Meet The Team
Kaf Adventures is run with passion, experience, compassion, and dedication. We are committed to learning through experience, and creating an experience that fosters growth and human change. These are all qualities we feel drive success and create the leaders of tomorrow. We have a desire to create a community that cultivates responsible, conscientious outdoor enthusiasts and adventurers.
Kaf Adventures is a small company, which gives individual attention to our clients, offering a more personal and customized approach to instruction and guided experiences. Kaf is proud to have each and every person on our staff. They are truly the best people, mountaineers, guides, teachers and ambassadors of mountain culture anywhere!
Guides & Instructors
Mick has traveled the world over in search of the perfect mountain experience. After working for years under other companies’ ethos and philosophies, nothing quite fit with his personal convictions and passions. In 2006 he set out on his own to make his vision of the holistic mountain experience a reality for anyone who shared his passion for the outdoors.
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Having traveled all over the U.S. as the son of a railroad employee, Mick is accustomed to movement and new views. Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Europe, South America, Tanzania are some of the places and cultures that have shaped and influenced Mick. Currently, Mick resides in Seattle, WA managing Kaf Adventures and continuing to hold the vision of this ever evolving company. He works tirelessly to continue to provide world-class experiences that provide knowledge and a greater perspective of the great outdoors.
Mick’s true passion is education. He has found a unique passion for educating aspiring instructors and guides in the U.S. You will find him outside helping new leaders gain confidence in their ability to make decisions in complex environments.
When he is not in the field (where he spends over 100 days a year) you can find him creating electronic music and making people dance. Mick has a habit of making those around him smile, and you might just wonder when he sleeps!
Mick is an AMGA certified Rock and Alpine Guide, SPI Program Provider, AMGA Instructor Team Member, LNT Master trainer, a Wilderness First Responder, a certified Level 3 Avalanche graduate, an instructor for the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, and speaks Spanish and a little Swahili.
Woody Jacobson grew up in the Seattle area where he was fortunate to partake in backpacking, rafting, skiing, and climbing trips all around the Pacific Northwest with family and friends. He first got into guiding in 2013 while he was studying politics at Whitman College. There, he took an AMGA Climbing Wall Instructor course and began teaching indoor rock climbing courses to fellow students as well as guiding outdoor climbing trips. Woody got involved with Kaf Adventures in 2017 and has since worked his way up from shadowing courses to instructing full time.
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For four years, Woody lived in China most of the year, where he guided outdoor education trips and spent the rest of his time rock climbing, traveling, and studying Mandarin Chinese. However, he couldn’t resist summer in the Pacific Northwest, and he returned home every year for the beautiful weather and Cascadian adventures. Woody is based in Seattle these days, although he hits the road for climbing and skiing trips up and down the West Coast and returns to China every year to guide Kaf Adventures’ crack climbing trip in Liming.
Nature and adventure are two of Woody’s biggest passions, and guiding allows him to share these passions with other intrepid people. He can’t imagine a better office than the beautiful forests and mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
Woody is an AMGA Assistant Rock Guide and Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, and Leave No Trace Trainer.
I’ve been based in the Portland area my whole life. Growing up here, I enjoyed the surrounding wilderness from a very young age. I was lucky to have a very outdoorsy family. I started skiing at the age of three, and it is my true passion in life. Skiing has done a lot for me in life, I even give it credit for opening my mind to all the other activities that I now cherish, such as rock and alpine climbing, as well as mountaineering. You can be sure, if there is snow on the ground I will be skiing.
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I believe in community, and love the chance to help grow while building this outdoor community. It’s given me so much, so it means the world to me to be a part of it. I was 19 when I started leading my friends out on backpacking trips. That set me on a path to guiding as a career. I wanted nothing more in life than to keep learning in the mountains and then to share my knowledge with everyone else. That’s been my slow and steady progression since then. I got my professional start working my way through the AIARE program. From there, I have been actively trying to improve my skills in the mountains to a high standard. I’m happy to say I have found a home at Kaf Adventures and hope to keep growing with Kaf for years to come.
