Our story
Hopkinton to Kirkwood.
We grew up in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, in the same group of friends from middle school on, and started dating senior year of high school.
Since then it's been Vermont, a year on the road, a lot of rivers, and Kirkwood. Ryan is going into his ninth winter on ski patrol there. Carly runs communications for the resort and shoots photo and film for brands, athletes and horse shows.
Ryan's summers used to be rivers, first the Flathead in Montana and then four seasons on the White Salmon. This one went to a sailboat.
How we got here.
Middle school on
Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Same town, same group of friends. We started dating senior year of high school.
2016
Boulder, Colorado
Ryan lasts one semester at CU Boulder. He flies home, buys a Subaru Outback, drives it back to Colorado and lives in it for the winter, busing tables and working nights at a ski rental shop.
2017
Burlington, Vermont
Carly is at the University of Vermont. Ryan comes back east to be near her and gets his EMT license.
Winter 2017–18
Kirkwood, California
Ryan goes out to Kirkwood on a whim and joins ski patrol. He's 20.
Aug 2018
Nova Scotia
Carly takes a year off school and we go traveling. It starts with sea kayaking on the Bay of Fundy.
Sep 2018
Maui, Hawaii
Then Maui.
Nov 2018 to Feb 2019
New Zealand
A few months on the road in New Zealand.
Spring 2019
Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand
Southeast Asia, finishing with a motorcycle loop around northern Thailand until the wildfire smoke gets too bad.
Apr 2019
Indonesia
So we spend a month in Indonesia instead, including Nusa Penida off Bali.
May 2019
Albania
A rental car and the mountain river valleys up north.
2019 to 2021
Vermont
Carly goes back for her last year at UVM just as COVID hits, then stays in Vermont for another year.
Sep 2020
Katahdin, Maine
The Knife Edge.
After COVID
West Glacier, Montana
Ryan starts guiding rafts on the Flathead for Montana Raft and learns to kayak.
2021
South Lake Tahoe, California
Carly moves west. She works in marketing at Sierra-at-Tahoe, then becomes head of communications at Kirkwood.
Dec 2021
Zambezi River, Zambia
Ryan's first year of kayaking ends on the Zambezi.
2022 to 2025
Hood River, Oregon
Four summers guiding half-day and full-day trips on the White Salmon for Wet Planet. In between, most of the river from the Green Truss through the Farmlands, plus Canyon Creek, the East Fork of the Lewis, the Hood and both its forks, and the Little White Salmon.
Jun 2022
Mount Adams, Washington
Skis on the summit in late June.
Spring 2023
California
A record snow year, and Ryan spends the spring on California rivers: the Kern, the Kaweah, the Merced, the South Fork of the Stanislaus, the North Fork of the Mokelumne below Salt Springs, and the North and South Forks of the American.
Nov 2023
Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico
The Oaxaca coast, then inland through Chiapas.
Over the years
Southern Oregon
Four trips down the Wild and Scenic Rogue. And once, the Illinois in a raft with one other person and a kayak strapped on top that never got used.
Sep 2025
Grand Canyon
Ryan wins a private permit in the lottery. Sixteen people, five rafts, three kayaks, no guides.
Summer 2026
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Ryan buys Ariel, a Bristol 32 yawl, and teaches himself to sail from YouTube.
Oct 2026
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Ariel comes out of the water, and Ryan heads back to Kirkwood for his ninth season on patrol.