Scotty Stevens Interview, Grand Canyon

Scotty Stevens is no newbie to whitewater rafting. With over 200 trips through the Grand Canyon and 28 years of guiding behind him, Stevens has become a modern day rafting icon. He readily shares his humor as well as his opinions with those willing to lend an ear. He's super easy to get along with and enjoys each rafting experience as for him it's all about the people.

Although he's a minimalist and appreciates solitude, he's not one to  be constantly dirty and will bathe in the river regardless of the weather. Stevens also enjoys gardening, horseback riding and building things whether it be his deck or an extension of his house. Although many situations on the river inspire Scotty, he explains that "when the crew is really a team, and the folks see it, the energy is so good it's contagious."

Click here to view the video version of this interview. 

1. How long have you worked for OARS and how did you get your start?

I've been working for O.A.R.S. river company for 33 seasons, and most of the time in the Grand Canyon. It's been a wild day today, I gotta tell ya; we've seen hail, rain, sunshine, it's been hot, it's been cold – that's the Grand Canyon. How I got started was meeting other river guides. I met Steve & Marsha Dardon at an EMT class in the winter of 1977-1978, and they were good enough to come up and see where I lived. At the time, I lived on 80 acres with no gas or electricity. I had an outhouse that didn't stink and a small garden and they said, 'Man, you like to live like this?' and I said, 'Yeah, it's the coolest place I've ever lived.' They said, 'You're gonna be a river guide.' And they were right.

2. How many times have you been down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon?

Well I've been down the Grand Canyon over 200 times, I couldn't tell you for sure, but it's definitely I'm guessing closer to 220. I could go back and count them but I know I'm over 200 Grand Canyon trips and out of that, I bet I've got about less than 20 to a dozen motor trips, the rest of them are all rowing down the canyon. There's guys with a lot more: Brian Dierker has probably been down here around 600 times but probably 500 of those are motorized trips. As far as rowed trips, there's probably a few people that beat me but I'm right up there in the top 10.

3. What do you enjoy most about rafting the Colorado River?

For me, I've done it so many times it's really the passengers, 100%. I love what I do, I love turning people on to coming out here. When it's freezing cold and you've got to be out there, people just don't experience that, they really don't. They come down here, they've got no choice. Goddamn, when it rains, when it hails, you're right in the middle of it. You see more of nature in a two week Grand Canyon trip than most people see in their whole lives.

4. What are some of the wildest experiences you’ve had on the river?

I'll tell ya, I've had some pretty wild things, in my youth I was one of the wilder guides down here, but as I've matured I've tried to behave myself somewhat. It used to be if I had guys who wanted to go big, I went big. I was on a trip to where it just started pounding rain. It was an all-men trip, and I'm really not all that into an all-men trip, but these guys got the most outrageous sight you'll ever see, it rained so hard you couldn't even see for a while. Then waterfalls started pouring in from either side and these guys were bumming out and I said, 'If it just keeps pouring rain like this for 40 minutes, you're going to see something outrageous.'  We saw water flash flooding from either sides, it was so big it was blowing the boat from one side to the other. We had to stay in the middle of the river just so that we weren't hit from debris coming off of the rim.

5. What do you do when you're not on the river?

I'm usually gone for five or six weeks, and I have so many honey-do's when I get home it's unbelievable. I have gardening to do, I get little construction projects all over. Right now I'm building the last part of my wrap-around porch that's taken me ten years to do. I'm making fruit leather from all the fruit that came off the trees while I was gone. I'm dehydrating pears because all the pairs are coming off the trees.

6. What’s your favorite story to tell guests?

It's full of inaccuracies, but it's about how George Wendt started O.A.R.S. river company. He was a schoolteacher down in southern California at Paul Revere Charter Middle School in the nicer part of LA, and he talked his wife Pam into moving up to Angels Camp which is unbelievable because it was such a redneck little community. Pam's told me some cool things about how George promised her just the year before that it would strictly going to be a weekend business. I like to elaborate on that story, I'm sure it's full of inaccuracies, but I love to tell that one, it's my favorite.

7. What was the best car you’ve ever owned?

So for years I tried to talk George into selling me his '71 240Z, the first year they were made, and he wanted $2,500 dollars for it and I only wanted to pay $2,000 for it. Year after year I'd hit him up and say, 'George, sell me your car,'  we can negotiate the final price. I came in one day, I was going to have to drive to the Grand Canyon and I said, 'George man, please, sell me your car!' And at the time I was driving a motorcycle and he said, 'Scott. You better just get back on your motorcycle.' And finally the last year that I managed operations for O.A.R.S. on the Tuolumne River, I traded an entire season of managing for that Datsun 240Z and I totally restored it. I added two coats of blue, four coats of clear, it was the coolest car ever.

8. What is your favorite hobby other than rafting?

So my favorite hobby is gardening, I have a massive garden. I have flower gardens, and over fifteen fruit and nut trees.

9. You’ve lived in Angels Camp for a long time. What was it like living on the O.A.R.S. property before the New Melones dam was built on the Stanislaus River?

In the old days this place was so cool it was off the chart. On Highway 49 you may see 3-4 cars a day, maybe a dozen cars. Highway 49 was the take-out on a 2-day river trip so the location was perfect. You could take Red Hill Road, back roads, dirt roads, you could go into town to a bar with a pool table in the back and get a pitcher of beer for $2.75, go in the back room and play pool. Angels Camp was the perfect places…the guides were all broke, we bought our clothes from a second hand store in town, we didn't have hi-tech equipment. Guides were guides just because they wanted to be on the river. It was all about river rafting; we were so non-material it was off the chart.

But as far as the normal person, the normal person, you want to do something outrageous? Come run the Grand Canyon. Do the section where you run through Lava Falls and you will be scared in a safe way. It's like a roller coaster but it's not Disneyland, it's the real deal.

Click the play button below to watch the video interview.

Written by Lauren de Remer

O.A.R.S.' Sales & Marketing Coordinator