Whether at an open bivvy on an alpine ridgeline, a cozy tent in a glacier camp, or a circle of close friends and family around a campfire, outdoor places are where Kevin feels most at home.
Thanks to the love and support of his family, a pre-walking Kevin began his wilderness exploration from on top of Dad’s shoulders, and he quickly developed a nearly precocial ability to sleep on the ground. His self-powered downhill skiing career began at age three, and he had to learn quickly to keep up with his older brother. Grateful for a solid foundation of nature appreciation, Kevin went on to work with large mammals and earn a Wildlife Biology degree from Colorado State University.
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Throughout this pursuit, Kevin also challenged himself with new technical outdoor skills in climbing, backcountry skiing, and mountaineering. He found his purpose encouraging nature preservation and facilitating interpersonal growth and discovery, and believes it best to actualize this by supporting peoples’ outdoor goals.
Beginning on the lakes, rivers, and trails of northern Wisconsin over a decade ago, Kevin leads all varieties of outdoor trips. Some of his latest experiences include working in wilderness therapy at New Vision Wilderness; climbing, mountaineering and skiing in the Cascades; ice climbing in Canmore, BC; backcountry skiing throughout the Selkirks; climbing in Peru and Mexico; and mountaineering in Ecuador.
Kevin now resides in Spokane, WA, and is excited to connect with a new outdoor community in the Inland Northwest while maintaining his Kaf Adventures family.
Kevin is an AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide, AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, AIARE Level 1 & 2, Outdoor Emergency Care Technician, Leave No Trace Trainer, and volunteer for Inland Northwest Search and Rescue.
Despite growing up in the flat suburbs of Chicago, John gained a love for wild places early in his life. After earning a degree in Wilderness Leadership from Prescott College, John began turning that love into a career. He has worked throughout the country, and internationally, guiding rock climbing, ice climbing, skiing and avalanche courses, sea kayaking, hiking, and even a few biking trips. He has spent much of this time teaching adventurous sports to high school and college aged students.
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As an instructor with Kaf, John strives to get to know each student so he can provide unique learning opportunities and have the adventure meet the students where they are. John also serves as the Portland Program Director for the Northwest School of Survival and manages the partnership between NWSOS and Kaf, as well as managing all of the Mt Hood programs.
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Ryder is an Assistant Rock Guide with the American Mountain Guides Association, holds a Wilderness First Responder Certification, and has earned his AIARE Level 1 in avalanche safety.He currently splits his time between Liming, Yunnan Province, China and Seattle, Washington.
The outdoors is my saving grace. I was a trouble maker growing up with way too much energy. I’m from a small town called Bath Michigan, where we actually had bath tub races. Following high school, I joined the Marine Corps and found myself traveling the world. Some of my hobbies included scuba diving and cycling. I did just over four years in the Marines and had decided I wanted to be a special education school teacher and PE teacher. After the Marines I attended Central Michigan University and earned a bachelor’s of science in education for special education, health education and physical education. During this time I joined The High Adventure Club at CMU and we taught ourselves how to rock climb and ice climb and would take trips to Red River Gorge in Kentucky and Seneca Rocks in West Virginia.
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My wife was accepted to the University of Washington for a prosthetics and orthotics program so we made the easy decision to move out West. At this point climbing and mountaineering was everything to me. While my wife was studying, I was climbing. After finishing my wilderness first responder training, I became a volunteer backpacking guide and instructor for 1-2 week trips with 11-17 year old students. I was hired on after our first trip and then I worked various outdoor education programs summitting Mt. Olympus, Mt Rainier, and rock climbing at Smith Rock.
