Archive for 2006

Experience the Best of Both Worlds – Rogue Lodge Trips

by ECHO Staff on December 28th, 2006

Mule Creek Canyon on the Rogue RiverThroughout the spring and early summer, ECHO River Trips is offering a whitewater adventure with all the comforts of home. These three-day lodge trips on Oregon’s Rogue River combine running the wild and scenic River by day and relaxing in a rustic riverside lodge at night. The private lodges are comfortable, providing all the amenities of home, and are set back from the River so they can’t be seen. Most of the rooms are in cabins away from the main lodge. The lodge trips begin May 19 and 29, June 6, 13, 20, and 27, 2007.

The Rogue River offers the perfect combination of exciting but safe rapids, warm water, a lovely green canyon, a comfortable pace, and plenty of wildlife. It is a wonderful river for families and beginners, yet it still offers enough whitewater excitement for young adults, and river veterans. Over three days, guests will travel the same 38 mile stretch of River that is usually done in four days on the camping-only trip.

The first night’s stay is at the Black Bar Lodge. The staff at the lodge will transport guests’ luggage and equipment to their rooms. There is ample time to hike around the premises or relax on the lawn. Dinner will be served as a group in the lodge. This is a day to tell stories about the upcoming rapids and bond with other travelers.

Black Bar Lodge on the Rogue RiverThe second night will be spent at a scenic lodge downriver from the famous Blossom Bar Rapid. Again, the staff at the lodge will transport guests’ bags to their rooms and guests will have the opportunity to explore the grounds and participate in many of the activities that the lodge has to offer. These activities include a five-hole “wild and scenic” gold course, hiking trails, and a wide variety of games. A hearty dinner will be served inside the lodge amongst newfound friends.

On the last day of the trip, guests will wake up to breakfast and coffee before loading into the rafts and floating down to our take-out at Foster Bar.

This post was tagged with , and posted in Rogue River Rafting.

Twas the Night Before Put-In

by ECHO Staff on December 7th, 2006

Twas the night before put-in when all through the town,
Everyone gathered for the head guide’s low-down.
He gave us our dry sacks, sleeping bags and pads,
And told us the trip plan, boy were we glad.

“Duckies,” he said, “are definitely a blast,
“And fishing boats are perfect for those who can cast.”
The children were wiggling in their seats with glee,
Thrilled for the river trip when they could roam free.

After talk of fun whitewater, bighorns, and more,
We made a last-minute trip to grab stuff from the store.
The kids got Nalgenes, headlamps, and chapstick.
Mom grabbed gin, I got the tonic.

Later that evening after packing our things,
We called the front desk to get our wake-up rings.
Then we curled up in bed, to get a good sleep,
The kids were out fast, without even a peep.

Twas late the night before put-in, when all through the Lodge
Not a person was stirring except from a dreamer’s collage.
The camera and film were packed with great care,
In hopes that good photos would be taken out there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of rapids danced in their heads,
And Mamma and I, in our new capilene,
of soaking in hotsprings, and wine we did dream.

Twas the morning of put-in, at seven we did wake,
Grabbed our dry bags and headed to the bus we would take.
The guides greeted us with smiles as they lent us a hand,
And lucky for us, there was also a bluegrass band.

The guides rigged our bags and last minute stuff,
And we oohed and aahed, “they’re so strong and so buff.”
We jumped in our boats, and made quite a racket,
As we raced to get ready and put on our life jackets.

The river was flowing clear and clean,
A rip-roaring, free falling, big mountain stream.
The kids and I were in kayaks, shouting with glee,
Ecstatically immersed in whitewater sea.

Some folks fished with incredible skill (and luck),
The salmon and trout, were like magnets (they stuck!)
We stopped and feasted on a gourmet lunch,
I looked around – what a happy bunch.

After more rapids, thrills, and excitement,
We pulled into camp and made our way to our tents.
We grabbed our chairs and filled our cups,
Sat down for happy hour and jokes about ducks.

