Outdoor Recreation in the valley

As summer begins and temperatures reach record highs, one of the best ways to enjoy the summer is cooling down at the river. While many people choose to enjoy the river on their own, swimming, wading, tubing, rafting, and kayaking independently, others go rafting or tubing through a professional rafting company. 

 

Outdoor recreation is extremely popular in the Leavenworth and Cashmere areas, but coronavirus changed the outdoor recreation game. Gary Planagan, owner of Osprey Rafting Company, said that he had operated his business last summer and didn’t have any issues with the virus being spread. 

 

“We did over 4000 people rafting and we did not have anyone test for COVID,” said Planagan. 

 

However, Planagan still followed health department guidelines. In the summer of 2020, he had customers wear masks from the time that they got out of their cars until they got to the river. He also sanitized equipment constantly. This summer, customers are only wearing masks on the bus to the river since masking guidelines have changed. 

 

Planagan said that he hasn’t run into any issues with his employees contracting coronavirus while at work. In the winter, he operated a ski shop renting cross country and downhill skis and limited the number of customers in the building at a time. 

 

Meanwhile, D.J Tuttle, owner of Action Rafting in Cashmere, said that he didn’t open his business last year because he was concerned about coronavirus. This year, everyone who works for him has been vaccinated, so he is a lot less concerned about the virus.

 

“My concern level has definitely dropped. I've noticed that since we started this season to now in the season my concerns definitely went down”, said Tuttle. 

 

However, his business is not completely back to normal operations. Tuttle said that he is currently running at about 50 to 60 percent of his normal business levels. Part of the reason for the reduced business is because corporate and community groups are not booking trips this summer. But Tuttle said that he is still making a profit despite major hits. 

 

The worst part for his business was early spring because it still wasn’t clear how coronavirus would affect businesses at that point. Tuttle started rafting operations for the Wenatchee for the year in April and he will keep operations going until the water gets too low. After that, his business will transition to the Yakima river. 

 

Osprey Rafting also ran into financial difficulties. In 2020, the business was down over 25 percent and he suffered employee losses. Because he had so few employees, he had to turn customers away from rafting in 2020. A lot of his employees have come back for 2021 and he has also trained new employees. 

 

Osprey Rafting normally offers food on the beach after their rafting and tubing trips finish, but they have been unable to offer their customers food this year and last. Restaurants around the area are still short on staff and so they aren’t doing lunches this year. 

 

The high water this year has made the river more hazardous. Osprey Rafting has invested in extra training for their raft guides so they are better equipped to deal with hazards. Action Rafting is taking safety seriously as well. Tuttle said that he has some of the “most experienced” guides out there and that his top five guides average about 30 years of rafting experience per guide. 

 

Osprey Rafting used to operate out of the corner of Highway 2 in Leavenworth, but recently they have moved their headquarters to Cashmere. Planagan said that he sold the property and that operating out of Cashmere has been a much better atmosphere.

 

Both the City of Leavenworth and the City of Cashmere charge a fee for business owners who use city property on the river for commercial purposes. Cashmere charges $2.50 per rafter, excluding guides. Leavenworth charges $3.00 per passenger for rafting.

 

The City of Leavenworth used to charge 5.5% of gross receipts for commercial tubing, but on June 22, 2021 they approved a resolution to change the fee structure to $4.50 per person, said Christie Voos, Communications Analyst for the City of Leavenworth. 

 

Osprey Rafting does not use City of Leavenworth property for their tubing trips as they start at the KOA and end in Peshastin. However, they use City of Leavenworth property for their rafting operations. 

 

Voos said that the city is using the tubing fee to fund more garbage cans, porta potties, and amenities along the tubing pathway. The city contracted with a company that will take care of porta potties on the weekend to handle the increase of visitors during that time. 

 

The fee schedule is in place for the City of Leavenworth as a pilot program to handle the influx of visitors who want to enjoy outdoor recreation in the area to keep people safe and protect against the environmental impacts of so many visitors to the river, said Voos. 

 

The city is also funding a take a life jacket, leave a life jacket program at major tubing areas for those who don’t go with a company, said Voos. Tubers will be able to take a life jacket from the major areas where tubing starts and leave the life jacket at common take out points. Only 40 percent of tubers float the river with a company. 

 

Voos said the new fee schedule for tubing is a pilot program and that is why businesses are being charged. Even though the fee puts the burden of payment on the business owners, that may not be the case in the future. 

 

Outdoor recreation on the river has slowly increased in popularity in the valley and that popularity will probably continue to increase making it a complicated issue to figure out how to handle all the visitors in Cashmere and Leavenworth who enjoy rafting, swimming, and tubing. 

 

Although the future is to be seen, this summer the river will be well enjoyed. For Tuttle, operating rafting this year in Cashmere after a year away has been “a lot nicer”. He said that seeing clientele that he missed the year before and being able to hang around with employees and friends was a highlight of reopening.