After spending a few years in Seattle and Portland, we moved to a small mountain town in Colorado where I became a full-time special education teacher. I found myself enjoying the long winters because of the amazing snow. The snowboarding was great and we were surrounded by 14ers to climb and ride. After three years in Colorado, we moved back to Oregon where my wife took a position at Shriner’s Children’s Hospital and I became a snowmobile guide in the winter and a mountaineering guide in the spring and summer on Mt. Hood, thanks Kaf! My favorite sport is whitewater kayaking so when I’m not climbing, I’m in a kayak chasing waterfalls and big rapids. I’ve recently picked up kite surfing and I would really like to paraglide off of Mt. Hood one day. I own and manage a real estate and vacation rental business on the side, and substitute teach in Sandy and Welches.
Tara’s childhood years spent exploring the tide pools and sandstone cliffs of San Diego imbued her with a deep love of the natural world that she carries with her still. She pursued her love of nature through a Bachelor’s degree in Oceanography from the United States Naval Academy and a Master’s degree in Parks, Recreation and Conservation from Clemson University. After college she spent several years in the United States Navy, living on a ship and traveling out to sea for months at a time. Each time she returned from sea and set foot on dry land, she would always head straight into the mountains. On one of these adventures, she made her first trip to the Sierra and has been spellbound by granite peaks, alpine lakes and pine forests ever since. After her commitment to the military ended in 2015, she began her career as an educator and wilderness guide.
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Although Tara’s initial pull towards working in the outdoors was motivated by her love of the natural world, she has fallen even more deeply in love with the work because of the endless opportunities it affords us to build connections, gain a deeper sense of self, and cultivate compassion. Tara has worked both in instructional and supervisory roles in outdoor education, teaching backpacking, rock climbing and mountaineering to people of all ages.
Tara is certified as a Wilderness First Responder, an AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide and Single Pitch Instructor and an AIARE 1. She is also a yoga instructor.
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Cam’s a certified Wilderness First Responder, AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide, and a certified Single Pitch Instructor. While Cam loves technical climbing in the mountains, his favorite climb is likely the most recent climbing adventure he has experienced. Cam loves to climb, and share the joy of climbing with others.
Brenda is committed to facilitating outdoor experiences that enrich her clients’ lives. Whether she’s teaching an avalanche course or guiding climbers to the summit of Mt Baker, Brenda aims to create experiences that promote individual growth and connection to ourselves, others, and our natural spaces. As a person who came to outdoor activities as a young adult, Brenda knows what it’s like to be new to and transformed by the outdoors, and she takes pride in fostering that curiosity and possibility in others.
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Brenda is an AIARE course leader and an AMGA certified single pitch instructor. She is an AMGA apprentice ski and alpine guide, and is pursuing AMGA ski certification. She has over 100 summits of Mt Rainier, three trips to Denali, and summited Mt Everest via the south side in 2006. She has a Masters in Sustainable Business (MBA) from Pinchot University, and a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell. She’s a parent, a small business owner, and, at best, a mediocre cook. She draws from all of these life experiences to design fulfilling experiences for her guests—except for the cooking.
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Kelly has been working full time in the guiding and outdoor education industry since the 05/06 winter season. Current and former employers include Utah Mountain Adventures, White Pine Touring, NOLS, and Westminster College, among others. In 2012, Kelly finished his M.S. in Outdoor Education at the University of Utah. Kelly has worked as a Course Leader for several AIARE avalanche education providers, and he joined the AIARE Instructor Trainer team in 2019. After moving to Oregon, he began teaching AIARE courses on Mt. Hood for Kaf Adventures.
Despite all the time in the mountains, however, the true pleasures in his life are his partner Kat and son Zander.
Joe has been bouldering and single-pitch climbing in the mid-west since the mid-nineties. In 2015 Joe hired Kaf Adventures (Mick Pearson) to take him out multi-pitch trad climbing at Index, WA. The experience was empowering and eye opening. What had seemed impossible-adventuring up big vertical faces-became possible.
Since climbing with Mick, Joe immersed himself into trad climbing. Seeking out and climbing adventurous routes became more than recreation, it became his passion. Joe has climbed many of the classics at iconic crags in North America (e.g., The Bugaboos, Squamish, Yosemite, RMNP, Eldorado Canyon, Joshua Tree, Red Rocks, The Gunks, El Potrero Chico, etc.).
