The path to becoming a river guide is often full of obscure steps; working as a Level 3 Associate at In-N-Out Burger isn’t a common one. At 16, Ali got her first real job at the Placerville In-N-Out and advanced to drive-through window clerk where she noticed a nightly influx of raggedy guys talking about that day’s adventures on “The River”. Curiosity piqued, she soon traded her big safety pin and little bonnet for a carabiner and helmet and never made it to Level 4. Adventurous lifestyle launched, she is currently parlaying her dual citizenship (US and Australia) into a down-under double degree in Conservation Biology and Zoology at the University of Western Australia in Perth.