Interact!

Whether hiking, biking, kayaking or stand-up-paddleboarding, we seek to engage you with the outside world on eco-active Yellowstone adventures. Touch things.

Smell things. Visit Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic and Fairy Falls. Then immerse your body in them at the Firehole River swimming spot. This is where “most of the outflow from the park’s geyser basins empties…causing it to be warmer with larger concentrations of dissolved minerals (chemically richer) than other watersheds.” 

Taste things. Learn how yarrow plant leaves were used by solders and Early American peoples to treat wounds. Then chew a leaf and imagine how it might work as a clotting agent.

See the force of water and time at Canyon Falls where the Yellowstone River cuts its Grand Canyon. Feel the mist and gain a better understanding of the watershed and topography as you drive over the Dunraven Pass. You’ll see and hear Antelope Creek and Canyon River merge into falls before joining the Yellowstone. Then follow its major tributary, the Lamar River, to spot opportunistic carnivores in the Northern Range.

Touch, smell, taste and feel. Move the body and mind. Hike, bike and paddle. These are the eco-active Yellowstone adventures!

Yellowstone Interact connects people who CARE SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT THEY DO…with people eager to learn!

Colleen Rossier, PhD Ecologist & Trip Consultant

Colleen is a graduate of UVA, and holds a PhD in ecology from UCAL Davis, having work extensively with the indigenous people of northern California along with the USDA to increase our understanding of forest understory, timber activities and fire. She also holds a masters degree in traditional Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture and is a certified yoga instructor and massage therapist as well. She has worked for the USDA in Washington DC and helped write the first USDA agency guidelines for Certified Organics. She has also worked on federal fire crews to gain a holistic understanding of fire-ecology and forestry management.

Wilderness is a myth; Indigenous peoples had been burning and cultivating forests for 10,000 years with a pre-Columbus population numbering as high as 100 million peoples. What we call “wild” is really an anachronistic framework illustrating gaps in management and culture. The great news is there is still so much to learn!

Beau Blessing,  co-founder, is a river guide on the scenic, rapid and free-flowing Gallatin River, which originates inside Yellowstone National Park and travels 111 miles before joining the Missouri River. In the winter, he is a ski teacher at Big Sky Resort in Big Sky, Montana where he had been putting down roots for the past six years while also teaching in Garmisch, Germany.  A graduate of the University of Florida majoring in Decision and Information Sciences and a former teaching assistant in Operations Management during his master’s studies, Beau is also a member of Mensa, the organization for super sharp folks, and loves understanding complex systems and sharing those insights.

I get asked a few times each season after we put in downriver, if we keep floating will we end up back at the shop? In part, people get disoriented on vacation. But some really space out and think we might be in a lazy river, or an M.C. Esher painting. We laugh about it but if there is one thing I want to instill in my guests is an understanding of watersheds. It’s a template that applies about anywhere in the world, that precipitation will commit to one outcome, and influences everything else along the way.

-Beau Blessing, River Guide, Ski Instructor & Traveler

In 2011, after two days of interviewing with a global accounting firm in Atlanta Georgia,

Continue reading “Eco-Expert meets Multi-sport Pro.”

Not sure where to begin? Plan your custom Yellowstone private tour by contacting us.

Work with our In-House PhD Ecologist for the ultimate Yellowstone National Park itinerary. From wolves and bears to bison and elk to swimming holes, geysers and falls, we can help you get the most of the park. Add-on adventures include kayaking, hiking, SUP, yoga and more!

All in comfortable privacy with door-to-service pickup and drop off.

Ready to plan your adventure? Contact us to work with a PhD Ecologist and locally based world-traveler to plan your Yellowstone National Park, Big Sky area and Southwest Montana adventure.