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Joe finds guiding rewarding and meaningful because it affords him the opportunity to share an impactful and potentially transformative experience with others. Joe’s favorite route so far is the Beckey-Chouinard route in the Bugaboos. It was a truly memorable adventure. In 2018 Joe complete the AMGA Rock Guide Course and has been guiding since.
When not guiding, Joe builds custom camper vans for Quality Adventure LLC, which is a small business he founded in 2017. Quality Adventures. Joe also continues to work part time as a patent attorney for Merchant and Gould, an IP law firm based in Minneapolis. https://www.merchantgould.com/Professionals/Joseph-E-Lee
When not climbing or working, Joe spends time with this wife and two Portuguese water dogs. They ski, sail, and paddle together.
Joe is an AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide and NOLS Wilderness First Responder.
Rob grew up in Colorado, playing soccer, rock climbing, and skiing — back when the lift tickets were cheap and the traffic was manageable.
He guides throughout Europe and North America, and recently moved to the Pacific Northwest with his family. He loves introducing people to the mountains, with no attitude and plenty of laughs. The author of three books and hundreds of magazine articles, he especially enjoys instructional guiding with motivated guests.
New to the team, Rob has been enjoying learning new routes and places to ski from his capable colleagues here at Kaf Adventures.
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New to the team, Rob has been enjoying learning new routes and places to ski from his capable colleagues here at Kaf Adventures.
I have a passion for rock climbing in the great outdoors and desire to share my 34 years of climbing experience with you! My enthusiasm for climbing has led me to multiple locations within Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, California, Canada and Wadi Rum, Jordan with each location offering rich diversity in rock types and required techniques.
I’ve attempted the NIAD – climbing The Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley sub 24 hours – and both times my climbing partner and I came in at 26 hours! Although we didn’t attain the goal of sub 24 hours we were pleased with our attempt.
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When I am not climbing and instructing, I volunteer with Climbers for Christ by organizing and serving meals, coffee etc at climbing festivals around the US.
I’m a sponsor and help organize events such as showing Reel Rock films and bringing guest speakers to the Tri-Cities – I co-launched this, we’ve had approximately 1600 attend the events over the past 11 years. The partnership / sponsors have grown to include our local REI, Inter-Mountain Alpine Club, Local climbing gyms and Subaru dealership.
When I am not guiding, I enjoy ice climbing, rock climbing for personal development and enjoyment. And making homemade pizzas in my wood-fired pizza oven to share with family and friends!
Berndt is passionate about outdoor instruction and risk management. In addition to 15 years as a career firefighter/EMT, Berndt has a strong instructional background from community and technical colleges in telecommunications and mountain rescue subjects. He brings his instructional and communication skills to the rock and snow world with Kaf, where he has worked since April of 2016.Berndt is an Apprentice Rock and Alpine Guide with the American Mountain Guides Association.
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When Berndt isn’t working at the fire station or participating in Kaf experiences, he can be found skiing, climbing, or hiking throughout the Northwest. He also spends a lot of time walking his two black labs at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA.
Outdoor guiding and instruction allows Berndt to share the activities he is passionate about while having fun and meeting new people. His favorite Northwest climbing area is Washington Pass/Mazama. He also enjoys skiing wherever the snow is fluffy, or at least present.
His favorite trips have been hut-based Via Feratta tours in the Dolomites and week long ski hut tours in the Fairy Meadows of British Columbia. Some of Berndt’s future planned trips include rock climbing in Potrero Chico in Mexico and a ski hut tour in Silvretta Alps of Austria.
Berndt is an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, and Leave No Trace Trainer.
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She writes and presents on equity in the outdoors as it pertains to risk management, and was also the Lead Guide and a feature narrative in “Who’s On Top? LGBTQs Climb Mount Hood,” a documentary which premiered Spring 2021. Taylor is a wilderness medicine instructor, a Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace Master Educator, and Avalanche Level 1.
