Fall in the
Skagit Valley
June 4, 2008
Watch the Video from King 5 Television:
Northwest Evening Magazine
Look for us on King TV tonight
- Channel 5 at 7 PM & 8 PM one of our gold panning trips on the
Nooksak River is featured on NW Backroads & Evening Magazine.
May 2008
 Definitely
the time to start thinking about White Water in the Pacific NW
- with big water coming from the snow melt we're anticipating
great excitement on the Wenatchee
- want a little milder experience - the book your intro to white water
on the Upper Skagit!
March 2007
Spring Has Sprung! offer introduced.
Book any of our Spring or Summer adventure before April 15th and
receive 15% off at the time of booking! This is a great reason
to get a group of family or friends together and enjoy all the beauty
that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
Web Special! Add a Tulip Festival Tour
to your Zodiac or Estuary Adventure in April only!
September 2006
September 24: What a
spectacular day on the Skagit - great white water fun and warm
weather. With the temperature today above 80 - the fall is a good time
to enjoy the outdoors and drag out the Indian Summer. If you think
you've missed the last white water of the season in the Pacific NW -
think again and come up on the Skagit for a weekend getaway.
March 2006
 New Ethno botany Tours & Spring in the
Skagit Valley Dave
Sansone, who teaches for the North Cascades Institute, has agreed to
teach several classes for us this Spring. There will be lessons on
plant identification, ethical gathering practices and traditional use
of plants for food, fiber, medicine and shelter. You’ll explore
meadows and woodlands along the river, forage in nature’s well-stocked
pantry and learn how to collect in a safe and legal manner while
preserving plant habitats. I've known Dave for years and we are very
fortunate to have him teaching with us. The groups are quite limited
so you'll want to schedule this one early - it's only available until
June. If you've ever rafted with us for the Skagit Bald Eagle trip you
may have met Dave - you'll now learn about his passion with a trip
like no other offered. Click here to check out the new information or
give a call to our office. Ethnobotany
Float
March 2006
 March
7, 2006: From my office window I have a beautiful view of
mountains and fields. What's amazing about the view is the variety of
birds that we watch right from the window. Currently there have been
marching armies of mallard ducks - and I mean hundreds of them. As the
farmer has been plowing and fertilizing the fields the mallards fly in
and "march" in circles, feeding all along the way. I have never seen
so many at one time - it's a good thing it's not hunting season!
Earlier in the fall and into winter we viewed the trumpeter swans in
the fields also by the hundreds. One "family" came in front of our
window every afternoon. On day recently I even looked out and there
was a beautiful blue heron who seemed
 to
be looking straight at me - I got out my camera to take a quick
picture and off he flew.
Spring in the Skagit Valley is coming - the daffodils are starting
to bloom in the fields which means the tulips are just around the
corner. April 1st is the beginning of the Skagit Valley Tulip festival
which lasts all month. You won't want to miss this
gorgeous array of fields in bloom - along with our annual Secret
Skagit Birding trip.
October 2005
The Eagles are coming! We've
been on the river a few times this month and there are already eagles
for viewing. With the weather changing, the Skagit Valley is a
beautiful place for a day trip whether you can get on the river or
just take a road trip. We are so fortunate to live in this beautiful
place where we can view birds right in our own back yard.
January 2005
This first week in January we have seen so many eagles - often
around 150 to 200 per trip - we actually loose count after awhile! We
were just featured in an article by Greg Johnston of the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer which you can find in the Getaway section of the
January 6th paper. We had a great bunch of folks with us the day we
went - and saw somewhere around 150 eagles. Read more on line
about this trip:
Getaway
One place not to miss when you come up the Skagit River for an
eagle trip is Clark's Resort and their Eatery Restaurant.
Tootsie Clark is one of our favorite people and offers good food &
warm hospitality. If you want to make your trip up to the Skagit
an overnight adventure, be sure and check out our packages with Clarks
where you'll have your overnight accommodations, breakfast & a Skagit
River eagle trip rolled into one.
