Who We Are

Fritz Johnson was raised in Louisiana and found her way to North Carolina 19 years ago through her love of canoeing. Though she has traveled just about all over the world, and travels across the country at least once a year to take at least a few larger river trips on some of her other favorite rivers, Fritz always comes back home to the French Broad. When she's not taking care of business at Blue Heron, you'll likely find Fritz playing with her dogs, Noodle and Freebee, Nordic skiing, or paddling a boat just for fun.

Sandy Melton grew up in Ohio, and while she has guided mostly in the southeast, she's worked on rivers all over the world, including Nepal! Sandy started out working as a shop teacher in Chillicothe, Ohio and guiding rafts in her time off from that job. Sandy moved to western North Carolina in 1983 and has settled down onto her farm in Marshall, NC and now balances her river time with time spent on the farm raising her goats, harvesting and dying their mohair, and selling her fiber art.

Ciro Pena was raised in Georgia and moved to NC 27 years ago to combine his work and play in the rafting industry. And don't take it personally if you don't catch him smiling in the store or on the bus, it's just that he would rather be behind his camera lens!