I was born in Chongqing, China. There was no rock climbing at all where I grew up, but I climbed every tree and wall on the campus where my parents worked at and where I lived for first 15 years of my life. Outdoor activities were always part of life living at the edge of the city. Three years of studying in France introduced me to a different outdoor terrain, where I quickly began backpacking, hiking and snowboarding in the Alps. It was there I realized, I am happiest in the mountains.
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As a young adult, I joined one of the first rock gyms to open in China. Even though the city boasts a population in excess of 30 million people, there are less than 100 dedicated climbers there. Slowly I became a part of the climbing community, fell in love with climbing outdoors, then began as a part-time climbing instructor. I also started writing about my experiences, in magazines and online, to share what I’ve learned about climbing and help others get their start in climbing.
I have climbed in China, Thailand and at iconic crags in US like Washington Pass, Red Rocks, Red River Gorge, Rumney, Adirondacks, Joshua Tree, The Gunks, Yosemite, High Sierra, and Smith Rock. I always want to level-up, to climb higher grades and touch more remote gorgeous big walls, but also to more effectively share climbing and introduce others to this wonderful world.
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When not climbing, he is mountain biking with his son, running ultra-marathons, and consuming massive quantities of ice cream to compensate for the calorie deficit. He is also a pretty good home cook who specializes in breads. Although he never thought he would become a cat person, Jonathan has a developed an unshakable bond with a scrawny orange cat named Phil which he rescued from the humane society. Phil climbs too, but mostly in search of a nap spot high up on the couch.Jonathan is certified as an Apprentice Rock Guide with the AMGA, a Wilderness First Responder, and an AIARE Level 1 in avalanche safety.
Zack started his guiding career working as a rock climbing instructor and guide in 2014 while completing his university degree. He studied Forest Sciences with a focus on Snow and Avalanche Forecasting at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. During his degree, he worked as a tail guide and avalanche instructor for numerous Canadian ski-guiding operations, and spent his summers as an alpine and rock guide in the Sierras, SE USA, among other locations. During his degree, Zack did an undergraduate research project looking at the effects of vegetation on snowpack instability, which he ultimately presented at the 2018 International Snow Science Workshop.
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Climbing and guiding has taken Zack to all areas of the world, including: the French and Austrian Alps, New Zealand, northern Canada, Mexico, and numerous regions in western Canada and the USA. Zack is in the process of completing his full IFMGA mountain guide certification through the AMGA, and ultimately aims to balance guiding with research in avalanche forecasting.
Zack’s favorite activity in the mountains is split-boarding big lines on big peaks and working to find the best conditions to do this in; though he enjoys any aspect of mountain travel and especially connecting others to the beauty and lessons that the mountains have to offer.
Matt grew up in Ohio and went to college in Washington where he quickly discovered climbing. He realized that you can’t climb a corn field, and stayed West after school, pursuing certification in the guiding industry. He has worked in Utah and the Pacific Northwest. Matt sees mountain travel as the locus for his passions of climbing, wellness, and adventure. Matt is pursuing full AMGA certification.
He enjoys photography, fly fishing, cooking, and reading when he is not climbing.
Matt is an AMGA Certified Rock Guide, Apprentice Alpine Guide, Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace Trainer, and Avalanche Pro 1.
Despite growing up in Florida, Paul Taylor made his way to the mountains and outdoors at an early age. His deep love of wild places and a passion for teaching have been a driving force in both his professional and personal pursuits. Currently, he is a Portland based climbing and mountaineering guide for Kaf Adventures who also serves as Kaf’s Oregon Program Director, where he has been instructing and guiding for the past 5 years.
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Over the course of his 16-year career, he has worked as an instructor, facilitator, and guide for numerous outdoor education companies and guide services across the United States. His early adventures were focused on teaching primitive living and survival skills and long distance hiking, where he has racked up over 10,000 miles of trail-time, including thru-hikes of the AT, PCT, and many other trails. His favorite place in the entire world is the region of Patagonia in Argentina and Chile, where he is always looking to spend more time exploring and climbing and one day living with his family. The area he is most excited to return to is climbing in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, where he and his wife spent their honeymoon. When he’s not teaching or working, he enjoys trail running, climbing up Mt. Hood and at Smith Rock, cooking, reading, glass blowing, and traveling with his wife, Claire and daughter, Zola.
