Our Guides

Growing up with Temagami as her backyard, it’s no wonder that Sam fell in love with paddling. After attending Laurentian University for Outdoor Adventure and Leadership, Sam started guiding full time. Always looking to improve her trip cooking skills Sam is looking forward to doing lot of baking on trip, and trying out new recipes. Ready for her next adventure be it paddling a new river or traveling abroad, Sam will always return to Ontario to paddle her favourite spots.

Bethany comes to us as a native of Muskoka, having spent most of her life exploring nature, venturing on canoe trips and backpacking excursions. She is a passionate outdoors person and currently working her way through a nursing program to develop further medical skills for the backcountry.  Bethany has traveled coast to coast from Canada to Mexico, with water having been the driving adventure force from lakes and rivers to oceans.  At one time Bethany owned and operated a cafe and catering company in Gravenhurst, ON and currently spends her free time helping with the families commercial Maple Syrup operation.  She is passionate about FOOD and if not on the river you can often find her helping out in the MHO Adventures kitchen in the Barn.

Over the past eleven years Meredith has spent more time in her tent than under a roof. Her love for the outdoors began as a young child hiking the Bruce trail and camping with her family. After many years of canoe tripping with her school and at summer camp, she spent thirty-four days paddling the Rupert River into James Bay where she fell in love will long expeditions into the wilderness. With four years of working as a traditional canoe guide in Temagami, she mastered cooking and baking delicious bread over the fire. From here she moved her tent from the waters-edge to the edge of the fire - spending five summers as a Forest Fire Fighter in Chapleau Ontario, responding to fires across the country. Meredith loves to go on long distance cycling tours and has spent over four months cycling along the east coast of Canada and across Europe. Meredith is an artist and spent this past winter at a guild making pottery. Her love for the bush and magnificent rivers of Northern Ontario has brought her back to the water’s edge where she loves to share her passion for everything outside!

Ian grew up in Alliston, Ontario, a small farming community near Barrie. However, his love for the outdoors was fostered on the rocky lakeshores of YMCA Camp Pine Crest and the snowy slopes of Mt. St. Louis Moonstone. His passion for skiing was the impotence for him to migrate to the Canadian Rockies to follow his winter passion. Ian attended both the Mountain Adventure Skills Training and Adventure Tourism Business Operations programs for College of the Rockies in Fernie and Golden, BC, respectively. This culminated with Ian starting a job as a ski patroller at Castle Mountain Resort in the Southern Rockies of Alberta. Ian never forgot about life in the centre of the country, however, and makes the yearly trip back to lead canoe trips in his backyard that is the Ontario backcountry. His favourite parts of tripping are paddling rapids, fishing and telling stories around the fire at the end of a long day.

Happy Trails Dear Friend!

Fred Neegan was an amazing friend, a fabulous teacher and guide, a very well respected First Nations Elder, and someone that had an impact on everyone that was lucky enough to spend time with him.  He had been working with MHO Adventures much longer than any of us and we feel very privileged to have spent so many days travelling the river with Fred. The lessons he taught and messages he shared just by living were nothing short of amazing!  May the Missinaibi River always be graced with your paddle Dr. Fred Neegan.

In 2015, Dr. Fred Neegan’s life long commitment to the Missinaibi River was commemorated with a plaque dedicating the landing in Mattice to him. 

At the age of 87 on June 8th, 2018, Fred passed away at Sudbury Regional Hospital.  On the 8th floor with a panoramic view of the sailboats down on Ramsey Lake, he was, of course, telling stories and sharing memories right up to his last days.  

The youngest member of our team!  Before his third birthday Miles' trip log totalled 13 days and over 130kms in a canoe.  Six Days on the Moose River in 2016 (at 9 months old), Four Days on the French River in 2017 (at 21 months old) and Three days circumnavigating Shawanaga Island on Georgian Bay in 2018.  I guess time on trail is a given when your parents own a Canoe Tripping Company.  He is super comfortable in the wilderness and we can only hope that this continues!

Joey grew up just outside of Toronto, each summer he would leave the city behind and head off to summer camp where he developed his passion for the outdoors and adventure.  He is currently finishing a Masters of Education in Environmental and Sustainability Education at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.  Joey is a certified teacher, specializing in outdoor ecological experiential education.  Paddling is a huge passion for Joey!  Joey comes to us after many years of guiding with YMCA Camp PineCrest working as an Adventure Leadership Trainer.  Leading youth on journey's through some of Canada's most remote and beautiful rivers, including the Coppermine River and Kazan River in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.  While Joey is one of the best paddlers we know, he is also one of the best backcountry cooks.  Joey loves to cook, bake and to incorporate local ingredients into his menus; a personal favourite is fresh fish tacos.  Recently he has been instructing river rescue courses as well as moving water canoeing courses.  He absolutely loves sharing his passion of white water with others, whether it's during a course on on an extended wilderness expedition.  During the year you can find Joey outside fishing, climbing, skiing, kayaking, or canoeing, always looking for the next adventure.  You would be lucky to find yourself on a course or canoe trip with Joey, and be guaranteed a gourmet backcountry meal.

A native of Toronto Erin left the city life behind long ago in favour of rivers and trails. Erin brings more than 20 years of experience working in the outdoor adventure industry as a former director for YMCA Camp PineCrest and Lead Instructor and Program Coordinator for Outward Bound programs. Erin has guided canoe trips throughout Northern Ontario, Quebec and the NorthWest Territories, while spending her winters guiding dog sledding trips in both Ontario and Algonquin Park as well as the Yukon. Erin has managed various trade shows, including the famous One of a Kind Show & Sale in Toronto.  Erin is an ORCKA paddling Instructor, she paddled the Yukon River Quest, a 740km canoe marathon from Whitehorse‚ Dawson City, YK in 2012. A wonderful wilderness photographer, when Erin's paddle is not in the water you can be sure that her camera is in hand! A trip with Erin is one filled with smiles, laughter, and learning. When on the river with Erin, you can be sure that your meals will be 5 star, a gourmet wilderness chef as well.

