Bighorn sheep canyon rafting trip

Lali is from Miami, Florida. She is currently earning her coding certificates to ultimately pursue a future in programing, with the intent to sustainability continue a lifestyle in outdoor recreation. Her passions are in analysis, health, and recreation. In her free time, Lali partakes in mindfulness practices, reads, creates art, is a proud cat mom, and partakes in strength/mobility training.

If you can relate to her on any of these levels, it will be easy for either you or her to talk each others ear off!

Pam joined Echo in 2021 after enjoying her three years of guiding on the Cache La Poudre River in Fort Collins. Pam grew up in Aurora, CO, and graduated Colorado State University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in music therapy. Pam is a board certified music therapist, and is the proud founder of Mountain Melodies Music Therapy Services. During the winter months Pam works as an adaptive ski instructor at the National Sports Center for the Disabled, teaching people with cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities how to ski. Pam believes that outdoor recreation should be accessible to all, and she loves taking people of all abilities rafting. In addition to rafting, Pam has enjoyed backpacking, hiking, scuba diving, and earning her skydiving license all in her home state of Colorado.

Hello, my name is Wade. I’m a guide from Oxford, Mississippi. At age 8, I wrestled my first alligator. At age 11, I grinned down my first bear. You see, there’s nothing so absolutely irresistible as an old fashion, good natured grin. I’ve grinned down rivers, women, mountains, bears, burritos and Mexico. I don’t always smile, but when I do, I give ’em the good stuff.

Trinity is from Orange County, California and studies Entertainment & Tourism. Although everyone makes fun of her “valley girl” voice, she is proud to be the only current female guide from Cali. Growing up her summers consisted of restoring homes on Native American reservations across the US and bummin’ it at the beach. She has a wide array of hobbies, rafting being her new favorite. Taking a spiritual approach with rafting has helped her connect to the element of water and appreciate the river’s energy. Trinity’s goal is to perform a one-woman show for all her rafting guests called Safety Speech: The Musical

Come meet Sara, our loudest river guide! She’s sure to whip you into paddling shape right off the bus. She’s always on the hunt for the best waves and the best outfits. Her next move is to be sponsored by Chaco! But for now, she stays rocking the best Echo Canyon guide gear on the Arkansas River. Besides clothes, she’s an expert on the wildlife as well! Be sure to ask her about her favorite animals on the river!

Baker is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and attends the University of Central Oklahoma. He is in his third year of studying Outdoor Community Recreation, and plans to someday become a motivational speaker to outdoor enthusiasts. Some of his favorite activities include picking out new short shorts at the mall, running, and biking up and down 8 mile hill. Baker wants everyone to know that if you get on his boat you’ll be crushing big waves and laughing all the way down the Arkansas River.

Bridget is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  She majored in psychology in school and plans to get her master abroad in Ireland and then teach.  Bridget had never done anything like raft guiding before coming to Echo Canyon River Expeditions in 2017 and she was ready for a new adventure.  Being able to learn new skills during the summers is probably her favorite part about her time here. Aside from rafting, Bridget also plays lacrosse, field hockey, and the guitar. Eventually she wants to hike the El Camino trail through the entirety Spain! Her advice for those of you looking to come train, “use your fear to fuel you!”

From Akron, Ohio (home of LeBron James), Craig trained at Echo Canyon in 2015. He has previously taught history at Northwest High School in Ohio. Craig loves history; he feels the greatest thing about it is that it’s made everyday. His favorite historical event just might be the Cavaliers 2016 NBA Championship run, we aren’t sure we’ve ever seen someone more excited! Craig enjoys rafting because he gets to crack jokes with the boys while also crushing big waves. Eventually he dreams of going down the Grand Canyon and the Congo River. Craig also wants to eventually visit all the National Parks, he has already knocked out 17 of them! DOWN WITH THE DAMS! FREE THE RIVERS!

Coming all the way from Orlando, Florida, Ricky joined Echo in 2015.  He came to Colorado after working as a cook in Alaska, in order to be outside and out of the blazing hot kitchen! Ricky thoroughly enjoys travelling; he has visited many places including Australia, Thailand, Japan, Columbia, and the Caribbean. Ricky’s favorite part of the river is the noise the water makes, as it ebbs and flows and becomes incredibly enchanting. Ricky plans to continue rafting and travelling in the future, he hopes to eventually run the Futaleufú in northern Patagonia. In the winter, Ricky works as a dog sled guide and his favorite dog and best friend is Dragon.

Michelle is our most experienced reservationist at Echo Canyon. She’s worked here since 1996! Michelle can help a guest with questions and complete a phone reservation faster than the average raft run through Sunshine Rapid (average Sunshine run time is 16.9 seconds with a light breeze and moderate river flow). Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating a little, but she’s pretty fast! She’s a teacher at RE-1 School District when not at Echo. She also likes to travel, spend time with her niece and she’s a huge fan of anything Disney.

Don worked for the federal government for 22 years, retired, and then he realized that he’s not very good at being retired. So he got his Commercial Driver’s License and started driving buses for Echo Canyon in the summers and for the school district the rest of the year. Before and after work, Don enjoys riding ATVs, checking out old ghost towns, and visiting his four daughters.

Alfredo is from Beaumont, Texas. He currently attends Lamar University, is a member of the University Cheerleading team and is ultimately pursuing a career in physiology. Rafting has been a passion of his ever since he went for the first time with his Boy Scout troop over a decade ago. Now Alfredo is one of our trainers here at Echo! One fun fact is that he is fairly fluent in Spanish. So if you want to come rafting but are more comfortable in that language have no fear! In his free time he enjoys fishing, cycling, working out and Disney movies.

Spencer has been guiding for the last two decades. He is an eccentric renaissance man, artist, painter, illustrator, poet, playwright, actor, writer, director, MC, photographer, and all around creative whirlwind.  Spencer is also an accomplished Eagle Scout, mountaineer, chocolatier, rock climber, mountain biker, snowboarder, skier, and whitewater ninjedi lunatic. When in the real world, Spencer lives and works in Cañon City, Colorado. Spencer is always hard at work and play.

Andy is our fearless leader and owner of Echo Canyon. He grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and started guiding rafts while in school, just like a lot of our guides today. Now let’s not do any math on his age, but he’s been working in the rafting industry for the past three decades years, the second half of which as the owner of Echo. He’s very active and dedicated to the industry as a whole, involved in the Colorado River Outfitters Association, Arkansas River Outfitters Association, Pikes Peak Country Area Attractions and Colorado Springs Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, just to name a few. He absolutely loves floating rivers (he picked the right profession, right?), and he gets on the river every chance he gets. He and his wife, Karen, have three kids who all play a role in the business as well. They love being able to raise their kids in the fun environment of a rafting company. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with family. All of us here at Echo feel fortunate to work with Andy.

Ben is a Guide and General Manager of Echo Canyon and began working with us in 1994 as a first year raft guide. He keeps busy at Echo with staffing, marketing and social media, but his favorite part of the job is guiding rafts. His home town is Omaha, Nebraska. And in his free free time he likes spending time with his wife, two sons and furry canines. Ben feels very lucky have been able to take so many wonderful rafters down the river, and also that he gets to work with a great group of people.