We ate brie and chipotle for an appetizer snack,
Then I took five for a pre-dinner nap.
That evening, by the campfire, a feast we did eat,
Pesto Pasta, Teriyaki Salmon, and a Dutch Oven treat.

My son turned to me, his face covered with cake,
He got an extra piece for keeping watch while it did bake.
“Life doesn’t get any better than this, Dad,
I don’t want it to end, it will be way too sad!”

“We have five more days, Son, we’ll all enjoy floatin’,
“Adventures we’ll have while we’re whitewater boatin’”
Well the days they went by, too quickly it seemed,
But fun times were had by all, great times indeed.

The last night we told our favorite stories from the vacation,
For some it was a surprise swim, others loved the relaxation.
We hugged and cheered, and said our good byes,
Glad that together we’d had the time of our lives.

We hope you enjoyed our poetic holiday spoof,
Although we sometimes exaggerate, this is all the truth!
We’re counting the days ’till rafting starts in the spring,
For now, Happy Holidays from ECHO, river dreams we do bring.

by ECHO guide Tessa Sibbet

This post was tagged with , , and posted in General News, Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

Just in Time for the Holidays – Rafting Gift Certificates

by ECHO Staff on November 20th, 2006

Rafting Gift CertificatesWe all know that the post Thanksgiving, holiday shopping frenzy is about to begin. It usually means lots of traffic, no parking spots, crowds, and lines, lines, lines. Want to avoid that and do something different this year? Can’t decide what to give your family, friends, or even yourself for the holidays? We have some ideas:

  • For the kids: An adventure. An adrenaline rush. An endless playground. The opportunity to learn something new, like kayaking.
  • For the college student who wants to be a river guide: Guide School.
  • For your wife: Gourmet meals by the river. Wine tasting. Sunsets. Hot springs. Time with the kids away from TV and phones.
  • For your husband: Fisherman’s heaven. A camping trip. Rafting. Bar-be-que. Great hiking.
  • For yourself: The best gift of all – A river rafting vacation!

If you’re not sure which week, or on which river, you want to go rafting, then a gift certificate is the perfect present.

Gift certificates for ECHO River Trips are now available. They can be for a portion or the entire cost of the trip. From November 20 until December 25, 2006, they will be sold at 10% off the face value of the certificate – a special holiday discount.

This post was tagged with , and posted in General News.

ECHO Strives Towards Web 2.0

by ECHO Staff on November 15th, 2006

The other day Joe Daly, (The Most Modern Man in America), came into ECHO World HQ and said, “Zach, do we need to worry about Web 2.0? More specifically, is ECHO Web 2.0?” Zach looked at Joe and said, “ECHO is more like Web 1.7, but we’re working towards 2.0.” ECHO has recently taken a few small steps toward 2.0.

  • Flickr ScreenshotFlickr. The first is the addition of ECHO Middle Fork photos on Flickr. On Flickr, people can view and comment on photos that capture the essence of an ECHO river trip. Hot Springs, double duckies, waterfalls, campfires, and games, are all depicted in the photos. Flickr has a great photo slideshow feature, so new or returning guests can get a better visual of what their trip will be like.
  • YouTube. Reality TV that is actually real. We just posted a 1:30 video clip of the Middle Fork. It has some great footage of rafting, duckying, wildlife, and awesome scenery. The background music is played by Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum who do the famous “Bluegrass on Whitewater” trip with us each year. If you have any personal videos of ECHO Trips, please send them our way, or post them and let us know!
  • Squidoo. ECHO now has a lens on Squidoo.com. On the lens you can view the Flickr pictures, read the ECHO Blog, vote for your favorite Dutch Oven meal, and check out other website that are related to ECHO and to rafting.
  • Myspace. You’ve all heard of it by now. It’s the 4th most-visited site on the internet. The myspace craze has spread to the music industry and now to the outdoor industry as well. So, ECHO River Trips made a myspace page. It is a great networking tool and a fun way to keep guides, guests, and the ECHO community in the loop. If you have a myspace page, add us as a friend!
  • Digg. The final improvement is that ECHO Blogs can now be Dugg (yes, that’s now an accepted verb!) straight from our website by clicking the Digg icon ( Digg ) below. Digg.com is a news tool that allows the general public to submit stories on the web, vote on them (Digg ‘em), and comment. So, Joe, we’re taking small steps, but ECHO is getting closer to 2.0 everyday!