If you have the opportunity to spend some time on the river with Matt you will find his relaxed and jovial demeanor a pleasure. Though all MHO guides are excellent cooks, Matt has taken a particularly strong interest in hors d'ourves, and is continually trying new recipes, and perfecting the cooking and presentation of old ones. Though Matt is a big outdoorsy guy (that means lots of hair, and a mean stare), and can at times look a little scary, he loves having children and youth join our trips. Having worked with children, youth and young adults in various capacities throughout his professional life, Matt is dedicated to providing youth with a positive wilderness experience that is sure to leave them wanting for more time in the wild. As an Ontario Certified Teacher himself, Matt works with teachers from various schools to ensure that our Experiential Education trip destinations and activities will meet the curriculum goals of the school, while also providing an amazing experience for the youth. Much like his dog Blizzard, Matt is always trying to expand his territory. Having travelled to most parts of Canada, while also visiting South East Asia, Central America, and New Zealand, Matt has developed a keen sense of what makes a wilderness trip one that you keep talking about for months, even years, afterwards.

Chris is a professional outdoor educator, wilderness guide and emergency management planner. He lives on a modern day permaculture homestead in Muskoka where he and his wife Laura grow organic food, medicinal herbs and practice forest gardening. He has 10+ years of experience helping people of all ages deepen their knowledge of the natural world through experiential education and wilderness & urban survival training. Chris is passionate about wildlife tracking, herbal medicine, bow making, ancient wilderness living skills and is a devout student of the natural world. Chris is an instructor with Sticks & Stones Wilderness School and helped bring the Art of Mentoring and Headwaters Gathering to Ontario. He is also the director of p.i.n.e. Muskoka overseeing Wild Things & Red Wolf youth Camp.

Stu started tripping as a young child with his grandfather who taught him to always set up his tent before it gets dark, to leave the campsite cleaner than he found it, and if a bear is attacking him, to punch it in the nose. The first two tips have served him very well. At the age of fifteen he travelled down the Rupert river into James Bay, a trip that made a life changing impression on him and put him in a canoe every summer since then. For seven summers Stu guided trips for Camp Kandalore, paddling many of the rivers that lead into James Bay, as well as the Moisie in Quebec and the Bloodvein in Manitoba. In the winters he lives in Fernie, British Columbia, operating the daycare at Fernie Alpine Resort and trying to get in as much time on the slopes as possible.

A native of Ottawa, Julie‚ passion for the wilderness and whitewater paddling began as a teenager. Since those first wet and bug-filled trips as a teenager with Camp Wanapitei, Julie has spent much of her time in a boat, on rivers throughout Ontario, north of the Arctic Circle, as well as abroad in places such as Mexico, Chile and Nepal. For over 8 years, Julie has worked full-time, year-round in the outdoor industry, taking on a wide range of roles, including raft guiding on the Ottawa River with Esprit, Lead Instructor with Outward Bound Canada instructing youth leadership courses, in the winter months Julie has spent many days on a dog-sled team in Algonquin Park as well as sea kayaking in Chile. Julie has spent time with Enviros in Alberta working front-line with youth battling addictions. Julie is an ORCKA Basic and Canoe Tripping Instructor as well as a Whitewater Rescue Assistant Instructor. Julie is always excited to share her passion and skills in the wilderness with others. Julie is currently finishing up her RN Degree at the University of Toronto, but still loves her summers on the river!

Mercede started exploring the Ontario wilderness as a young camper and has never looked back. Her passion for the canoe and the outdoors is surmounted only by her passion to share her experiences with others, especially her family; camping and exploring with her husband Mike and young son in all four seasons. She believes in the importance of nature connection and developing resiliency and awareness through authentic wilderness interactions. Mercede holds a Bachelor of Education with a specialty in Outdoor and Experiential Education from Queen’s University and has worked with many youth camps and private schools, most notably as the former Trip Coordinator with The York School and as the Assistant Director of Camp Wapomeo. - part of The Taylor Statten Camps. As a guide herself, she is known for her positivity on the trail and knows that every day in the wilderness is a good day! When she isn’t camping, you can bet that her and Erin are cooking up a new expedition or refining an old one to give participants the best experience possible.

Growing up in Montreal, Amy spent the majority of her summers at the local outdoor pool, joining every team from diving to water polo. After graduating university with a degree in Exercise Science, she looked for a way to continue spending as much time outside as possible and a canoe tripper was born! Her first river expedition took her down the Harricanaw river into the James Bay and secured her a spot as an instructor with Outward Bound Canada. For years she spent her summers paddling rivers in Ontario and Quebec while winters were spent working in Asia, leading sea kayaking and hiking expeditions in Hong Kong and China. When the call came for a year-round instructor/coordinator position at Outward Bound, Amy jumped at the chance to settle down in Muskoka and try her hand at dog sledding. Two years later, she was managing their wilderness base in Ontario. After 9 years with Outward Bound, and a yearning to get back out on trail, Amy was excited to join the MHO Adventures team and continue to share her passion for canoe tripping both on and off expedition. Amy is now a certified teacher specializing in outdoor and environmental experiential education. She enjoys cooking for friends and clients, and hanging out with her 2 retired sled dogs.