Matthew Grisham

Guide/Operations MAnager

Matthew is native Texan who found his way to Big Bend as a child on a school trip. His first memories in the area are of canoeing down the Rio Grande with a company he would later work for. Matthew has developed a deep interest in the wild Southwest landscape and is passionate about canoe tripping. Gaining a love for the Rio Grande at a young age taught him how deeply a wilderness trip can impact people and he is eager to have and share that experience with others. Matthew is interested in experiential education and all things untamed, so it was only a matter of time before he would form Wild Adventure Outfitters. When Matthew is not trying to convince people to float down the Rio Grande with him, he spends his time working as a raft guide in Grand Canyon and rivers of the Idaho and Alaska.

Jeff Renfrow

Guide/INTERPRETIVE and fishing trip organizer

Jeff moved to the Big Bend in the Fall of 1990 after falling in love with the area while working as a guide on bicycle trips and later spending a few months training as a river guide on the Rio Grande during the summer of ‘90. It was a high-water year, the monsoon was in full swing, and he just had to get back and stay. Almost 30 years later, he still has the same passion for the river that led him to pick up and move all those years ago. He has worked year-around as a guide on rivers from Costa Rica to Alaska and spent much of his off-time running rivers for pure enjoyment. In 2003, Jeff began volunteering in Big Bend National Park on science trips as a way to tie his new life as a river guide to his previous life as a fisheries biologist. This eventually led to him forming a company working on river restoration projects and monitoring along the Big Bend reach of the Rio Grande as well as a non-profit that supports scientific research on the river. During this time, Jeff has worked closely with and developed strong ties to the Mexican managers and field crews working on restoration and other issues related to social and ecological conditions along the border. In his spare time, Jeff is an avid fly fisherman and just might conjure up a few guided fly-fishing trips on nearby clearwater rivers.

Kelon Crawford

Guide/Yoga Instructor

Kelon was introduced to the Big Bend region at a young age and quickly became enamored with the desert life. Her parents taught her the skills to survive in the outdoors and she knew she was not destined for an office workspace. After all those years visiting the area as a child, it wasn’t until she accepted a science job in Big Bend National Park in 2010 that she experienced the Rio Grande on a river trip. After that she was hooked.

Since then, she has explored and worked on other rivers of the West but can’t seem to stay away from the Rio for too long. She now splits her time on the river between guiding and conducting scientific long term monitoring and restoration projects. In 2017, Kelon obtained Yoga Teacher Training Certification from 7 Centers Yoga Arts in Sedona, AZ and has since been teaching Hatha Yoga in the community and on the river as well. She is excited to share her love and dedication to the Chihuahuan Desert landscape, to yoga, and her knowledge of the natural world all in one role as a river guide.