Echo forever!

I used to be nervous when talking about Echo Lake because I was afraid it might change if an excess of people knew about it.

I'm officially changing that position because I now realize that it will never change.

And in fact it might need a little publicity from time to time.

Of course the services will alter, but the actual facility known as Lower and Upper Echo Lake is basically a forever thing as long as the forest service doesn't start charging $250,000 a year for their land leases.

I worked at Echo in the summers of 1963-64-65-and maybe a little in 66. I have a friend from that time period who I can easily say is one of my best friends even though I haven't seen him in 12 years.

His name is Dr. Francis Joseph Conlan and he doesn't make house calls unless you have a math problem.

His non doctor name is Butch and today he is probably getting ready to leave Echo Lake after spending the entire month of September in his cabin......

All Cabins are only reached by boat unless you really feel like walking and then there is a trail....sort of.

The taxi boat service takes people to the beginning of Desolation Valley but access is only available during the summer because during the winter it looks like the mountains passes approaching Tibet.

SNOW makes it impossible to access the cabins during the winter so Echo Lake truly becomes a summer resort.

The current owner of Echo Chalet, which is the service arm of the resort, is Dr. Tom Fashinel and very dear friend of Dr. Butch's. Dr. Tom is not a math doctor but does something with brains....maybe like in the Man with Two Brains.....

When I worked at Echo Lake as a boat boy I was employed by a man named Jorgy. The most notable thing I remember about Jorgy was the gas that he would pass anywhere, anyplace and anytime........loud boomers. WHAMOS! WINDOW BANGERS LOUD.....and the best part would be standing by him and seeing the face of someone who didn't know him. I'm serious when I tell you that he could be shaking your hand for the first time and blow one off....and you could be a hot babe or a ten year old.....it just didn't matter to Jorgy.

Priceless memory.

The summers I worked at Echo only cost me about $50. Each time I checked out for the winter I would sit down and Jorgy would go over the records and because of store credits and draws I would actually owe him money. I think he would say something like....."don't worry I'll get it from you next summer."

Of course in 1963 I was making $1.25 as a general flunky.

In 1964 I was a certified Boat Boy and I think my pay went to $ 1.75 an hour.

In 1965 I think I worked for free because of what I owed the previous summer.

They were three of the greatest summers of my life.

Every freaking year I plan on going to Echo for a short visit with Butch but alas something happens and the last time I was there was 1998. I took Lily and her friend Rachel. Butch got exposed to young pre-teen girls and I'm not sure he ever recovered.

In fact it might have been 1996 and they might have been ten which really makes it scary.

I'm having this Echo moment because I woke up from a Echo dream about 45 minutes ago.

The water was very low and there were large rocks in the middle of the lake and people were practicing climbing. I mean very large rocks that seemed to extend hundreds of feet in the air.

When driving a taxi boat with 30 people on board it used to part of the job description to

AVOID THE ROCKS.....both in the canal and on the approach to the canal.

THE CANAL between the Upper and Lower Echo is it's own story....and I shall tell you about it at another time.

IF YOU HAVE ANY REASON TO BE IN THE LAKE TAHOE AREA DURING THE SUMMER YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO MAKE THE SHORT TRIP OFF HIGHWAY 50 AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO ECHO LAKE. I PROMISE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT.

AND FROM ALL INDICATIONS VERY LITTLE HAS CHANGED......

and that's something that doesn't get said very often anymore.........

very little has changed......except of course for the forest service lease fees.......

Michael Timothy McAlevey