DON N. HAZARD & LESLIE HAZARD

Don Hazard was born in Moscow, Idaho and started inner tubing rivers in Idaho in the 1960’s. In 1970, he rafted the Salmon River in Idaho for the first time.

Don and his friends started rafting rivers in California and made whitewater kayaks in Don’s parent’s garage in the early 1970’s. In 1974, Don and his friends made the first inner tube and air mattress descent of the Tuolumne River in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Since then, Don has rafted rivers all over the Western Hemisphere and has led countless trips down multi-day wilderness rivers. In 1979, on their second date, Don took Leslie down the Stanislaus River in California at high water (10,000CFS). Later, when they married, they continued to take people and their family rafting all over the United States. In 1982, both Don and Leslie graduated from Brigham Young University, in Provo Utah. Leslie with a degree in Music and Don with a degree in History and a degree in Outdoor Recreation Education.  In 1985, Don earned a Master’s degree in Outdoor Education Administration.

Don and Leslie have been married for 39 years and have six children who grew up in the Kern Valley in California rafting and kayaking the Kern River. Since then, they have rafted and kayaked Wilderness Rivers from Alaska to Chile and have become expert rafters and kayakers.

What is Don and Leslie’s favorite multi-day wilderness river trip? They say, "After rafting rivers from Alaska to Chile, the Main Salmon River is our favorite. It offers everything we want in a multi-day wilderness river trip. The Main Salmon River has fun but challenging rapids, great camping and beautiful scenery. All in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in the 48 states."

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