The Pangaea River Rafting Story!

The Story of the owners David, Brooke and Leave Boring Behind!

It started as a bik e trip across the country. Brooke and David Lawrence had been guiding for several years on the Clark Fork River near Missoula, Montana. During their last summer guiding before they left on their 4,000 mile ride across America, they decided they wanted to create a special company that would reflect the integrity of their ideals: pride, respect, love, understanding and action.

On their bike trip along the Transamerica Trail, Brooke and David solidified their commitment to achieving their dream. After completing the ride, they completed the deal and bought Pangaea Expeditions.

Pangaea River Rafting started as Pangaea Expeditions in 1989 by two women who wanted to create an outdoor adventure company that offered rafting trips to the general public but a company that would also provide unique trips specifically for women. After 13 years, varying degrees of success and multiple owners, Pangaea Expeditions was bought by two young men from Missoula, Montana. They resurrected the company from the brink of extinction, improving location, gear and marketing systems. In two years, the strain of partnership forced the partners to sell in 2004. That’s when they got a call from two Transamerica cyclist, Brooke and David.

In two years the company grew 100%. Brooke and David, the new owners, got married by the river; Brooke actually arrived at the alter on a raft. Although the young couple had no formal business training, they recognized that the industry had changed from its informal beginnings of cut-off jeans, word of mouth advertising and party-hard mentality. They understood rafting was a small part of a larger, sophisticated, economic industry changing the west, tourism.

In order to position themselves in a new paradigm of economic development and tourism, Brooke and David created a series of new programs, trips that would reach a broader demographic of clients. In addition to their bread-and-butter whitewater trips, Brooke and David created River Wine Floats, GPS Geocaching Trips, a team building program called W.E.T.^® (Working Efficiently Together), Bird Watching Floats and specialty tours for conventions and special events. Brooke and David in just a few years combined the play of work with a successful business model… Leave Boring Behind!

A little bit more about David and Brooke Lawrence and the Clark Fork River

Although Brooke and David would meet for the first time guiding a snowshoe trip for Spokane Parks and Recreation many years later, they were both born minutes from each other in Virginia. What seemed like coincidence, was more like fate.

David Lawrence, an English literature major from Chesapeake, Virginia moved to Winthrop, Washington when he was twenty-two. He was introduced to a new industry he had never heard of, outdoor recreation. David learned the ropes of safety, programming and customer service at the four star, four diamond resort Sun Mountain Lodge.

He moved to Spokane to get his masters and teaching certificate. There he met Brooke Baunsgard, the Virginia native raised in Bellevue, Washington. Brooke was also attending Eastern Washington University as a health and nutrition student, working for both the E.P.I.C. outdoor program and the Spokane Parks and Recreation department.

During the summer of 2002, Brooke and David paddled, hiked and played on the rivers and trails of Washington, Idaho and Montana. When school was done in the fall, Brooke and David bought an old air force school bus that they converted into their new home. Brooke sold her car to pay for the remodel, and by December they were living in Winthrop, Washington teaching cross-country skiing and living in their new home, Edna.

They learned a lot about each other living without running water or electricity in the small space of a school bus, but not as much as they would learn during 2003. During that time, the couple hiked the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, 2,560 miles. On that trip they made a special commitment to themselves, any dream they could dream, they would do. So, they biked across the country, bought a rafting company, got married and hiked 386 miles through Virginia along the Appalachian Trail.

Today they split time between the Methow Valley of Washington teaching cross country skiing and the summers in Montana running Pangaea River Rafting. They still live in Edna, their school bus. They also conduct team building programs and give special lectures and slide shows to schools and clubs about achieving your dreams, how to hike ("No Blisters, No Hunger-Camping and Hiking Made Easy) and slide shows about biking and hiking long distances.

Some interesting facts about the Pacific Crest Trail

• Passes through three states (California, Oregon and Washington)
• Climbs nearly 60 major mountain passes
• Descends into 19 major canyons and
• Ambles past more than 1,000 lakes and tarns.

The PCT traverses…

• 3 national monuments
• 7 national parks
• 24 national forests and
• 33 federally mandated wildernesses

But did you know that…

• It was recently pointed out that fewer people have thru-hiked the PCT than have climbed Mt. Everest! Could it be that a thru-hike is tougher than climbing the tallest mountain on Earth?
  
• The PCT crosses the world-famous San Andreas Fault three times!
  
• The PCT passes the three deepest lakes in the nation; Lake Tahoe (1,645 feet), Crater Lake (1,932 feet) and Lake Chelan (1,149)
  
• In California, hikers and riders on the PCT often must cover 20 to 30 miles of trail between water sources. The longest waterless stretch on the trail is 35.5 miles, north of Tehachapi Pass)

Leave Boring Behind!