Born in a small northern California town, Dennis Teutschel has spent much of his life exploring rivers across the western United States, Alaska and Canada. He has been a Sierra Club trip leader since 1997.
Southwest river journeys include extensive segments of the Green River, through Dinosaur National Monument, Desolation and Grey Canyons, Cataract Canyon. Other rivers include the wild Yampa, ancient San Juan, and of course the magnificent Colorado through the Grand Canyon. In the northwest, rivers include the Owyhee, Rogue, Main, Lower and Upper forks of the Salmon River. Years of rafting led him inevitably to Alaska and the Yukon where rafting trips include the Tatshenshini, Alsek and Talkeetna rivers. Dennis has also traveled extensively throughout Alaska’s Inside Passage.
When not leading trips, or working in his design studio, Dennis tries to find time to paint and just get out in the great outdoors. He's a naturalist, a skier, a whitewater addict, an experienced sea kayaker, and a humorist through it all. He holds certification in CPR, and is Wilderness First Responder trained.
It's the echos of the canyon wren, as you float in and out of canyon shadows. The sound of water passing over bolder and pebble. It’s the playful multi-colored reflections that dance upon the water just as dusk falls. These are the things that can only be realized by being here in the midst of it all. The rewards people gain through these trips are contagious!