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The Advanced Whitewater School
Graduates of our Professional Guide Schools have asked for more so we’ve introduced graduate school for river guides. The Advanced Whitewater School is intended for the individual with a working knowledge of river guiding and thirst for more.
We chose to offer this course on the Middle Fork of the Salmon at the end of May when the weather is bad and the river is high. You will flip boats, you will swim, and you will be cold. Everyone is expected to have previous training and experience.
The course will consist of six of our younger ECHO guides and is open to six guides from other rafting companies and the general public. We’ve timed this school so that the industrious newbie can take both our Professional Guide School from May 17 - 24, 2008 and the Advanced Whitewater School from May 28 - June 3, 2008.
Learn more about the Advanced Whitewater School.
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The ECHO Office
Check out our spoof of “The Office” intro that we put together here at the ECHO World Headquarters in Hood River, Oregon.
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DeRiemer Kayak Trips Waiting List Now Open
Each year, we offer 2 very popular trips with kayak gurus Phil and Mary DeRiemer. These are highly regarded trips and tend to fill early. Here’s an update as of December 31, 2007.
- There are no kayak spaces and 3 raft spaces left on the June 25, 2008 trip.
- The July 3, 2008 trip is sold out.
we have started a waiting list for kayak spots on both trips.
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Wine & Whitewater, 2008
ECHO is excited for the return of Mumm Napa for a river trip on the Rogue this August! If you have never joined one of these trips, you will be amazed at the combination of days spent braving whitewater and nights sampling still and sparkling wines crafted in the Napa Valley.
ECHO owners, Dick & Joe, dreamed up the brilliant combination of a wine tasting with a river trip over 20 years ago and have managed to accompany many of the trips over the years. For the last 10 years, ECHO has chosen Mumm Napa to provide wine and a wine expert. Days will be spent enjoying the scenery, wildlife and rapids of the Rogue River in southern Oregon, and each evening Tamra Lotz, assistant winemaker at Mumm, will offer a variety of Napa Valley sparkling wines crafted using the traditional methods from Champagne, France. Tamra will also share Mumm’s exclusive collection of still wines. This trip guarantees adventure and “a bit of bubbly” under the stars.
If you are looking to combine your rafting adventure with a touch of refinement, this is the trip for you!
Learn more about Wine & Whitewater, 2008
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Gift Certificates Now Available
The holidays are upon us and why not treat your friends and family to the gift of adventure this year! Memories of a river trip will last a lifetime and from bluegrass trips to wine tasting trips there is something for everyone! ECHO offers gift certificates for use on any of our trips. They are available in any dollar amount up to the entire cost of the trip of your choice and can be mailed to you or your loved one. Purchase before December 22 and receive 10% off the face value!
Gift certificates provide an excellent opportunity to gather your friends and family for a river adventure. ECHO trips are fabulous for special occasions, such as family reunions, bachelor parties, anniversaries or birthdays. Let them know of the adventures that await them this summer with an ECHO gift certificate!
Happy Holidays from the entire ECHO staff!
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Bluegrass on Whitewater, 2008
ECHO is thrilled to announce the return of bluegrass musicians, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum for two exciting river adventures this year. If you have never joined in one of these amazing trips, you will be awed at the combination of days spent braving whitewater and nights enjoying a bluegrass jam.
Laurie and Tom have been accompanying ECHO on river trips for 15 years. As a self-proclaimed “river rat,” Laurie’s love of music is rivaled by her love of the great outdoors. She and Tom try each year to take a break from the road to run rapids. This year, they have chosen to tackle the mighty rapids of the Tuolumne River in northern California as well as the Rogue River in scenic southern Oregon. Both trips guarantee adventure, wildlife and bluegrass under the stars.
If you are looking to combine your rafting adventure with world-renowned musicians Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, this is the trip for you!
Click to learn more about the Tuolumne Bluegrass Trip
Click to learn more about the Rogue Bluegrass Trip
Click to visit Laurie’s Web Site
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Join us on the Futaleufu River in January
In January we’ll be doing a trip on a river that is both extremely wild and comfortable. This is the Class IV and V Futaleufu River in Chile. It’s wild because of the difficult rapids and the rugged terrain. It’s comfortable because we’ll stay in luxurious camps full of amenitites like hot tubs, in tent massages, and excellent food. The scenery is absolutely spectacular.
This is a family trip. How? Because you don’t have to raft any of the big rapids. In fact, this is a full multi-sport adventure complete with horseback riding, zip lines, rock jumping, and canyoneering in addition to the world class rafting. Plus, the camps are full of family friendly activities.
If you’re interested, read our Futaleufu River information, or give Zach a call at (541) 386-2271. He loves to talk about the Fu!
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The ECHO World Headquarters is Moving!
After running ECHO for 36 years, owners Dick Linford and Joe Daly are slowing down. Not disappearing, mind you. Just slowing down. Thanks to computers, phones, and instant messaging Joe will work from his home in Berkeley, California and Dick will work from his new home in Bend, Oregon. Sadly for all of us, Sue Kingsbury and Sadie (the brains behind the whole operation) are retiring. Sue will continue to work on a part time basis and promises to make a guest appearance at new office.
