Erin Clancey grew up on an Island in northwestern Washington. Although she always loved water, of any kind, she didn't start kayaking until she was 23. California's Kern River has guided (or some might say misguided) her life ever since. After moving to Idaho in 2007 (with no plans to ever leave) for graduate school in biology, her specific interests in kayaking have changed from focusing on freestyle to creeking to dappling in long arctic canoe expeditions.