Published Articles

Last season (2017)I made the work transition from being a whitewater river guide to being a River Ranger in one of our nation’s spectacular National Parks. Working as a river ranger isn’t “a walk in the park” as the saying goes. Many a hot buggy work day was spent at […]

NRS: River Rangers and Kitty Litter?

August 25, 2018 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Far from the crowds that flock to southern Peru, you can get your “Indiana Jones” on in the northern territories where ancient Incan and Pre-Incan archaeological wonders rival the famed citadel of Machu Picchu. The mountains surrounding Chachapoyas in northern Peru contain the lush vegetation of the Andean cloud forests […]

NRS: Five Reasons to Travel to Peru

May 10, 2018 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

For 5 years this has been my work. I am passionate about doing what I can to save this river and to help the locals and Peruvians in their battle to protect the very important free flowing Upper Amazon. Please read my article about the conservation effort and learn what […]

AW: The Fight to Save the Rio Maranon

May 18, 2017 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

If I told you it’s possible to go boating in paradise for as little as $46 dollars a day would you believe me? It seems crazy, yes, but in Ecuador, it’s completely attainable. That $46 a day included traveling to Ecuador with my personal cataraft, frame and oars, round-trip taxi […]

NRS: Traveling to Ecuador with Cats

March 19, 2017 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

On a trip during Mexico’s monsoon season a flash flood threatens to sweep NRS Ambassador, Lacey Anderson, and her companion down the river. Faced with the option to run a flooded IV+ canyon or hunker down within reach of a Mexican pot farm, Lacey outweighs the potential risk of […]

NRS: Lacey’s Choice: Canyons or Cartels

April 16, 2016 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

There’s a Ben Harper song that continued to run through my head as I rowed the Rio Marañón in Peru last summer. The chorus, I am blessed, I am blessed, I am blessed to be a witness, played over and over again, through countless rapids and lulls of flat stretches. […]

NRS: Blessed

March 24, 2016 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Ben Web the director of Paddling with Purpose did an interview and turned it into an article – he did a pretty good job of explaining what a fit and healthy female river runner of over 25 years can do, including first descents, read on: Lacey Anderson recounts a lifetime […]

PWP: River Gypsy Mama

August 10, 2015 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Deep in rural Guatemala, expedition rafter Lacey Anderson employs a whiteboard and the common language of rivers to bridge the communication divide and train a group of indigenous Mayans to be river guides. With a marker and small whiteboard in hand, I began illustrating hydrology to a group of Mayan […]

NRS: Mayan Guide School

May 10, 2015 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Neil and I were about to embark on the first raft descent of the upper Rio Bavispe in northern Mexico, a tributary of the Rio Yaqui north of the infamous Copper Canyon. As far as we knew, the river had been run only once, by a solo kayaker. This is […]

NRS: Exploring Mexico´s Rio Bavispe

April 7, 2015 in Published Articles / River - First Descents / River - General by Lacey Anderson

When the angry mob in the highlands of Guatemala got out ropes, gasoline, and then made the hand gesture of slicing necks, I did not have to speak Mayan to understand what they had in store for us. I came to the shocking realization that this could truly be my […]

NRS: Fun was the Point, Enlightenment was the Result

March 30, 2014 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Is Peru’s Rio Marañon really another Grand Canyon? I had to go see for myself. This is what I learned. My expectations for a trip down the Rio Marañon, through the so-called Grand Canyon of the Amazon, were high. Could there really be another river as amazing as the Colorado through […]

NRS: Peru´s Rio Maranon. Is it Another Grand Canyon?

January 25, 2014 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Healthy fear is part of boating smart, but sometimes fear can cloud our judgment. In this article I recount one such time on Mexico’s Rio Sirupa. The monsoonal rain would not stop and the river kept rising. A feeling of dread was overtaking me. Cascada Sirupa loomed only a few […]

NRS: Cascada! Fear and Dread on the Rio Sirupa – ...

