Wild Rivers and Desert Legends with Jon Barker of Barker River Expeditions

Papa Bear Hikes

Education, Health & Fitness, Leisure, #Hikes #Canoeing #Biking #Outdoors #Lifestyle #Backpacking #Nature #Diversity #Globalpodcast #Itunestop100 #Top100podcast #Access #Lifestylepodcast

5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Martin welcomes outfitter and river guide Jon Barker for his first appearance on the podcast. Jon is the founder of Barker River Expeditions and has spent over 40 years navigating Idaho’s remote rivers. For the past 25 years, he’s specialized in desert river trips on the Jarbidge, Bruneau, and Owyhee Rivers. Jon shares stories from his decades guiding clients through some of the most rugged and beautiful terrain in the American West, including supported hikes through slot can...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, about a month ago, I told all of you that I was going on a rafting expedition,
0:04.9	gift from my son this year, who was taking me out on this trip.
0:07.8	This was something he told me back in December he'd be doing.
0:11.0	Well, July came, we went on a trip, and I'm home.
0:14.1	Did I have fun?
0:14.8	Was it worth it?
0:15.5	Would I do it again?
0:16.7	Well, I'm not just doing a solo episode.
0:18.4	I have a special guest with me to talk about this experience.
0:21.2	Let's find out who it is.
0:29.7	Today I have with someone with over 40 years experience leading expeditions on rivers throughout
0:35.0	the northwest, including Jarbridge, Bruno, Hawaii, among others,
0:41.1	going into areas like Idaho, Oregon, Nevada. He leads canyaneering experiences, hunting expeditions.
0:48.9	I'd like to introduce and welcome John Barker to Papa Bear Hikes.
0:53.7	Hello, Martin.
0:55.4	John, before we get into whether I enjoyed myself or not, how about you share with us,
1:01.8	where did this all start?
1:03.1	You've got over 40 years experience.
1:05.8	And what I saw out there was somebody that wasn't doing a job.
1:09.1	You weren't running a company.
1:10.5	This was a passion for you. This was something you really enjoyed. And it wasn't doing a job. You weren't running a company. This was a passion for you.
1:11.9	This was something you really enjoyed. And it wasn't just a time on the water. It was the effort
	...

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