Herb Repp
Nickname: ‘Mess’
First Trip: Lassen National Park, Age 12
Favorite Backpacking Memory: Having his tent partners food stolen by a bear on that first trip or having to hitchhike out of the Coast Range with his daughters after storms made trails impassable during his youngest daughters first trip.
Bucket List Trip: PCT with either of his daughters if they’d be willing to “go slow so he could keep up.”
Always brings: The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching
Often forgets: Sunscreen. Sad, but true.
Quote: “A camera will never do your last trip justice. If you really want someone to see a place, take them.”
Certifications: Red Cross First Aid Certification, Wilderness First Aid/CPR Cert, Wilderness First Responder Training (pending) and Leave No Trace trainer.
Herb went on his first backpacking trip at age 12 after his mom signed him up for a summer school class called… Backpacking 101. It was love at first hike. He’ll tell you that his childhood was spent on his grandparents ranch in Oregon, riding appaloosa’s and hunting rattlesnakes. While this is ‘true’, like most kids of his generation (don’t ask him WHICH generation) he spent most of his time outdoors playing sports and riding bikes.
He has 100’s of backpacking trips under his belt, has taught photography to 4th graders, sales strategies to 50 year olds and is a 4 time participant in the AIDS Ride from SF to LA. A lifetime traveler, his favorite destinations have been either Sri Lanka or New Zealand.
While Herb still operates a healthcare consulting company that he started in 2003, he’ll tell you that his true passions are his family, friends, ‘MA’ nature, golf, hiking, yoga, traveling and reading.
Marlee
Nickname: MJ
First Trip: Point Reyes
Favorite Backpacking Memory: Taking sleeping mats, with my sister, and using them as rafts to paddle into the middle of Gilmore Lake in Desolation Wilderness.
Bucket List Trip: Lake Tahoe to Yosemite. 186 miles!
Always brings: Sunscreen
Often forgets: Deodorant. :~0
Quote: Too many to list just one!
Certifications: Red Cross First Aid Certification, Wilderness First Aid/CPR Cert
Marlee went on her first backpacking trip when she was 6 years old, the same year that she hiked to the peak of MT Lassen. Currently a student at St Ignatius Prep in San Francisco, she is an accomplished swimmer and pianist. She is a mentor to younger swimmers on her club swim team and sits on multiple athlete committees for Pacific Swimming. A scientist and adventurer at heart, she’d like to work with NASA and dreams of setting foot on the moon or another planet.