Recent Posts from ECHO Staff
In Exile Again
This is the most recent report from Geoff, who is spending his winter as the Station Manager of a science outpost in Greenland. Geoff guides for us on the Rogue River. In case you haven't heard, I have once again turned my back to common sense and returned to the North Pole just in time for winter. Brilliant! Some people get wiser as they get older and others.... they just get older. Up until Saturday there were nine of us up here but five of them...
ECHO Web Site as Dating Service
Adam Farmer, ECHO guide and Rogue River manager, is a very enterprising young man. Having broken up with his long-time girlfriend and waiting in Seattle for the rafting season to begin, Adam decided he would like some female company. So he logged onto Craigslist, went to the personals, and made contact with a woman who looked good and sounded fun. After a few email exchanges she asked him if he could send a photo. As a gypsy guide, Adam didn't have any photos handy. But did...
ECHO Guide Receives Fullbright Fellowship
Kelly Winton, who has been guiding for ECHO since 1983 and now teaches high school in Salmon, Idaho, has received a fellowship from the Japanese Fullbright Memorial Fund for Teachers. Kelly is one of 200 teachers (our of more than 2500 applicants) chosen to spend three weeks of intensive study of Japanese culture and education, and then to share her new knowledge with her community. Jim Toney, Kelly's husband and also long-time ECHO guide, will join Kelly after her stint. The two of them; will travel...
Discounted Kayak Trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon
For 2006 we are offering discounted trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon aimed at hardshell kayakers. This is a great time for kayaking because the water is up and the flowers are in bloom. Of the four trips discounted, two will be five day trips and two are six day trips. The six day trips will have a slower pace with more time for stopping at playspots and hiking. We may even have the opportunity to lay-over at Marble Creek where there is a...
DeRiemer Kayak Trips Almost Full
Each year we run one or two kayak trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon with expert kayak instructors Phil and Mary DeRiemer. For 2006, Phil and Mary have chosen to run two of these trips due to the popularity of the trip that we did in 2005. It's only October and both of these trips are already full. There are only 12 spots available for kayakers on the June 25th trip and 3 spots available on the July 3rd trip. If you are interested...
New For 2005: Share Your Trip Photos
We've developed a new photo page that will allow ECHO customers to post their pictures as well as view pictures from the ECHO digital cameras. The new site, my.echotrips.com, went live last week and we are now using it to share pictures from our recent guide school. For privacy reasons, only invited members are allowed to view pictures from a particular trip. Once your trip is over, you will be sent an invitation to share pictures and thoughts about your recent trip. One of the special...
Guide School ends on the Tuolumne
Our 2005 professional guide school ended with a bang on the Tuolumne last weekend. After hiking into the canyon, we put on at Meral's Pool with 3500 cfs. We spent most of the first day pulling swimmers into boats while floating through big rapids. Our last paddleboat surfed the hole at Clavey Falls for a good 30 seconds and everyone managed to stay in the boat. We discussed our "favorite moments" around the campfire on the last night of our trip and most agreed that our...
Teen Whitewater Camp
Over the years, many parents have asked us to run a whitewater skills camp for teenagers. We are running one this year. It is a seven-day camp, Aug 5 - 11, 2005, on the Salmon River in Idaho. Minimum age is 16 and the cost is $795 per person. This will be an excellent opportunity for young people to pick up basic skills in river running and river camping. We will teach reading water, operating oar rafts, paddle rafts and inflatable kayaks, basic camp skills, camp...
ECHO Whitewater Guide School
We've finalized our plans for our whitewater guide school. We'll begin by meeting at noon on Saturday, March 19th at our Rogue River guide house in Grants Pass, Oregon. On the Rogue, we'll be focusing on camping and rowing oar boats. The guide school will finish on the Tuolumne River where we'll have a chance to focus on our technical water skills as well as safety. The guide school officially ends on Saturday, March 26th in the evening. Check out our Whitewater Guide School page for...
Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum on the Rogue and Tuolumne Rivers
We've set dates for the two trips this year with Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum on the Tuolumne and Rogue Rivers. They'll be joining us on a four day trip on the Rogue from July 27-30, 2004. We will be camping for the first two nights of this trip and spend the third night at Half Moon Bar Lodge. The Rogue River rafting trip will be immediately followed by their tradition three day Tuolumne trip on August 1-3. The dates were chosen so that the two...