This post was tagged with and posted in General News.

Middle Fork Guide Book Wins Award

by ECHO Staff on November 10th, 2006

Middle Fork of the Salmon River BookLast summer, to the delight of many of ECHO’s Idaho guides and guests, a new guide book became available for the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. The Middle Fok of the Salmon River: A Comprehensive Guide, by Matt Leidecker, is not just a mile-by-mile guide to the rapids on the Middle Fork, but also an excellent resource for history, geology, campsites, hiking trails, and wildlife in the canyon. It also contains outstanding photographs and stories about the Middle Fork . Rafting guests enjoyed following along in the book as they floated down the river, pointing out waterfalls, plants, and marvelling at photos of the rapids at high water levels. The book also provides descriptions for running eight of the biggest rapids on the Middle Fork including Pistol Creek, the Tappan Rapids, Devil’s Tooth, Redside, and Webber. These descriptions are very useful visuals for adventurous folks who choose to go in an inflatable kayak, or “ducky.”

Because of the vast information it provides about the Middle Fork canyon, the high-quality guide recently won for the outdoor advenutre guide book category at the National Outdoor Book Awards. The book awards are part of the larger National Conference on Outdoor Recreation and Education. Matt Leidecker a photographer and river guide on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, is also the author of Impassable Canyon – A Journey Down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Both of these books would make excellent gifts for anyone who has ever been, or is planning to go on a rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon. You can purchase them online at Matt Leidecker’s Web Site.

This post was tagged with , , and posted in Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

Guest Comments about the Rogue

by ECHO Staff on October 25th, 2006

Now that the Rogue River rafting season is behind us, we’re taking time to reflect on this past season. We’ve been particularly touched by one of our customers who sent us a friendly email and enthusiastically answered our evaluation questions. This is from an experienced rafting family that did their first commercial trip (on the Rogue) this past summer.

His response to “What is the one thing you liked most about this rafting trip?” was:

“Everything about this trip rates a “10″ — the guides, the scenery, the food, the wildlife. But the sheer luxury of our first guided trip was the creme de la creme.”

And his response to: “Why did you like that aspect of the Rogue River rafting trip the most?” was:

“After 8-10 private trips each exceeding a week (the Salmon, the Middle Fork, Grand Canyon), we are familiar with the amount of effort that goes into planning & preparation, daily setup & take down, & post-trip cleanup — we didn’t miss it…”

After the trip, he sent us the following email:

“For our first commercial trip, ECHO on the Rogue is going to be hard to top! (Maybe ECHO on the Middle Fork…?) It’s hard to rank what was best: the wildlife, the guides, the scenery, the food, or the camaraderie. But my wife knows — the ease of the trip ranks No. 1 with her! No pre-trip cooking & freezing, no packing & unpacking the boats, no on-the-beach setup, cooking & cleanup; she’s definitely among your No. 1 fans.

I don’t know whether we just lucked out with our guides or if they’re typical of ECHO’s employees, although I suspect the latter is the case. Chip, Amber & Jessie were everything I’d look for in river guides — skilled & knowledgeable, good cooks, good company, & good medics. (They had a chance to show their first-aid skills when one of our group avulsed a fingertip.) And given the somewhat random collection of people on the trip, the amity that developed among the entire group was the frosting on the cake, epitomized by the shared e-mail addresses & hugs all around at Foster Bar.”

This post was tagged with , and posted in Rogue River Rafting.

