Over the years, Upper Missouri River Guides has intentionally kept its operation small. Our expert guides include the owners and a small group of dedicated, knowledgeable and passionate outdoor enthusiasts. Their passion and dedication to the Upper Missouri River is unmatched, and they look forward to ensuring an adventuresome and memorable experience for all guests.
Glenn Monohan – Founder, Geologist, Advisor & Role Model, Official Guidebook Author
Click here to find out more about the company’s esteemed founder and the official river guidebook.
Brett Burglund: Co-owner
Circa 1999
Brett Burglund is a native Montanan, born and raised in Kalispell, in northwest Montana's Flathead Valley, just 32 miles from Glacier National Park. He is an avid boatman, who spends lots of time in kayaks, canoes, and rafts. He has won numerous kayaking competitions and has paddled waters throughout the western U.S., including the forks of the Salmon River in Idaho and many Montana rivers. He's been a partner in Upper Missouri River Guides since 1999.
Brett is an excellent chef and has perfected his numerous custom recipes from an early age. He has vast talent in camp meal preparation and many tricks up his sleeve that will surely wow you!
Brett is well versed in Upper Missouri River history, and he enjoys leading hikes to some of the historic sites located off the river, such as tipi rings and old homestead buildings, as well as little known treasures. Brett has explored much of the land adjacent to the river on foot, and has put together an itinerary of hikes to spectacular viewpoints high above the river, which provide breathtaking views and great photographic opportunities. Brett is a civil engineer and owns and operates his own general contracting company. He is extremely talented in all things building and home renovation. In his free time - in addition to boating - you can find him scaling peaks, snowboarding down various mountains throughout Montana, backpacking in the northwest Montana backcountry, mountain biking and, of course, cooking gourmet meals for whomever will come over!
Haley Miller: Co-owner
Haley Miller is a native Montanan, born and raised outside of Livingston in Paradise Valley. Her water adventure knowledge and experience spans the gamut from fresh to salty and flowing to still. The first 18 years were spent on the majestic Yellowstone River, residing just a stone’s throw from the bank. She left Montana to embark on a ‘big city’ adventure, and after earning an Economics degree from the University of Chicago, she left the city life behind forever and landed on a 32-sq mile island in the Caribbean: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. There she was a full time sea kayak guide, leading kayak, hiking, and snorkel ecotours in a mangrove marine sanctuary. She also became a PADI certified Assistant SCUBA Instructor and lead boat dives for a local dive shop. Haley will tell everyone that Montana and the Virgin Islands are almost identical places - both offer unlimited adventure opportunities and awe-inspiring landscapes and the culture of the people reflect that with their profound, unwavering respect for the earth ….the only differences being the weather, season change (or lack-thereof) and the water in the Caribbean is salty with much larger predators!
Haley returned to Montana in 2011 after 8 years and has never felt more at home. She spends her time following Brett up mountain peaks, down mountain biking trails, navigating wild rivers and traveling the world. Together, they are avid gardeners and love to share and create incredible culinary feasts for friends and family. Haley also enjoys teaching yoga at a Helena-based studio.
She is thrilled to provide the unparalleled experience canoeing the Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River and imagine the awe and reverence those first explores must have felt throughout their journey West. Most importantly, she revels in the opportunity to meet travelers and share the history and scenery of her homeland!
Favorite camp meal: anything Brett makes!
“The rivers flow not past but through us.” John Muir
Norm Miller: Guide, historian, paddler. Livingston, MT
Norm Miller is a native of Northern Michigan where he began paddling on the famed AuSable River at an early age. After graduating from Lake Superior State University in 1985, he moved to the Yellowstone region to explore, ski, hike, paddle and be closer to the rich history of the region. Combining his passion for history and paddling led him to retracing the 1789 route of Alexander Mackenzie through Canada to the Arctic Ocean solo in 1998, and the Lewis and Clark trail during the Bicentennial of that expedition in 2004.
During this latter journey he paddled up the Missouri River to Three Forks from St. Louis over a 16-week period, then backpacked for a month over the continental divide of western Montana and eastern Idaho. Once he reached the Clearwater River, he paddled down the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Pacific to complete his solo 6-month expedition. He has been extensively immersed in Lewis & Clark history ever since.
In 2006, Miller was on the committee to erect the only statue of Sacagawea and child astride a horse in the world. This statue can be seen along the Yellowstone River in Livingston, Montana, where he resides.
Miller has guided river, hiking and ski trips throughout the west in Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. He has published stories and photos for Canoe & Kayak, Paddler, and several other regional magazines. Canoe & Kayak dubbed him as, “the Source”, for all his knowledge and assistance he’s given to the many paddlers who’ve descended and ascended the entire length of the Missouri River. When not guiding on the Missouri River, he operates a window cleaning business and volunteers regularly with the Yellowstone Gateway Museum in Livingston, Montana.
Jackson Reese, Kalispell, MT
Jackson is a native of our great state, hailing from Kalispell, in Northwestern Montana. With Glacier National Park as his playground, his love for the outdoors was cultivated at a very young age. Each season presents a new and exciting activity, from skiing on Big Mountain to backpacking in the Park, he is well-versed in all things adventure. He is a fabulous and talented cook with exceptional chefery skills and is always practicing his dutch oven techniques and more. He is also an incredibly talented singer and is very involved in local choirs with regular performances.
Most importantly, his compassion and kindness is unrivaled. We feel very fortunate to have him on the crew. He is the brother, cousin, nephew and son you always wanted!
