Pete McBride
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Native Coloradan Pete McBride has spent two decades studying the world with a camera. A self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer, and public speaker, he has traveled on assignment to over 75 countries for the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Outside, Esquire, Microsoft, The Nature Conservancy, and many more.
After a decade documenting remote expeditions from Everest to Antarctica as a photojournalist, McBride became frustrated with the short lifespan of magazine stories and decided to focus his cameras closer to home on a subject closer to his heart—his backyard river, the Colorado. Four years and 1500 river-miles later, McBride produced an acclaimed book, The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict, three award-winning documentaries and co-hosted a PBS TV program. Other watersheds soon called including a source-to-sea look at India’s sacred Ganges River. Upon completing the journey, The National Geographic Society named McBride a “Freshwater Hero.” Others, have called him the “Lorax of Rivers.”
His latest project, replaced rafting with walking—a lot of walking. Over the last year, McBride hiked the entire length of Grand Canyon National Park—over 700 miles without a trail. Moving on foot between the river and rim “was a remarkable blister builder,” but it had a purpose to highlight the challenges our national parks are facing as increased development pressures are poised to change the Canyon’s iconic landscape. After completing the journey, he and his hiking companion, author Kevin Fedarko, were listed by National Geographic as “Adventurers of the Year.”
When not lost on assignment or grumbling about his blisters, you can find McBride exploring the Rocky Mountains, practicing mandolin on his back porch in Colorado…or dancing.