Our Dreamland Guides
Sunny Stroeer
Desert Guide / Co-Owner
Sunny’s love for the desert began when she was a kid, and it has only grown since. In addition to managing Dreamland Safari Tour together with her husband Paul, Sunny is also a professional endurance athlete as well as a prolific adventurer and accomplished outdoor photographer. Sunny has established speed records across the great ranges of the world; her images have been published in National Geographic, Outside Magazine, Forbes, and many others. Originally from Germany, Sunny spent formative years on the East Coast where she obtained two degrees from Harvard University and worked in strategy consulting before turning her back on the corporate world in order to pursue her true passion: outdoor adventure. She loves sharing her favorite places with guests, and is always up for a big day in the backcountry. Sunny is a commercial drone operator and a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Paul Gagner
Desert Guide / Co-Owner
Paul has spent more than four decades exploring, adventuring, and putting up first ascents on rock across the US and internationally. While Paul’s first outdoor love was Yosemite, he is proud to call the Utah desert ‘home’ and is excited to be managing Dreamland Safari Tours together with his wife Sunny. Beyond his adventurous outdoor pursuits, Paul brings long years of outdoor industry executive management experience to Dreamland Safari Tours. Prior to moving to Kanab, Paul led the outdoor division of Nite Ize after serving as president of Sierra Designs for several years. Back in the 1980s Paul spent seven seasons as a climbing ranger in Grand Teton National Park, where he participated in upwards of 200 rescues and was among the first National Park Service employees to be certified for helicopter-rappel rescues. Paul’s ‘can-do’ attitude and unshakeable calm make him a favorite of guests and guides alike.
Bret Benge
Senior Guide
Bret has spent more than 20 years hiking the trails, driving the backroads and fishing the rivers of the Colorado Plateau. His love of exploration has given him a knowledge of the the mountains and deserts of the Western United States and Central and South America. After a few years living in Mexico, Bret has returned to Southern Utah, where his heart resides and is now managing and guiding for Dreamland Safari Tours. Bret is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
“I have never met a dirt road I didn’t love.”
Marjorie Casse
Senior Guide & Overnight Logistics Manager
Marjorie was born and raised in Namur, Belgium. In addition to guiding a myriad of tours for Dreamland since 2014, she is also responsible for planning and organizing the full complexity of logistics, supplies, and gear for each overnight and multi-day camping excursion that Dreamland leads to out-of-the-way locations such as White Pocket and Toroweap. Her conscientious attention to detail ensures that guests have everything they need to explore the backcountry wilds in style. Marjorie is an Emergency Medical Technician.
Brent Kinley
Director of Guide Training
Brent came to Southern Utah with an explorer’s heart. After completing the Appalachian Trail in 2011, he completed the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013. In 2014 he hiked across the Continental Divide. Since arriving in Utah he has continued his pursuits into the wild. Brent continues to cover ground experiencing the endless lands of the southwest. In addition to guiding, Brent also runs point on Dreamland’s guide training program.
“It has been incredible realizing that my job is a love that I get to share. There is a level of awe that never goes away out here. We go to some true gems.”
Orion Bradburn
Senior Guide
Orion was born in the mountains of western North Carolina and grew up with a love of the outdoors. After studying forestry he became passionate about the trees, creeks, and trails all around him. Orion became enchanted with the west after a family trip and always wanted to return to the wonder and mystery of the Utah deserts. He has lived in Kanab for 5 years and worked previously in the Grand Staircase National Monument with troubled teens teaching, hiking, and camping for a total of over 250 nights. This experience gave him a unique and very personal connection with the desert land. He has been guiding for Dreamland since May 2017, and has never been more excited to be part of this amazing place. Orion is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Edward Abbey
Andrea Jasper
Senior Guide
Andrea grew up with a passion for the outdoors. As a child her parents could hardly get her to come inside for dinner, and frankly, not much has changed. Andrea has spent most of her adult life in Hawaii, and first visited Kanab in 2006 to do a Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike. After several subsequent trips to Utah, Andrea and her husband moved permanently. Andrea is energetic and fun and also loves sharing the story of Utah’s incredible landscapes, wildlife and history. She has a journalism degree and newspaper experience, which has taught her how to gather and interpret information to make it interesting and relevant. Andrea is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Maddi Nelson
Desert Guide
Maddi is a Utah native. She grew up spending most of her time in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, always sharing her adventures with family and friends. Kanab, too, has been on the list of Maddi’s favorite places to explore since she was young, and her love and curiosity for our backyard has only increased throughout the years. Maddi finally decided to make the move and spend all of her time exploring southern Utah. She is excited to guide and share her passion of the outdoors and this amazing place with you! Maddi is also a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Nathalie Bowman
Desert Guide
