Rob was born and raised in Mississippi. As a child he traveled throughout the West, visiting many of the National Parks with his family. This is where his love of the West began.

After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Education from Mississippi State University he headed west to Montana. He spent most of his days backpacking in Grand Teton and Glacier National Parks as well as the surrounding Wilderness Areas.

He moved to Flagstaff and began hiking the Grand Canyon in 2002. He immediately fell in love with the Southwest. He has been a backcountry guide for the past 6½ years logging over 6,000 miles below the Rim.

Lawrence has always been drawn to the outdoors. He grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan where there are plenty of opportunities experience nature. Upon graduation from Indiana University, he packed up his truck and drove out west where the mountains seemed to be calling him. Upon seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, Lawrence knew that he had found happiness.

For the past five years, he has enjoyed sharing that happiness with others. Lawrence continues to explore the Grand Canyon and still feels overwhelmed by the history, beauty, and immense size of this mystical place.

Shayne is an Arizona native who found a passion for the outdoors during his first backpacking trip, a seven day excursion into the Rincon mountains just east of Tucson. Since then he has spent nearly every chance he gets exploring the wilderness.

In 1998 he took a 105 day 720 mile trek on the AZ trail from the border of Mexico to the North rim of the Grand Canyon. While passing through the Canyon on this life changing journey, he met a canyon guide who sparked his interest. In 2001 he began his guiding career, since then he has logged over 11,000 miles below the rim.

"I love to see people blown away by the intense beauty of the Canyon. Also seeing friends and families bond during their time in the Canyon is the most rewarding part of my job," says Shayne.

Tiffany is a Mississippi native who attended Mississippi State University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education with an emphasis in Fitness Management.

After graduating, she moved to the West to explore the Mountains. She backpacked throughout Grand Teton and Glacier National Parks and western Montana.

She moved to Flagstaff in 2002 where she fell in love with the scenery and native plants of the Southwest. When she is not in the Canyon, you can find her working at the Flagstaff Nordic Center or hiking around Northern Arizona with her two dogs, Pace and Oliver.

Eddie grew up in a small town in north Mississippi. His love for the outdoors was born early on when his father introduced him to hunting and fishing before Eddie started kindergarten.

Eddie's passion continued to grow throughout his youth. Once out of school, he took some time to travel the country. He started by heading north to explore the Smokies and surrounding Appalachian mountains. He then made a left turn and ended up out west spending countless days in the Rockies and Sierras.

Next stop was the Southwest to visit some friends in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was then he experienced the Grand Canyon for the first time on a four-day backpacking trip, instantly deciding that was a place he wanted to continue to explore.

Elaine was raised in Arizona and has spent much of her time hiking and backpacking the Southwest. For over 20 years she has hiked extensively in the Grand Canyon. Elaine has been professionally guiding at the Grand Canyon for eight years, spending 100-plus days on the trail each year.

She also works as an instructor for the Grand Canyon Field Institute and now makes her home as a Grand Canyon resident year-round. She has also taught backpacking and hiking classes for several Parks and Recreation Departments in the Phoenix Area.

Curt is a native of Arizona who grew up in the cool pines near Flagstaff. In this outdoor wonderland is where his love for the outdoors took root. Mountain biking, hiking and camping were the activities of choice that became a way of life today. Studying geology, archeology, marine biology, history and art for pleasure, Curt received his degree in advertising from Northern Arizona University.

For the past four years, he has worked as a backpacking guide in the Grand Canyon, mountain bike guide in Sedona and Phoenix, and tour guide throughout the southwest. From Zion to Monument Valley, every adventure and location is only as special as the people he takes with him. The combination of driving tours with backpacking has given him a comprehensive understanding of the area and the people who call it home.

Born in New York, Sheldon grew up in the Detroit area. After completing college at the University of Michigan where he earned Bachelors Degrees in Psychology and in Education. Sheldon went on to get his Masters Degree in Counseling and moved West to Flagstaff, Arizona. His professional experiences are quite varied, working as a university administrator, human resources manager, counselor for at-risk youth and as a health club manager and nationally certified personal trainer.

His first backpacking trip started him off on the right foot, taking Sheldon to what he calls "the most beautiful place on earth," Havasupai. Whitewater rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon sealed Sheldon's fate as a "wilderness junkie." Since then, Sheldon has worked as a river-rafting guide on the Colorado, San Juan, Salmon and Verde Rivers. He has also led hikes in the Grand Canyon on numerous trails from both the North and South rims as well as up from the river.