Zach Collier is our new general manager. Zach earned a degree in mechanical engineering from UC Davis in 1996 and an MS in the same from Stanford in 1998. He started guiding for ECHO in 1998. He managed our Tuolumne operation for four years, and ran a sweep rig in Idaho for four years. He spent most of his winters traveling in South America and Asia, and teaching high school math and community college engineering. He has worked in the ECHO office for the past three winters. Each year he has learned more about rafting and ECHO, and has convinced Dick, Joe and Sue that he can run the company. In fact, we know that he is bringing new energy and enthusiasm to the company.
Last year we had a trial run where Zach lived and worked in the town of Hood River, Oregon. It was a success. So we’re moving the ECHO World Headquarters there from Oakland where it’s been for the past 36 years.
Our new office will be in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge and is close to many nearby whitewater rivers including the Class IV White Salmon River. The new location is also geographically between both Rogue River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.
So next month when you call us at (800) 652-3246, we’ll be answering your call in beautiful Hood River. If you’re ever in town, stop by and say hi!
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The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act Turns 40
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is turning 40 this year. Here at ECHO, we celebrate the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act because it provides unparalleled protection for both the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and the Rogue River. In fact, the Middle Fork and the Rogue were two of the original eight “charter” rivers designated by Congress when they signed the act on October 2, 1968. The Act declares:
“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes.”
The original eight Wild and Scenic Rivers are Middle Fork of the Salmon and the Clearwater in Idaho, the Wolf in Wisconsin, the Eleven Point in Missouri, the Middle Fork of the Feather in California, the Rio Grande in New Mexico, the Rogue in Oregon, and the St Croix in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Today there are more than 165 rivers and over 11,000 river miles protected by the Act.
In order to be designated as a Wild and Scenic River, a section of the river needs to be “free flowing” and demonstrate “outstandingly remarkable values” such as scenery, geology, fish and wildlife, historic, or other similar value. Rivers can either be designated by an Act of Congress or by the Secretary of the Interior.
The main purpose of the Act is to protect the free flowing character of America’s rivers by protecting them from dams and water diversions that currently affect most rivers in our country. In addition, every river in the system is managed to protect the “outstandingly remarkable values” for which it was designated by a federal agency such as the Forest Service or BLM. The Act states:
“Each component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System shall be administered in such manner as to protect and enhance the values which caused it to be included without . . . limiting other uses that do not substantially interfere with public use and enjoyment of these values.”
Basically the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act provides unwavering protection for the rivers we run. Thank you Senator Frank Church!
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Behind the Scenes Guide Stories
Textbook River Guide Ingenuity on Bear Camp Road
by Hata Hill
This year we ran a couple of 5 day Rogue trips, which we love because they afford the option of a layover day and more time to enjoy the beauty of the Rogue. Our July 3rd launch was one of these, which meant that we took out on the same day as our July 4th 4 day trip. Our former guide and longtime river running friend Peter Fox had organized the July 3rd trip, and brought along three of his own catarafts. This meant that at Foster Bar we had 10 guides, 39 guests, and 25 boats including all the rafts and duckies! Suffice to say this required both of our trucks to bring all the gear back over Bear Camp Road.
Both trips reported good times had by all, but the shuttle drive was when things got interesting. Our trusty older truck, affectionately known as Charlie Brown to the guides, lost the alternator belt and stopped running once the battery wore down. Geoff and Billy identified the problem and 10 improvising minds set to work. The initial solution was a makeshift belt fabricated out of duct tape. They jump-started Charlie with Howie, our newer diesel flatbed, and got going again. It worked great for a few miles but eventually the friction proved to be too much for the duct tape and they broke down again. This time James suggested they use parachute cord, the stout nylon cordage we use for oar leashes and miscellaneous repairs. (This was appropriate as James’ nickname has been P-cord since guide school in ’06.) They jumped Charlie Brown again and made it home with an alternator belt made out of string.
ECHO Guides Set New Record For On-Time Performance!
by Dick Linford
ECHO is adamant that our guides be on time -or early- when they load their boats the first morning of a trip. Our guides for our August 22 Rogue River trip set a record for promptness that we think will stand for years to come. On Tuesday, August 21, the crew of Zach Byars, Billy Miller, Colleen Winters, Colleen McNally-Murphy and Allison Ahlert were up at 6 AM as usual, and on the road to put-in by 7. Retired Rogue manager Adam Farmer was filling in as manager for Hata Hill and Maggie Hodges, who were on a private Grand Canyon trip. He was making sure things ran like clockwork on his watch.
The crew whipped through getting the boats in the water and rigged. Zach, as lead guide, left at 8:30 to meet our guests at the Galice Lodge. He stopped on his way at the US Bureau of Land Management office to register the trip. The BLM officials informed Zach that ECHO didn’t have a trip starting that day. Our trip started on Wednesday. Zach drove back to put-in just in time to catch Colleen, who had set off in her raft to secure the first night’s camp. After a good laugh, the crew decided to keep the boats in the water and camp at put-in. Someone ran back to the house to get kayaks to play in on the upper river.
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