RIVERROOTS LTD.

ABOUT US

John and Sara Garrett

Owners of Riverroots Ltd.

John is a whitewater enthusiast through and through.  His interest in whitewater began as a teenager with a tandem canoe, a black Labrador Retriever, and a sense of adventure.  Since that time, John has become an accomplished Class V kayaker, raft guide, and an ACA certified whitewater kayak instructor. 

John’s whitewater training ground was on the rivers and creeks of the southeast.  While living in South Carolina, John paddled rivers from Tallulah Gorge in Georgia to the Gauley in West Virginia.  His ever growing list of paddling adventures now stretches from Florida to Alaska and North Carolina to Oregon.

The Chattooga River, however, holds a special place in John’s heart.  He spent years as a raft guide and kayak instructor on the Chattooga.  John was the supervisor of the whitewater kayak school for Wildwater, Ltd. and it was here, on a kayak clinic on the Chattooga, that he met his wife, Sara. 

Sara comes from a background in outdoor education and therapeutic wilderness programs.  She was the Coordinator of Outdoor Leadership programs at Cornell Outdoor Education.  From Cornell, Sara moved to North Carolina and worked as a Course Director and Therapeutic Wilderness Instructor for SOAR, Inc. 

At SOAR, Sara directed summer programs and designed and led semester courses for youth with ADHD and learning disabilities.  As an outdoor educator and wilderness therapist, Sara taught backpacking, rock-climbing, caving, mountain biking, sailing, sea kayaking, canoeing, and rafting in programs ranging from the Florida Keys to the Adirondacks of upstate New York. 

With their combined outdoor skills and passion for exploring the wilderness, John and Sara’s adventures have reached a new height.  Together they led an expedition down the Tatshenshini River in Alaska.  Shortly thereafter, they moved to Idaho to live, work, and play on the rivers and in the mountains. 

Idaho is home now for this eastern-reared couple.  John and Sara have fallen in love with all that Idaho has to offer:  big water rivers, desert canyons, snowy mountains, and great people.  Riverroots Ltd. enables John and Sara to share their passion for paddling and adventure.  Even more than they love paddling, John and Sara love to teach and share their experiences with others.