We are excited to explore Haines with you and teach you about our favorite places! Read a little more about the talented team you will be working with at Rainbow Glacier Adventures
Joe Ordonez
Joe arrived in Haines in 1986 working as a naturalist aboard a small, eighty-passenger expedition ship. Haines captured Joe’s heart and imagination, and he moved here in 1987 to manage and guide for a local rafting company. Joe founded Rainbow Glacier Adventures in 1992. The first tours RGA offered featured small group visits to local artists’ homes. Since that time, the company and variety of tours has grown but the concept of local guides and high-quality, educational tours remains. While Joe spends much of his time running the organization, he particularly enjoys guiding private photography tours and special charters. Joe enjoys backcountry skiing, international travel, photography, and, above all, spending time with his wife, Edie, and daughters, Stella Angelina and Sapphire Marie. See Joe’s complete bio
Jen Reid
Jen has been guiding since 2007, but living the rugged Alaska life for over 30 years. She does all sorts of nature tours, artist tours, sightseeing tours and anything else that comes up. She loves showing off the glaciers and wildlife in this paradise we live in and sharing about the freedom we have to be ourselves and do whatever we want. Jen is an artist – she carves fossil ivory and makes jewelry. She also loves to hike, sail, kayak, fish, ski, knit, sew, garden, read and she loves trying and learning new things. Jen says, “I can’t imagine any lifestyle that could possibly beat what I already have!”
Deb Marshall
Deb came to Alaska in 1974 to strike her fortune in the restaurant business. She owned and operated Juneau’s celebrated eatery, the Fiddlehead Restaurant and Bakery, for over twenty years. Early on she discovered the beauty of the Chilkat Peninsula, and built a cabin in the woods in Haines in 1985. Now she feeds her soul by living the subsistence lifestyle, exploring the planet and guiding for Rainbow Glacier Adventures. Since 2007, Deb has guided almost every type of tour offered here at RGA from kayaking and hiking to cultural local artist and historic walking tours to flightseeing over Glacier Bay. Sharing her love of the wild with Alaska’s visitors is the high point of her year.
Robert Chadwell
Robert has been guiding for Rainbow Glacier Adventures since summer 2010. Originally from Florida, Robert now lives in Haines year round. He does kayak trips as well as wildlife oriented trips to Chilkat and Chilkoot state parks. Robert is our “jack of all trades” around the compound. For fun, he likes to kayak, camp, hike, cook, travel, ride his motorcycle (when it works!), work with his hands, and enjoy the great Alaskan outdoors! Robert loves connecting with guests from all over the world as he shares this beautiful place.
Tom Ganner
Tom started guiding photography tours for Rainbow Glacier Adventures in 2010. In his off hours he enjoys photography, kayaking, fishing, camping, hiking, and finishing building his house! As a guide, Tom enjoys being able to get out into the Alaskan countryside and watch the excitement and appreciation that his clients show while experiencing this wonderful land and its bounty of scenery and wildlife. As a retired teacher, Tom loves teaching people who are interested in learning about a field that he is very excited about.
Bob Adkins
Bob has guided photography tours for Rainbow Glacier Adventures since 2008, after spending over 30 years working for the Alaskan education system. A longtime resident of Alaska and self-taught photographer, he enjoys introducing people to the wonders of photography and showing visitors the beauty of Southeast Alaska’s scenery and wildlife. He has had over one hundred photographic articles published in various magazines.
Emily Weisberg
Emily has spent most of her life in the mountains and wild places of western Washington. She studies photography at the Evergreen State College and was thrilled to come to Haines in the summer of 2011 to work as a photography intern at Rainbow Glacier Adventures. Emily loves guiding photography tours as it allows her to explore Alaska through the fresh eyes of her clients. In her time off, Emily finds herself inspired in both her photography and her writing by the interactions of the biotic and abiotic that surround us.
Holly Jo Parnell
Holly Jo is our Gold Tour connoisseur! After moving to Haines in 2008 and settling in for a few years, Holly Jo started guiding gold tours over at Porcupine Creek in 2011. Before settling down here in Haines, Holly Jo worked as a tour director in Alaska and the Yukon since 2006, and as a tour guide in the Southwest since 2004. She also does a great job keeping up our blog, chronicling her adventures on the gold tour. Holly Jo says, “Haines stole my heart!”
Judy Heinmiller
Judy has been working at Rainbow Glacier Adventures since 2005. Her parents were part of the group of veterans that purchased Fort William H Seward in 1947. Judy was raised in the fort and moved back here in 2003. She guides historical tours, wildlife tours, and tours to our museums and other local hotspots. In her years away from Haines, Judy lived in south central Alaska, the Pacific NorthWest and Barcelona, Spain. When not guiding, Judy loves learning about birds and other wildlife, as well as archery, sailing, art, food and travel. She enjoy meeting people and having the opportunity to show them the beautiful place we live.
Barb Blood
Barb has been guiding for Rainbow Glacier Adventures for 11 summers. She can usually be found guiding walking tours, but has also done van tours to the State Parks, Taste of Haines, and any other tours that involve sharing this beautiful town with tourists. Barb has been in Alaska 38 years and in Haines for the past 21 years. She especially loves the history of Haines and its surroundings and never tires of talking about Haines and all it has to offer. Her “regular” job is at the Public Library, which was voted best small-town public library in the United States.
Bruce Blake
Bruce has been guiding with Rainbow Glacier Adventures for about 7 years, and is a longtime resident of Haines – over 32 years! He worked most of his life at sea both as a commercial fisherman and aboard the Alaska Ferries. Bruce guides historical tours, Offbeat Haines, and tours to Chilkoot with Rainbow Glacier Adventures. In his time away from the Rainbow Glacier Adventures team, he likes walkin’ in wild places, cookin’ around a campfire, singin’, meditation, yoga, writing, and photography. Bruce says, “Guiding is a way to connect with the innate wonder within all of us- it’s always a two-way street: I’m passing on my knowledge and experience, and learning from the folks I’m guiding about their worlds too. It’s a privilege to work with Joe and the team he has gathered. A band of true Greathearts!”
Ron Horn
Ron has lived and worked in Haines, Alaska since 2003, and has been guiding photography tours with Rainbow Glacier Adventures since 2008. He is largely self-taught as a photographer, through study and trial and error. He has won several awards for his images and he is a regular contributor to the Chilkat Valley News. His specialty is nature photography, primarily wildlife. Ron loves to teach photography, and has taught Community Ed classes locally and at regional photography workshops. He enjoys working alongside photo-tourists and helping them get to the next level.
Carolyn Ganner
Carolyn has been guiding for Rainbow Glacier Adventures for two years. She guides nature tours and an occasional historical tour. Her background is in science, engineering, and education. Carolyn loves guiding because, “it is always a great pleasure to help our visitors get a closer experience of Haines and its magnificent surroundings!”