Paul is an AMGA Apprentice Alpine Guide, AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, EMT-B, Wilderness First Responder, LNT Master Educator, and an AIARE 2.
Wilfred was born at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the town of Moshi, Tanzania. The challenges of summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro have inspired him his whole life. He has guided many groups to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but his life dream had been to climb Mt. Everest, considered by many to be the most difficult and harshest mountain in the world. He achieved this goal in 2012.
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Wilfred received training from Kilimanjaro Tanzania National Park, (KINAPA), and is a certified KINAPA guide and Wilderness First Responder. As a highly committed, professional mountain trekker, in 2012 Wilfred was qualified to become part of a Mt. Everest expedition team. He was one of the few Africans at Everest basecamp and on May 19th he became the first Tanzanian to summit the world’s highest mountain, Mt. Everest (29,0028ft). On 26 August 2014, Wilfred continued his pursuit of climbing the worlds highest peaks and summited the highest mountain in Europe, Mt Elbrus. He plans to complete the 7 summits.
Wilfred and his family of two children are part of the Chagga tribe. They live in the town of Moshi where he grew up.
Office Administration Team
Erika grew up in Minnesota and enjoyed outdoor activities from a very young age. She spent her youth exploring outdoor environments, collecting bugs, learning about birds, botany and whittling when she wasn’t camping, cross country skiing or fishing from a canoe. One childhood experience that forever changed her was a week at a winter camp in remote northern Minnesota where she went snowshoeing for the first time (in wood and sinew snowshoes). That same week, she stood on a frozen, snow-covered lake at midnight while camp counselors called to the wild timber wolves. They called back.
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After an art and photography degree, she lived in Michigan for seven years, during which time she hiked some of the Appalachian Trail and explored the northeast by bike. Then high tech drew her to the Seattle area where she fell in love with the local mountains. For three years she owned and ran a local outdoor magazine to create community for rock climbers, mountaineers, backcountry skiers, trail runners and backpackers. She found her daily interaction with the community energizing and thrilling!
During that stint, she spent a month in Nepal on a campaign to raise awareness about global warming and glacial change in the Mt Everest region. She hiked the length of the Everest Highway to Everest Base Camp immersed in the Sherpa culture and has returned to Nepal every few years to volunteer in rural communities and soak up Himalayan sunrises again. Though she has climbed mountains in Bali and Hawaii, Newfoundland and Maine, that first Nepal trip remains her favorite because the alpine experience of extended high elevation foot travel was exhilarating! But that trip is also where she dove deep into cultural photography. One of her dream trips would be to do a self-sustained kayak or canoe trip in the Amazon River system.
More recently, she has been an educator and lead for an environmental and adventure-centered middle school where she works with students to foster love of the outdoors and self-reliance in nature through camping trips and activities in outdoor environments.
Erika is a photographer, writer, editor, and public speaker. She has two active teenage boys who love the outdoors as well. Ever exploring, she also dabbles in visual arts and crafts like painting, sculpting and sketching. Sometimes in the mountains.
Read his full bio in the Instructor/Guide section, above.
As Kaf Adventures Communications Assistant, Tara engages guests, answers inquiries, and assists the other administrative staff with company and field operations.
Read her full bio in the Instructor/Guide section, above.
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Lin handles the bookkeeping and assists in registrations. Retired from a career in the railroad industry, she spends her time assisting Kaf Adventures clients and staff. Lin and her husband love to travel, visiting friends and family in San Diego and Seattle, and all points between on the West Coast. They also enjoy spending time outdoors, going on cruises, and taking international trips. During the warm months, you can find Lin working in her flower garden, tap dancing with a senior’s group, or touring with her husband in their hot rod.