Meet the ECHO Office
Our office staff and river guides are the most responsible and professional folks in the river rafting business.
From your first phone call to your farewell at the end of the trip, we are dedicated to providing you with a warm and memorable experience.
Dick & Joe
Joe
Daly was born and raised on the Susquehanna River in rural
upstate New York. After finishing college at the State University of
New York at Albany, he worked as a teacher for 10 years in New York
and California before meeting Dick Linford and forming ECHO in 1971.
After 35 years of operating ECHO, Joe remains active in all aspects
of the business. He is personally "on the river" about 20-25
days per season - smiling all the way. Joe was also the president of
the
Tuolumne River Preservation Trust
for ten years.
Dick Linford grew up in western Wyoming and New Mexico. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, he taught high school until forming ECHO with Joe. Dick served on the Board of Directors of American Rivers, the country’s principal river preservation organization, for nine years, and was also president
of America Outdoors, the
national association for outfitters. Like Joe, he spends 20-25 days a year guiding on ECHO trips.
Office Staff
Zachary
Collier was born and raised in Nevada and was drawn to California
where he discovered backpacking, skiing, mountain biking, and river
rafting. Zach soon began exploring rivers throughout California, which
lead him to raft various rivers around the world. Zach started guiding
for ECHO on California’s Tuolumne River in 1998 while finishing
graduate school at Stanford University. After four years of teaching
and traveling, Dick and Joe hired him to help run ECHO. Zach now manages
all of the day-to-day operations and still manages to get in some river
time every summer.
Janda
Rhea headed out west after finishing college and hasn't looked back. She arrived in Oregon in
2001 and quickly fell in love with the mountains, beaches, forests,
and (of course) the rivers. Janda is a great steward of the environment and can always be found on river trips searching for microtrash. In the office, she makes sure we recycle everything possible. She loves to share her enthusiasm for the
great outdoors with our guests, and you'll love the details she remembers when planning your river trip.
- Janda after her first Middle Fork trip