Nathalie came to love the great outdoors as a child, hiking, camping and fishing with her dad in the Idaho wilderness. Nathalie’s first experience with the Desert Southwest was when she worked at Jacob Lake near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in her early 20s. While experiencing the beautiful sunsets and sunrises in the Canyon, as well as hiking Rim to Rim twice in one week, she fell in love with the stunning Grand Canyon. After spending over 20 years raising her family of 8 children in the city, she decided it was time to make the move to the beautiful town of Kanab, where she could immerse herself in the Grand Canyon and Red Rock Country. Nathalie’s joy is to give her Dreamland guests an incredible experience with the wisdom of nature connecting deeply to the soul. Nathalie is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Robert Lawrence
Desert Guide
Robert always loved being outside. He grew up in Midland, Texas and went on to school at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, where he studied geology and played every sport under the sun. After working behind a desk for a while, Robert decided that it wasn’t the life for him. He has always had a passion for the outdoors and enjoys fishing, climbing, canyoneering, backpacking and snowboarding. Robert hopes to begin working on credentials for climbing guiding. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Mel Rader
Desert Guide
Mel’s love for the wilderness is evident from the first moment you meet her. Beyond the outdoors, she also has a passion for social work which is evident in her history as a wilderness therapy provider. She loves to canyoneer, explore, and introduce others to the wonders of the West. Mel is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Annabelle d’Artois
Desert Guide
Annabelle was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, but has been exploring the Southwest since 2017 after spending a number of years living in Hawaii.
In addition to being a guide with excellent knowledge of the Kanab area Annabelle is also an accomplished dancer, circus performer and aerialist. She has a knack for befriending kids and animals alike, and loves sharing the hidden gems of this area with her guests. Annabelle is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Kieran Corrigan
Desert Guide
Jan Roberts
Desert Guide
Tiffany Smith
Desert Guide
Tiffany is originally from northern Utah’s Wasatch Front. She grew up frequently visiting southern Utah and has long considered it her real home. She moved to Kanab three years ago and feels so lucky to live in a place where wonder and awe are found so easily. She is especially fond of Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument and enjoys volunteering for the monument as a trail ambassador. Tiffany loves finding beauty even in nature’s smallest details. In addition to exploring the great outdoors, Tiffany enjoys music, baking artisan bread, and practicing yoga. Tiffany is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Justin Deshner
Desert Guide
Justin was born in Montana but grew up in Washington minutes from the Canadian border. He spent his childhood playing in the forests, skiing and boarding in the Cascades, and swimming in the ocean and lakes and rivers around Puget Sound. Always curious, he traveled the world extensively in his 20s, immersing himself in the culture and traditions of the places he explored. 2020 was a transformative year for Justin. He moved into his jeep and hit the road with no destination in mind. Rediscovering the happiness and sense of exploration he’d taken for granted as a younger man, his travels led him to Kanab in late 2021. When he’s not sharing the beauty and wonder of the desert with visitors to his new home, he’s out exploring with his pup MacReady. Justin is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Jake Hartner
Desert Guide
Jake has worked in the outdoor industry since high school and never stopped. This passion comes from the meaning and connection to others that he has found through learning in the wilderness. He got his bachelors degree in Recreation Management and worked on and off in wilderness therapy for the past two decades. Jake also teaches primitive ancestral living skills, such as basket weaving, pit-fired pottery and stone-age fire making. With an engineering heart he loves to learn and teach about tools the earth gives and has worked as a guide in Oregon, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho and Utah. He enjoys living and adventuring in Kanab with his wife, three children and American Water Spaniel. Jake is the drummer in the local band, Tilted Mesa and is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Tom Grant
Director of Sales & Operations
Tom grew up on the East Coast but got hooked on living in the West after his first trip out. After working and going to school in Colorado, Tom has moved around – and had adventures all over the western United States. After a brief stint back on the East Coast, Tom moved to Kanab in 2005 from Brooklyn, NY – and has not looked back. Tom’s career has allowed him the opportunity to travel and explore all over the western states, and he is excited there is still a lifetime’s worth of exploring to do in this area alone. Tom is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Dasher
Desert Rover
Dasher is a young Siberian husky mix who came to Dreamland as a rescue from Best Friends. She loves people (particularly kids!), squirrels, lizards, exploring the desert, road trips, tug of war and peanut butter – but most of all she loves snuggles.
Dasher often hangs out at the Dreamland Office and, upon request, may be able to join you for a day of adventuring if you book one of Dreamland’s private tours. As a husky, she doesn’t love the summer’s hottest months here in Kanab – but she’d be delighted to accompany you on your adventure during the fall, winter or spring.
Dasher may have attended several Wilderness First Responder Courses over the years, but she has not yet succeeded in getting certified.
