Adam “Freebird/TheAdamFreemanMovie” Freeman: Guide
February 17th, 2006 by Malina
Freeman has a bright love for livin’ and a passion for life on the river. He spends his winters on the ski slopes and migrates to California’s river banks when the snow melts. Freeman spreads good vibes among his fellow guides by providing groovin’ melodies in the kitchen and carrying Oscar, the beloved–and now deceased–portable potty in his gear boat. Guests love his mushroom and Pesto pasta on two days, and his sincere and friendly personality make him one of our most requested guides.
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Can: Make it snow in sunny L.A, DJ at your wedding, fold shirts into the neatest squares you ever seen, make a Conistoga Wagon out of his pickup for Burning Man, exfoliate his feet with river sand, and guide class V whitewater. People, this man has talent!
Sammy came to us by a unique path. After starting off in culinary school and finally getting his B.S in Outdoor Recreation (1999) from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, he gave us a call from his homestate of Illinois and moved out to California to be an intern (to finish his Degree) in our office in Walnut Creek and guide a little. From there he naturally migrated to a nearly fully time position in 2000 as the head honcho of the AO eNews. From there he migrated to Webmaster and now onto his own business… 
Hunter is the genealogist of All-Outdoors. Have a complex question about your Grannie’s 2nd cousin twice removed? Hunter will clear it up in a jiffy. We realized he had this unique talent when he first started working for us and someone asked him how he got the name Hunter, which is somewhat unusual. “Well,” he replied in that ever so slight Southern drawl he has, “I was named after my Grandfather…his name was Hunter…..” And thus a legend was born.
CAN: Spin a yarn (words, not merino), play the digiridoo, organize a film festival, take you to Baja with a bunch of sea kayaks, and take Truly Beautiful photographs. You know how sometimes you think cool photos are just dumb luck, especially what with the digital these days? Mark’s images bring it all back home: photography really is an art, and a science, and yeah ok, sometimes a little luck. . .
You know the saying that behind every great man (or in this case, company,) there’s a great woman? Exhibit A: Claudette, the Grande Dame of the Walnut Creek office. Much like Duct Tape, she can pretty much do it all. From booking trips to year-end reports and scheduling, Claudette keeps it all together; we would be lost without her.
Left: Scott A, leading by example
George is our founding father–AO has been the official family business since 1962. Although he handles a lot of paperwork and behind-the-scenes stuff, George still guides a few trips every summer and keeps everyone driving the speed limit and double checking equipment lists. Gregg keeps everybody in our booking (aka the “Walnut Creek Office”) in line and if you’ve ever called us with a special request you probably talked to him (though it may have been his brother Scott–they sound so similar it’s downright scary). He rafts, skis, and, until they migrated to college was kept busy raising the Armstrong triplets: Jonathan, Brenden, and Laura. We were lucky enough to snag one triplet and get her up to the river. Laura became the youngest Armstrong family guide in 2005 and we fully expect to see more of her smiling face on the river. Who needs a “real job” when this is your family legacy?