December
2004
 December 12, 2004: Our band of
rafters on Sunday were privileged with beautiful weather and well over
a hundred eagles. Along with us was Seattle's KUOW
reporter
Cathy
Duchamp who was putting a story together about the eagles
on the Skagit for NPR radio. We'll keep you posted on when her
story will air. If you'd like to listen (or read) her story you
can click here :
KUOW story
What better way to celebrate the holidays than getting out with family
and friends to see the eagles along the Skagit!
December is already proving to be a terrific month for eagle watchers.
Last weekend we were witness to somewhere around a hundred eagles
along the Skagit. So if you are one of the lucky who has
everything ready for the holidays - this is a great time to beat the
crowds in January and February. Enjoy the wilderness with warm
hospitality and food and reflect on the spirit of nature's wonder.
October 2004
If my 80 year old mother-in-law can go
rafting on the Skagit, then so can you!: Last week I took
my mother-in-law, wife, sister-in-law and friends on a mid-week eagle
raft trip down the Skagit River. Now you have to understand that
my mother-in-law, Martha who lives in Delaware, is going to be 80
years old on her next birthday. When I asked if she'd like to see some
eagles on the Skagit, without hesitation she said YES! Actually
I was not surprised since she has gone with us on several raft trips -
including a white water section of Oregon's famous Rogue River; the
Gila River in Arizona and for her 75th Birthday party in Alaska, the
entire family including the birthday girl, children and grandchildren
went on a raft trip down the Chilkat River through the
Chilkat Bald
Eagle Preserve. Martha got in and out of the raft on her own and
thoroughly enjoyed the 5 eagles, blue heron and other birds along with
the absolutely gorgeous scenery. Stops at Cascadian Farms for hot
chocolate and a trip out to Padilla Bay and up Chuckanut Drive
competed a wonderful day in the Pacific Northwest.
Enjoy our Gourmet Sunday Brunch:
New this season is our "soon to be famous" gourmet breakfast before
the Skagit River Bald Eagle Raft trip. Meet us at 9 AM for a
scrumptious breakfast and continue on up river for an
Excerpts From Our November 2003 News Letter
Why Raft With Pacific Northwest Float Trips?
Dave Button who founded Pacific Northwest Float Trips was born and
raised along the Skagit River having lived with his family in Newhalem, WA. After he graduated from Western Washington University, and
completed his army service, he returned to the Skagit Valley to teach
school.
Pacific NW Float Trips became the first Washington commercial raft
company after taking a trip with the famous Georgie While on the
Colorado River in 1973. Button combined his teaching career with
Rafting until he devoted himself full-time to Rafting and Tours in
Washington & Alaska. The company provides daily trips on the Chilkat
River in Haines, Alaska through the Bald Eagle Preserve; on the Skagit
, Nooksack & Wenatche Rivers. All Guides have current CPR & First Aid
Training. Dave is a swift water rescue Trainer and his company has an
impeccable safety record. The company is fully insured and has been
operating now for 30 years.
Pacific NW Float Trips takes pride in being ecologically conscious
so we can preserve all areas for generations to come Our company has
provided custom trips for adventurous travelers in Alaska since the
1980’s both on land and on Rivers. Our goal is to provide you with a
wilderness experience that will remain with you for the rest of your
life.
Best Viewing for Eagles Is On the River / Great Winter Eagle
Viewing
By far the best viewing of eagles through the Skagit River Bald
Eagle Natural Area is on the river. A gentle float trip through this
areas affords optimum photography opportunities and sightings.
While you are on the river, you will be able to see eagles on both
sides of the river in places you could never see as an observer from
the banks or road. We do ask that you keep your voices down so the
eagles are not disturbed as we float, but you can click your cameras
as much as you like.
Bring your cameras and dress for the weather is the rule of thumb
for these incredible winter trips. The first trips are offered in
December and continue through the first part of March as long as there
are still eagles.
Call us on our toll free number to book your trip 866-298-6287.
Also, look at our web site
www.PacificNWFloatTrips.com for further information. We’ll
see you on the River!
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