarmed, it’s just the Brothers Harrison.

Dave

Dave left a job in corporate America behind and moved north to live the rural dream up here with us. Dave guides Hudson River Gorge and overnight trips for us regularly and works full-time running his lodge, The Llama House. He takes the North Country mantra of “always prepared” quite seriously, as you can tell. Other things he takes seriously: board games, milkshakes, and not much else.

Madeleine

Madeleine made the mistake of coming on a rafting trip with her new boyfriend Patrick (see: the Brothers Harrison) and was just too helpful. That was in 2019…since then, she and Patrick have gotten married and she’s worked herself into an invaluable position making all the wheels turn the right direction here at the Beave. Maddie guides it all, makes it all go, and lowers Pete and Cassandra’s blood pressure. When she’s not optimizing food packing spreadsheets, Maddie is reading and knitting — often at the same time.

Pat

Pat likes rafting and Pat likes Phish. Sometimes Pat takes other people who like Phish rafting. Pat is also an excellent guide and a very nice human being. He works during the school year as a history teacher. If you need to brush up on US History or forgot the lyrics to Sample in a Jar, Pat’s your guy.

Leon Scott

A few days a week, the migratory path of the Eastern Sasquatch happens to bring Leon Scott from Killington, VT to the Hudson River Gorge. A little-known fact is that the Eastern Sasquatch is equally at home in the water as it is on land. Leon Scott guides day and overnight trips on the Hudson Gorge and leaves terrifying footprints on the riverbank. Supposedly he also is a mountain bike guide at Killington but we’re unsure how the laws of physics apply there.

Clayton

Clayton is a second-generation guide with the best collection of Hawaiian shirts this side of the Mississippi. He spent his younger years going on rafting trips with his dad Marko (see above) and like most of us who grew up around rafting, can’t seem to escape its pull. When Clayton isn’t guiding whitewater, tubing, and kayaking trips, you can find him driving around in his converted ambulance and brushing his hair.

Frank

Frank is a man of many talents — during the summer he guides whitewater, during the school year he teaches Science, during the fall he guides hunting, and he flies planes all year round. Frank’s a regular Renaissance man.

Brendan

Yes, Brendan is tall. Brendan is also lots of other things! Here are some of the other things Brendan is good at besides being tall: guiding boats, picking things up and putting them down, drinking capri sun, playing rugby, digging holes and telling half-true guide stories. Also reaching things on the top shelf. He is tall, after all. Brendan also works as a ski patroller and EMT, but unfortunately for him, the ambulance doesn’t have a sunroof.

Aaron

If you look closely, you might be able to spot part of Aaron in this picture. Aaron spent over a decade safety kayaking and guiding whitewater all over Idaho before becoming an RN. At the Beave, he pitches in to row overnight gear, deliver boats, and back up a trailer when things get a little dicey. If you want to see what his top half looks like, check out Marko’s picture where you can see him getting hitched to Cassandra.

Jake

When Jake gets tired of the city lights and fast-paced life in his hometown of Newcomb, he comes to the Beave to guide whitewater trips on the Hudson. Jake is a SUNY ESF grad and manages outreach at the ESF Newcomb campus, putting together science programming and workshops for all sorts of groups. When he’s not guiding, you can find Jake paddling, running, and working on that righteous mustache.

Mike

Some guides may lie to you and tell you that they’re doing a geological survey when they find themselves stuck on a rock, but there’s a good chance that Mike might actually be doing one. He’s a geologist with the DEC and knows his schist (sorry). In the summer, Mike guides whitewater trips on the Hudson and he spends his winters hunting for the perfect pow stash.

Benny

Benny came to the Beave from Norway via New Jersey via Paul Smiths College. He guides all sorts of trips here at the Beave, including the rare spelunking adventure. In the off season, he works as a ski patroller at Gore and does some gardening. When he’s not guiding, you can find Benny whitewater kayaking, dog sitting for everyone who works here, mountain biking, and eating a truly disturbing amount of yogurt.

Therese

Therese is an ADK native who guides whitewater rafting trips at the Beave. You may also catch her in the office where she answers the phone and helps keep the organizational ship upright. Therese works in architecture doing sustainable design and she is also a graphic design whiz who whips up fun artwork for us at the drop of a hat. On her days off, you can find Therese paddleboarding, skiing, and trying her best to keep her dogs in line, which is easier said than done.

Erin

Erin works at the Beave as whitewater guide, tubing guide, and all-around go-getter. Erin is also an illustrator and hones their craft by drawing the day-to-day events at the Beave. Erin has a particular knack for doodling the hilarious moments of tubing trips and leaving them in conspicuous places for us to find later. They’re on the crew team at RIT because apparently they don’t get enough cold, wet, mornings on the water here.

Liv

Liv guides whitewater trips here at the Beave and pitches in doing whatever needs doing. She’s a student at Paul Smith’s College where she’s on the Marathon Canoe Team. A fun day for Liv includes getting caffeinated so that she can successfully canoe 90 miles in a 24 hour span. We’re not sure how much coffee that requires but it must be a lot. 

Sage

Sage “Mayor of Tube Town” Bayse is daughter number two in the Bayse family and is Cassandra’s retirement strategy. Sage guides tubing trips here and makes a mean chicken salad wrap. Her favorite activities include scavenging in the lost and found and blowing up tubes until her ears ring. Ask her how many days in a row she has spent in a canoe. 

Avery

Avery has been employed here officially for a few years now, but she’s been here unofficially for much longer. She’s daughter number one in the Bayse family and has been running around the Beave for decades. When she’s not guiding rafting trips, she’s getting animals tattooed on her and lowering the average age of the band she plays in and increasing the average looks. If you want to get Avery’s attention, just yell GUIDE GUIDE GUIDE!

Ethan

Ever driven behind a car and noticed a series of increasingly bizarre bumper stickers plastered on the back? You’re behind Ethan’s car. He has yet to stick any to a raft but there’s still time. When he’s not dreaming up new stickers, you can find Ethan guiding rafting trips here at the Beave, skiing, and rock climbing all over the place. 

Andy

Andy is a local North Creeker whose grandma has cut Pete’s hair for decades. That has nothing to do with his job here, but it’s a fun fact. Another fun fact is that Andy is going to college to become a lawyer who loves tubing. We don’t think he’s qualified to give you legal advice while guiding your tubing or rafting trip until he passes the bar, but after three summers of tubing, he can definitely tell you which end of the tube is the front and which is the back. 

Becky

How long has Becky been guiding rafts? Unclear. What’s clear is that she’s pretty darn good at it. She has a wide skill set – Becky is also good at composting, fixing cars, raising children, yoga, and driving around in a big-ass truck. She’s got jokes, too. 

Vanessa

As the smallest person on staff, Vanessa has a special job here at the Beave – she can climb directly into the tubing trailer and load a truly freakish amount of tubes around her. Her other talents include soccer, kayaking, and fitting into tight places the rest of us don’t want anything to do with. 

Claire

Some people do the lord’s work, and Claire is one of them. She’s a music teacher who tries to get small kids (and big kids) to sing on key and at the same time. She probably won’t make you sing, but she will guide your raft and your tube the right direction. She may also play some classical sax if you ask real nice. She won’t kill any spiders for you though.