Steve Rodgers, Helena, MT
Steve Rodgers grew up in Riverton, Wyoming and lived in a variety of western states prior to moving to Helena, MT in 2001. This is the place he now calls home. He loves Montana and all it has to offer. Steve is an avid outdoorsman whose passions include whitewater kayaking, skiing, mountain biking, backpacking, and seeing the sights of what this world has to offer. He’s frequently found traveling for play in his VW Eurovan. His adventures have taken him back country skiing on the famed Haute Route through the French, Italian, and Swiss Alps and whitewater kayaking through the jungles of Costa Rica. When not guiding, Steve has an extremely varied schedule. He works nationally as a benefits counselor for Mutual of Omaha and as a tour driver of performance groups for IMG Artists hailing from New York, NY. Steve is also an artist. You can check out his creative designs through his online company, Junkshow at www.junkshow.com.
Steve is a trained Wilderness First Responder.
Colter Ball – Guide, Headquarters Logistics Manager, Fort Benton, MT
Colter is a third generation, Fort Benton native and has been working for the company since grade school, first by washing canoes after school, then leading the charge in keeping the large headquarters’ grounds looking mowed, trimmed and great. He is now a star guide and loves to share his passion and knowledge of his incredible home stomping grounds with people from across the country and world.
Colter is not only super strong and hard working, he is also kind, gentle and dedicated to excelling at everything he does. He is a star football player and has earned several awards ranging from Fort Benton’s homecoming king to the annual fishing derby champion. Colter's skills in the kitchen and as a paddler are beyond impressive. He is extremely knowledgeable about all things fishing and Fort Benton and is an exceptionally quick learner. Colter rarely says no to a last minute plea for help and has an endless hard work ethic. In his free time, he loves playing football, fishing, exploring and weight lifting. We rely on this energetic young man a lot!
Orion Helms, Livingston, MT
Hailing from Telluride, CO, Orion competed with the U.S. ski team. Currently, in the off season, he coaches skiing for the Bridger Ski Foundation. He acquired his cooking skills by owning a food truck and vending at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. He is also an avid white water kayaker. In addition, he is a very skilled in everything carpentry. He has brought an incredible energy and endless ideas to our operation. He is exceptionally hard working, smart, experienced in everything outdoors and rivers, and fabulous in the kitchen.
Maida Knapton, Ennis, MT
Maida Knapton was born and raised in southwest Montana, and has spent most of her life in the Madison Valley, along with some time in Northern Norway.
Growing up with West Yellowstone National Park close by, and the Madison range as her playground, Maida is very interested in landscapes, people, conservation, and hanging in the outdoors. She have been fortunate to have worked with, noxious weed biological control practices, rowing gear boats on the Smith River, ski instructing, and stream conservation work.
In her free time, she enjoys backcountry skiing, biking, trail running, painting, and LOTS of river time!
Nick Patch, Bozeman, MT
Nick is a Montana native who is an experienced outdoorsman. Nick spends his winters as a ski instructor in Montana and Washington. He is an avid photographer and relishes the opportunity to document all the wild places throughout Montana and the West.
Nick is fiercely persistent, driven to learn, engage and improve his skills. He eagerly jumped into this brand new world of canoe guiding head-first. Nick is exceptionally kind, thoughtful and easy-going. From paddling 26 miles solo to set up tents to leading hikes, Nick is a wonderful and valuable edition to the team. Thank you for all your hard work!!!
Shawn Rowan, MT, ID
Shawn grew up in SoCal with a national forest at his backdoor. After high school he worked as a traffic engineer in the greater Los Angeles area for a few years before deciding he was becoming a city boy. His love of the outdoors was stronger than his love of the city so he packed his belongings up and headed out on a 6 month road trip that never really ended. He spent the next five years traveling to different farms learning homesteading practices. He then settled in Northern Idaho where he could hike, bike and raft to his heart’s content. The past two summers he has been guiding canoe trips on the Upper Missouri River in Montana. This summer he is excited to share his love of National Parks with Austin Adventures!
David Stagliano, Helena, MT
David Stagliano grew up in upstate New York canoeing and fishing the lakes of the Adirondacks with special trips to Algonquin Park, Quetico and along the Great Lakes in Ontario, Canada. Having moved around to 6 different states for school and work in the 1990's, his love of water always followed, and was fortunate to have canoed/kayaked or rafted some fantastic areas of Alabama, North & South Carolina, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Michigan, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and finally moved to Idaho in 2001, then to Helena in 2003. He loves Montana's wilderness and all it has to offer, but still sneaks away to the true wild river state of Idaho or to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Minnesota. David lives for being outdoors and often can't decide what to do on any given weekend--will it be rafting, canoeing, fishing, mountain biking, backpacking or hunting in the fall, or some combination of those.....along with downhill, BC and XC skiing in the winters.
His adventures have taken him to 49 of the 49 states (Rhode Island doesn't count), Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Canada. When not helping out with the Upper Missouri River Guides, David is working with industry and agencies across the state on projects involving the assessment of Montana's Aquatic Resources and Fisheries, including surveying for species of conservation concern. David is currently President of MT's Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and the state's expert on freshwater mussels. David's environmental consulting firm is found here: Montana Biological Survey.
Shuttle Drivers (Wayne, Mike, John, Mark, Tim & Larry)
We couldn’t do it without these guys! They are fiercely loyal and dedicated to going above and beyond to ensure our success. In addition to providing safe and reliable driving services, they are also our dear friends who generously take time to make sure our vans are full of gas, oil and the windshields clean. They keep an eye on things at our headquarters while we are on the river and make sure we always have new jokes in our arsenal to share with people! Thank you for everything you do for us!