Charyn McDonnell

I grew up in a small community outside Salem, Oregon.  My father was a teacher which allow my family to travel during summer vacations.  I still have fond memories of all of our adventures.  Gymnastics was a passion of mine in high school and I had planned on going to college to compete, however, I broke my back, leaving me in a position to consider some other options.  The option I chose was joining the Air Force as a Recreation Specialist as I wanted to see the world.  I was blessed with that opportunity in my four years of service.  After my tour of duty, I came back to Oregon, deciding to try college without the gymnastics.  I met a guy and we got married and my wonderful daughter Randi was born in 1982.  College was put on the back burner.  I worked odds and ends of jobs that allowed me to still be home a fair amount of time with my daughter.  When she turned school age, I was again blessed with a school district job as an assistant teacher in PE.  I continued working in public schools until the year 2000, when I moved to Central Oregon to work at Mount Bachelor Academy, first just teaching aerobic classes and then when the school wanted yoga as their PE class, I trained to become an instructor.

During the course of various employment, I fell in love with whitewater rafting.  After going to guide school and spending lots of time on the river, I started a whitewater business to operate during the summer months when school was not in session.  Later, when I went to work at Mount Bachelor Academy, I created a whitewater rafting instruction class, simultaneously becoming certified as a Whitewater Instructor through the American Canoe Association and a Wilderness First Responder through the National Outdoor Leadership School.

My favorite quote is by Helen Keller.  It is:, " LIfe is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." 

Now my life is on a small ranch bordered on all sides by the Crooked River National Grasslands, where I ride my horse right out our back gate, I am an hour away from the river I guide on, and I teach yoga to some fabulous committed people.