GuideLydia Blanchet

Raised in Anchorage by water-loving parents, Lydia has been floating the glacial waters of Alaska’s rivers, lakes, and oceans since before she could hold her head up, much less paddle her own boat. After leaving Alaska for nearly a decade– first to earn her degree in Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College, then working in community-based water science in Futaleufú, Chile– Lydia returned in 2024, pulled north again by magnetic particles in the fine layer of Alaskan glacial silt that she was never quite able to wash off. When she’s not guiding, Lydia enjoys whitewater kayaking, skiing up and down hills, writing, eating ice cream, and sleeping in the back of her Honda Fit with her dog, Canela. She is currently pursuing an MFA in poetry at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.