The Return of the Salmon Supreme

by ECHO Staff on October 17th, 2006

Snow on the Middle ForkA few hearty souls have prompted us to bring back the “Salmon Supreme.” This is a seven day combination of the Middle Fork and Main Salmon when we expect the water to be it’s highest and the weather to be it’s coldest. This trip would normally take twelve days to finish the 161 to 186 miles, but with high water we can do it in seven.

This is a trip for those of you that want to experience an adventure. If the water is too high, we’ll have to fly in to Indian Creek and only run 161 miles. If the weather is too bad, we’ll have to spend the day playing cards under tarps and in our tents. This is the kind of trip that legends are made of and stories are told about for years to come.

Learn more about the “Salmon Supreme” >>

This post was tagged with , , , , and posted in Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Special Trips.

Donovan Clavey Martin – ECHOs Newest Guide

by ECHO Staff on October 5th, 2006

Dan and Sonja are proud to announce Donovan Clavey Martin, the newest member of the ECHO family, who entered this world last Sunday, September 24, 2006 at 2:31 PM. Donovan came in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and 21 inches long. He has quite the geneology for river guiding as both of his parents are long time river guides with a passion for boating. In fact, Sonja spent the summer in the ECHO office while pregnant with Donovan.

Many of you may recognize his middle name. The Clavey River is a tributary to the Tuolumne River that we camp alongside and hike up on many of our trips. It is a special place for Dan and Sonja.

This post was tagged with , and posted in Guide News.

Raft Chiles Futaleufu River with ECHO

by ECHO Staff on October 3rd, 2006

Rio Futaleufu, Chile In January 2007, ECHO River Trips will offer adrenaline junkies of all ages a chance to float the world famous Rio Futaleufu in Chile. Affectionately known as the “Fu”, this river has the planet’s most intense, class V rapids available to rafters. ECHO River Trips combines non-stop hydraulics with world-class river guides, fantastic cuisine, rock climbing, horseback riding, canyoneering in exotic Patagonia for the ultimate adventure experience. Safety is the #1 priority, thus enabling almost anyone to experience the beauty and awe of the Futaleufu.

Includes: Round trip air charter flights from Puerto Montt to Chaiten and return. Vehicle transportation from Chaiten to the river and return. Hotel in Chaiten on day 2. All camping gear. Meals beginning dinner day 2 and ending with breakfast day 9. Horses and mountain bikes. Climbing gear when needed. Dates: January 13 – 22, 2007 Price: $3000

The price does not include: Commercial flights to/from U.S. to Santiago or to/from Santiago to Puerto Montt. Guide gratuities. Service of a professional masseuse in some camps. Video or DVD of the trip. Hotel on day 9.

Ten day excursion features incredibly blue water, breath-taking alpine scenery, rapids ranging from Class III to Class V, and luxurious permanent camps, river carved stone hot tubs, and wonderful off-river activities. The Futaleufu River has a few sections of Class V whitewater that some may choose not to do. A beautiful horseback and hiking trail that follows the river opens the trip to anyone, regardless of experience as they can choose to walk around any of the big rapids.

Learn more about rafting the Futaleufu River >>

This post was tagged with , and posted in International Trips, Special Trips.

We Raft by Jacob Judd

by ECHO Staff on September 26th, 2006

In that valley, where eagles fly
Where the river cuts our path
Where flies buzz
And fish swim
We raft

We start in the morning
We end before dark
Through rapids and forests
And sometimes just floating
We raft

We start off the day
By packing our tents
And then we are ready
To head out again
We raft

We reach the new camp
We set up again
Maybe take a nap
In a chair by the bank
We rest

When all is quiet
And the night is done
We wait for tomorrow
Boy is this fun
We rest

In that valley where eagles fly
Where the river has cut our path
Where flies buzz
And fish swim
We raft

Written by Jacob Judd, age 13, after a summer ’06 Middle Fork of the Salmon trip.

This post was tagged with , and posted in Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

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