December 9, 2013 in Published Articles / River - First Descents / River - General by Lacey Anderson

In the Sept/Oct 2013 issue of AW (American Whitewater) I am honored to be profiled for a series called Women in Whitewater. – LACEY ANDERSON: WHITEWATER MAVEN – Lacey Anderson is a rarity in the whitewater world – a mature woman who thrives on adventure and the unexpected while pursuing […]

AW: “Lacey Anderson: Whitewater Maven”

November 30, 2013 in Published Articles / River - General by Administrator

I peeled down to my bikini and slid into the hottest pool at sunflower hot springs on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. One of the clients (he, still fully clothed) looked down at me and staring incredulously, commented, “You’re not normal!” His comment struck my funny […]

NRS: Expedition to the “Grand Canyon of the Amazon”

October 15, 2013 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

It was a hot tropical fall evening in Tlapa de Comonfort, Mexico. I found myself tossing and turning on yet another lumpy Mexican mattress. I was finally slipping into a fitful sleep when I was awakened by the sounds of soft clicking and saw an unearthly blue hue of light […]

NRS: “Exploration by Raft”

September 1, 2013 in Published Articles / River - First Descents / River - General by Lacey Anderson

“Undercover – Exposing Our Sports Covert Heroes” is the cover title for the article in the May 2013 print issue of the magazine Canoe & Kayak. This last winter while I was recouperating between working river trips in Chiapas Mexico I got a call from the editor of the magazine Canoe & […]

CANOE & KAYAK: “Exposed” (Lacey Anderson Profile)

May 3, 2013 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

It was the end of the world, according to the Mayan calendar and I found myself once again in the land of the Maya; preparing to row a gear boat for an exploratory commercial descent of the Rio Lacanja. My love of boating in southern Mexico started in late 1990’s […]

NRS: “Rafting Mexico’s Rio Lacanja”

April 24, 2013 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

“What started in late January with an international expedition to paddle the remote Rio Copon-Chixoy in northern Guatemala quickly escalated into a tense faceoff in lawless lands … ” So begins the tale of indigenous Mayan villagers detaining a group intending a raft-supported descent of the pristine 55-mile Class IV […]

CANOE & KAYAK: Update for Hostage Incident

June 12, 2012 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

This is the last of a three part series about boating in Mexico. I have titled this one “Read and Run”, I hope you enjoy! Click here to read full story First Descent of the Rio Atoyac, Oaxaca, Mexico. Flotation Device for the locals along the Rio Atoyac. Second Descent […]

NRS: Mexico Boating Adventures, Part III

May 25, 2012 in Published Articles / River - General by Administrator

It was impossible to stop for a scout at the top of “Unscathed”. We had to scout from our boats at the entrance into the rapid. The top section of the class IV rapid had many flipper waves and just when I made it through the tough upper section, I […]

NRS: Read and Run – First Cataraft Descent

May 21, 2012 in Published Articles / River - First Descents / River - General by Lacey Anderson

The Rio Baluarte was done once before by Rocky Contos. I was fortunate enough to be hanging out with Rocky in the winter of 2011 and we went back to the Rio Baluarte. This is one of the most amazingly beautiful canyons I have ever been in and the boating […]

NRS: Mexico Boating Adventures, Part II

May 20, 2012 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Mulatos Aros River, Mexico — Lacey Anderson had one heck of a boating year in 2011, rafting over 30 rivers in the U.S. and Mexico. In this first of a series of articles, the longtime guide and author of the Camp Cooking WITHOUT Coolers cookbook lets us ride along for a second descent of Mexico’s […]

NRS: Mexico Boating Adventure, Part I

May 6, 2012 in Published Articles / River - General by Lacey Anderson

We had just completed 150 miles on the Mulatos-Aros River in northern Mexico. It was August of 2011 and since May of 2011 I had completed nineteen river runs, most of them multi-day wilderness trips. The Mulatos-Aros was the first of many international runs I was looking forward to. We […]

NRS: Ten Lessons

April 19, 2012 in Published Articles / River - First Descents / River - General by Lacey Anderson

Here is a recent article on-line at Canoe & Kayak magazine about our detention in Guatemala while trying to boat the Rio Copon. While it was very serious and we were lucky to make it out alive, it is obvious that these people feel very strongly about the local river. […]

CANOE & KAYAK: Guatemala Hostage Incident

April 3, 2012 in Published Articles / River - General by Neil Nikirk

How Low Can You Go? By Lacey Anderson, author of Camp Cooking WITHOUT Coolers II Editor’s note: Tired of hauling heavy coolers and worrying about running out of ice, but hate the thought of not eating well on your outdoor adventures? Lacey Anderson has a solution for you – lightweight, […]

NRS: “How Low Can You Go?”

August 15, 2011 in Food - Tips / Published Articles / Uncategorized by Administrator

No Coolers

Kick the Cooler Habit