"The Ouzel alone of all birds dares to enter a white torrent."
?Why Ouzel
Ouzel is Experience, Reputation, Tradition
Ouzel Outfitters has a well-earned reputation for being highly organized and professional. The current owners, Brian Sykes and Will Sharp, worked their way through the ranks for the original owners as guides and then managers, before purchasing Ouzel in 2006 and have insured a continuous tradition of excellence stretching back to the founding of Ouzel in 1979.
This is YOUR Trip
When you choose a river trip, you choose to put yourself and your family into someone else's hands. You expect good customer service and professionalism and you don't want to worry about the day-to-day details and logistics. You want an experience that allows you the flexibility of choosing your level of participation and above all, you want to feel safe. An Ouzel rafting trip is organized to create just such an atmosphere. Customer service at Ouzel is based on the idea that his is YOUR trip. Our goal on each and every trip is to engage with our guests and by understanding the desires and expectations of each and every one, to exceed them.
Ouzel Guides
Making All the Difference
Few river companies put as many resources into training, continued training and certification of their guide staff.
Guides new to Ouzel must complete a competitive application and training process (regardless of their previous experience). Once training is complete, a long period of “apprenticeship” is required before being qualified to work. Returning guides are required to attend "returning guide" training each year where skills are refreshed, company standards re-iterated and new policies and procedures are introduced.
Our guide staff are an extremely loyal and tight-knit group of professionals. With little turnover each year, Ouzel maintains a high level of experience, tradition and teamwork. Our guides know our rivers, our trips and most importantly, our guests.
“The best part of the trip was how genuine and professional the guides were. I have been around a lot "guides" in my life and Bobby, Neeley, Cameron and Alek were pros in every way. but at the same time flexible enough to let us try new things - very good judge of character, all 4 of them. What makes a trip go from good to amazing is the people, and we won the lottery!!” -Dan S. (Rogue River)
?What's an Ouzel
"The Ouzel alone of all birds dares to enter a white torrent. "
— John Muir
1907
The Water Ouzel , also known as the American Dipper (scientific name: Cinclus Mexicanus), is found in hilly and mountainous regions across North America where there are clear, fast-flowing rivers and streams. With the benefit of several unique adaptations such as an inner protective eyelid and an extra layer of downy feathers, the ouzel dives into cold, often turbulent rivers and streams, swimming, and "planing" along the bottom as it hunts for insects, nymphs and other small animals. When on shore, it has a custom of “dipping” that easily distinguishes it from any other bird along the river. The Ouzel is most often found by itself; rarely in pairs, except during the breeding season, and very rarely in threes or fours.
The Ouzel's nest is one of the most extraordinary pieces of bird architecture. It is typically large, made of moss and ferns, and usually found under or beneath a waterfall, or upon a slick rock face where it is almost impossible for anything to reach it. The moss continues to grow as it is continually sprinkled with water, and provides a comfortable, cushy place for the bird to nest.
As North America's only aquatic songbird, the Ouzel possesses a strong sweet song, composed of a variety of trills and flute-like notes that sometimes abruptly end as the bird enters the river to feed. Upon returning to the surface, the Ouzel seemingly picks up right where it left off without so much as skipping a beat.
Come see the Ouzel birds in their natural habit on all our river trips in Oregon and Idaho!