A Nationally Certified I-EMT and CPR Instructor Trainer, safety is priority one on Sheldon's hikes... with "having the time of our lives" a close second requirement. Although he is eternally awe-struck by the magnificence of the great outdoors, it is meeting new people and helping to enhance their wilderness experience that motivates Sheldon to guide trips (in addition to this giving him a captive audience to listen to his seemingly endless repertoire of bad jokes.)

Nature has been an important part of Matthew's life since the beginning; his youth was spent hiking, biking and exploring the eastern escarpment of California's Sierra Nevada. He moved to Tucson, Arizona in the early 1990s to pursue a career in bicycle racing. Although he no longer races professionally, Matthew spends as much as possible hiking, biking and climbing around the Southwest, Mexico and beyond.

When he is not guiding backpacking adventures in Grand Canyon, Matthew is the Outdoor Education Director of The Fenster School; a ropes course instructor for St. Gregory College Preparatory School; and an outdoor educator for Catalina Foothills School District. He is also a nature writer whose monthly column is published in The Desert Leaf. Matthew is the founder and host of Global Rhythm Radio, a popular world music radio program on KXCI-FM. He travels internationally at every opportunity, and spends one month in Kenya each year to facilitate a cross-cultural education project between Kenyan and American students. Matthew volunteers much of his time sharing the outdoors with kids through the Sierra Club's Inner City Outings program, of which he is the Tucson Chairman.

His passion for the Canyon's geology, botany, native history, and his commitment to help people connect to their surroundings makes Matthew an outstanding outdoor guide.

Mike was born and raised near Lake Michigan and moved to the Southwest in 1981 to explore the canyons of the Colorado Plateau. He has a bachelor's degree in Business and has been guiding since 1995. He played four years of college basketball and was the head coach at Sedona Red Rock High School until 2007. He's been featured in Sunset, National Geographic Adventure and American Trans Air Magazines and writes adventure articles for Jet Settin' the West Magazine.

Mike is an avid Canyoneer and has led trips to dozens of remote Southwestern Canyons with extensive experience "below the rim" in Grand Canyon. He has spent much of the last 10 years exploring and guiding in southern Utah. He worked for 13 years in Southwestern Native American Art and shares his knowledge of Native People on many of his adventures.

While living on the Navajo Reservation for nine years, Bryan began watching the skies and sharing his experience with Navajo kids, who then shared their sky stories with him. This sparked his interest in the astronomy of native societies, a passionate avocation for the past 10 years. When working at a therapeutic high school in Idaho, he and his (non-native) students constructed a full-scale, functional model of Stonehenge. Since then he has researched regional sites at Wupatki National Monument, Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, Hovenweep National Monument and numerous other protected and non-protected sites.

In addition to his research, Bryan teaches a course in Archaeoastronomy at the community college in Flagstaff . He has written a course manual in Archaeoastronomy that was funded in part by NASA's Space Grant (educational program) and the NAU Department of Physics and Astronomy. As his "regular job", Bryan teaches Biology and Environmental Science at Coconino Community College. He is in the midst of developing and environmental science and an environmental studies program at the College.

In addition to his research and teaching, Bryan works as an interpretive naturalist with a number of organizations including National Geographic, National Wildlife Federation, the American Association for Advancement of Science, the National Parks Conservation Association and natural history museums. He has been exploring the Southwest for over 25. His interest lies in helping others enjoy and explore life.

Frank, a native of New York City, graduated from St Benedict's Prep and Rutgers University. His three degrees include a BS in Organismal Biology, magna cum laude. He loved 20 years as a fighter pilot in the Air Force & Air National Guard. Assignments included 175 combat missions over Laos & North Vietnam, and instructing German AF fighter pilots in their Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun). Decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters. Frank has lived overseas for five years in Thailand & Germany. He is also a major airlines Captain, having flown 15 years with Southwest Airlines.

Frank's interest in the Grand Canyon began 25 years ago while overhead on an air refueling track in an F-105 Thunderchief. The interest has evolved into a third career: Frank has been a professional whitewater and hiking guide for the past several years, with geomorphology his special interest. He has backpacked the fiords of New Zealand, the jungles of Cambodia, the glaciers of British Columbia, & Kilimanjaro in Africa, but for him, there's no place as special as the Grand Canyon.

Keeping fingers in aviation, Frank can also be seen flying air shows all over the country in two aircraft: the world's only civilian F-4D Phantom II and the world's only flying B-24 Liberator.