Mikey walks his own path (and it isn’t always predictable). He grew up in the heart of metropolitan San Jose but found his heart in the mountains of the west. He asked his fourth-grade teacher to start calling him “Mike” (instead of “Mikey”), then forgot to respond when she called on him, (so he’s been Mikey ever since). He enrolled at San Francisco State as a photography major and passed a lot of students heading in the other direction as he transferred through the Recreation Department on his way to graduating with a Degree in Civil Engineering. Last year he ran the biggest rapids he could find, flipped four times and came back to tell us how beautiful the Illinois was and how remote the Selway was. He’s now at the University of Nevada in Reno, getting his PhD in hydrology and watershed processes. Finally, something that makes sense.