Faye Atkinson

Hailing from Australia, Faye has worked in outdoor education for many years. She first taught and designed 5-21 day backpacking courses for private schools in Australia. Shortly after she headed to Canada on a 12 month working holiday visa and was hooked on the geography of Western Canada and the USA. She later found work with Outboard Bound where she worked for many years. She eventually found her way to the Grand Canyon, and started working on the Colorado River in 1999 and continues to guide a couple trips a year for AZRA. She met current Canyons owner Greg in Grand Canyon, and a return to Central Idaho beckoned her and has been with us at Canyons since 2014.

Faye and her husband Paul spent many winters in Park City, UT in the early 2000s where she worked as a Nordic ski instructor. From 2009 -2023 Paul worked full time in a remote Aboriginal community, Pormpuraaw, in NE Australia. Faye spent part of each year in the community, working alongside Paul who managed the local Art & Culture Centre. During their time in the community Faye and Paul produced a number of books highlighting the art, stories and ethnobotany of the region.

Faye loves the beauty of wild places and the way that rivers can take us into the otherwise inaccessible heart of country and ourselves. In her spare time Faye ideally will be off on an extended journey in the mountains , rivers, wild coastlines or deserts of Australia or North America. Or cycling in Europe. Or reading a good book under a fine old tree with a bag of potato chips.