Two decades, 50,000 miles: Veteran guide marks major Snake River milestone

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (KIFI) — For Michael Inman, the Snake River isn’t just part of the job. It’s where he has spent more than two decades building a career, raising a family and making memories. Last week, he celebrated his 5,000th float on the Snake River with Barker-Ewing.

Each trip covers about 10 miles, meaning Inman has traveled roughly 50,000 miles on the river, the equivalent of going around the Earth about twice.

During the trip, Inman kept the group entertained with stories about the Snake River, pointing out wildlife along the way and, most importantly, making sure everyone stayed in the raft.

Inman began guiding with Barker-Ewing in 1999, but his story didn't start then. He got his first introduction to the Snake River after spending time nearby with his grandparents. He took a float trip with Barker-Ewing with his family when he was a child and knew he was destined to work in the raft.

Inman had originally gone to school with plans to pursue law, but Wyoming changed his plans.

“I just spent a summer in Wyoming and realized this is where I wanted to be,” Inman said, “I didn’t feel like going to law school, and I could have this kind of life.”

More than 25 years later, he said he has no regrets.

“I met my wife up here. We have two beautiful children; this is one of the best jobs in the world,” Inman said.

The experience he had as a child stuck with him, particularly the sense of solitude he found on the water.

“When you're out on the river, you're out there by yourself, and you can feel nice and alone,” Inman said.

Inman spends thousands of days on the water, introducing visitors from around the world to the Snake River and Grand Teton National Park.

And despite having traveled the same stretch of river thousands of times, he said it never gets old.

The river can still change from one trip to the next, and so can the people sitting in his raft.

“I get nervous on my Mondays,” Inman said. “Just having two days off and coming back to maybe a different river, but totally different people. And it's just really fun to expose them to this stuff.”

He also hopes some of the kids who ride with him will carry that experience forward.

“Who knows, maybe they'll be a kid on a raft one day and end up being a head boatman sometime,” Inman said.

After 5,000 trips, Inman isn’t ready to put his oars down.

“I’m just taking it one trip at a time. We’ll see,” he said. “I’m just float till I can’t float anymore. Float till the end. Don’t put a finish line on it. Just keep on going.”

I asked him if he had any advice for any kids who would one day want to be a boatman sometime. His teary-eyed advice was simple.

“If you get a dream early in your life, just chase it or let it chase you,” Inman said, “There’s a lot of fun things in this world to do, and this is one of them. All you do after that is find somebody that’ll pay you for it.”

For more information about taking a trip down the Snake River with Michael Inman or another Barker-Ewing guide, visit Barker-Ewing’s website.