Bob Rein, MN’24 is an Adventurer / Explorer based in Cedar Park, Texas. He had always craved adventure and exploring. His past explorations were usually hiking in some faraway place in either the mountains of upstate New York, the mountains, canyons, and deserts of Arizona, or the wild and woolly remote areas of West Texas. Places off the beaten track but not entirely dark and unplumbed. These were places far enough away from cities and towns that once on the trail, you were alone with your thoughts and experiencing both nature and the ties he sought that went back to the indigenous peoples that made their homes there. In 2024, he was approved for membership in the elite Explorers Club and is a member of the Texas Chapter.

The Journey His earliest explorations on the water go back to sometime around 1973. While vacationing in the Adirondack Mountains, on a cold, crisp September morning, he got into a canoe and paddled north on Lake Champlain to Crown Point. Little did he know that 48 years later, he was about to rekindle that desire to explore from the water. In 1982, He had the opportunity to explore a remote jungle village on the Pagsanjan River in the jungles of the Philippines. After exploring villages of the indigenous peoples, paddling took him to Pagsanjan Falls, one of the most famous waterfalls in the Philippines.

Many years later, he started kayaking in August of 2020. His paddling adventures ranged from the rivers and lakes of Central Texas to the Inside Passage of British Columbia and sea kayaking became the vehicle to transport him to the dark and unplumbed depths of the far north.

Indigenous Cultures Being an ethnographer of North American Indigenous Cultures, he has worked with and studied various tribes of the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit as his explorations take him to their homelands and territories.

Just The Start of The Dreams

In August of 2024, Bob continued exploring yet another section of the Inside Passage, his third such exploration. In 2025, further adventures may take him to Haida Gwaii and then on to Alaska as he continues to explore the Inside Passage. Or perhaps you may find him taking a float plane out of Yellowknife on his way to paddling the far eastern arm of the Great Slave Lake in the Thaidene Nëné National Park, homeland of the Łutsël K’é Dene people. Also on tap is a trip somewhere in the Arctic, somewhere within the Northwest Passage, yet to be determined.

His inspiration comes from friendships and knowing or reading about incredible  explorers/adventurers. They are featured under the Explorer’s tab on this website and include links to their social media pages or websites.