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Bearpaw River Guides are true River People. We are the type of people who spend our free time at the river kayaking, paddling, swimming, or just watching the water roll on by. For us a day of "work" river guiding on the Lochsa can be as much fun as a day out paddling with friends. We take our river fun seriously! With a wide variety of interests and areas of expertise, there are many ways that Bearpaw guides will engage you. We love what we do and are excited about sharing this with you. Matt Jessup My name is "Big" Matt Jessup and I am a long time resident of Grangeville, Idaho. In 1999, at the age of 19, I made the decision to become a river guide in North-Central Idaho. I decided to spend my summers camping underneath the stars of the western skies, with new and old friends, on the shores of some of the best whitewater in the world. I spend my winters working on my four undergraduate degrees- Human Resource Mangagement, Management Information Systems, Production Operations Management, and Pre-preprofessional English at the University of Idaho, Moscow. Justin Walsh I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the winter of 1971 and spent my childhood weekends enjoying the outdoors with my family. It was not until I started river guiding in 1993, during the summers of my college years, that I found that I have a great love of rivers and enjoy sharing river experiences with others. This love has taken me through the beautiful desert canyons of Utah, up to the wild glacial rivers of Alaska, and down through the abundant white-water of Idaho rivers. When you come up to do a trip on the Lochsa, I recommend bringing a festive "party shirt" to wear in camp and a snorkeling mask so that you can go swimming and see what a river looks like from the inside out! Steve Wassmuth Being raised in a family of nine children we often had to entertain ourselves. I cannot remember ever going to the movies as a child except for when the local Chamber of Commerce offered a free one right before Christmas so the parents could do some last minute shopping while their children were watching the movie. Our entertainment consisted of sledding in the winter, bike rides to the nearby mountains in the spring, inner tubing and fishing in the local streams and rivers during the summer, and then hiking and hunting in the fall. As I look at what I enjoy to do now in my free time I realize that things have not changed much except for the fact that I have missed the free matinees the last couple of years. Hi, my name is Steve Wassmuth and I was born and raised here in North Central Idaho. I graduated from High School in 1972 and then attended a Vo-Tech program where I received a degree in auto mechanics. I turned to wrenches for a number of years and then had an assortment of jobs that included being a parts man, a big game hunting guide, carpenter, managed a ski rental shop, a volunteer ski patroller, and even was Mr. Mom for a number of years. In 1990 I returned to college to acquire an elementary teaching degree. After four years I graduated and the first job in education I had was working for my wife in the special education department. Since then, I have taught second grade, fourth grade, and am currently teaching fifth grade. Having the summers free from my real job enables me to do what I enjoy very much, that being showing people "my backyard". For the past twenty summers I have worked as a river guide on the Snake, Salmon, and Lochsa rivers. I feel very fortunate to live where I do and to be able to have such an enjoyable summer job. I am able to meet interesting people from all over the world and I don't even have to leave Idaho. My wife Lynnel and I have three children, Brandi is in college, Neal is in high school, and Austin is in Jr. High. We all enjoy activities outdoors and we also did something this winter together for the first time, we went to the movies as a family.

420 N. Higgins Missoula, Montana 59802 • 888.412.3900 • 406.543.0988 jdubb@bearpawexpeditions.com