Rafting outfits going with the flow

You’d think an extra week of raftable September flows on the Tieton River — which figures to be the case this year — might be just the thing to lift the spirits of commercial outfitters vexed by this economic downturn.

Rafters thread their way through rocks in the Tieton River just downstream from Rimrock Retreat Aug. 29, 2009. (GORDON KING, Yakima Herald-Republic)

Except that they don’t seem to be vexed.

“This is one of the most successful seasons we’ve ever had,” said Don Martin, who runs River Recreation, based in Bothell.

The state’s largest rafting outfitter, Blue Sky Outfitters in Peshastin, can even top that.

“We’ve actually had a record-breaking year,” said Terri Sarver, who oversees Blue Sky’s operations with her husband, Brad. In the struggling economy, she added,

“Instead of going on a three-day rafting trip on the Colorado (River) or the Salmon over in Idaho, people still want to go out and do something. And since we offer one-day trips, people can still get out and go play for the day.”

Blue Sky is coming off the most productive August the company has ever had, and the Tieton season may just produce some September magic. This year’s Bureau of Reclamation decision to begin the Tieton “flip-flop” a week earlier than usual means the river — usually not at thrill-inducing whitewater levels until a week into September — is already there.

Flows are already running at close to 1,200 cubic feet per second, probably double the typical levels at the beginning of September — and that meant a bustling opening weekend of rafting before August even ended. The flows are projected to ramp up slowly to a peak in the 2,000-to-2,400 cfs range in mid-month before beginning to come back down. That means there should be as many as four productive whitewater weekends — perhaps even five.

“It’s definitely a positive thing for the rafting community,” Martin said.

“Our Saturdays are expected to definitely sell out,” Sarver said. “We’ll probably raft 200 people every Saturday. Sundays, we’ll probably be at about 100, and weekdays are kind of hit-and-miss.”

Last year’s Tieton rafting season was spotty, primarily because of rafters’ concerns over congestion around the two bridges west of the Windy Point campground. Last year the

Department of Transportation was in the middle of a construction project replacing the two bridges, meaning two rafting take-out areas were inaccesslble.

That project is now almost complete, with traffic using the bridges and only some finishing touches and cleanup remaining. The take-out area Martin’s crews typically used beside the westernmost bridge will remain inaccessible, while the one nearest the east bridge — routinely used as a take-out by the majority noncommercial rafters — is nearly ready.

“The takeout just below the (easternmost) bridge is not quite finished,”

Transportation Department spokesman Mike Westbay said last week. “The contractors are guaranteeing we’ll have that open by the 4th. We’re pushing them to have it open sooner — Sept. 1 is what we’re hoping for.”

Until then, rafters have been leaving the river at the Windy Point campground.

“I think the biggest improvement should be a slightly safer situation on the road,” said Jerry Michalec, proprietor of North Cascades River Expeditions in Arlington, one of the oldest rafting companies in the Northwest.

“It’s always been a fairly dangerous highway to begin with, and then to have a situation like that, where you have people coming off the river, carrying boats across the road, and trying to park and then pulling out with trailers. I’m hopeful the situation should be improved.”

Most commercial rafting companies that run the Tieton offer a 14- to 16-mile trip lasting roughly 21?2 hours, with prices typically running $65 to $80 per person. The price includes wetsuits (and, in some cases, the wetsuit “booties”), safety/training instructions and usually a pre-run or mid-run snack/lunch.

At the upper end of the scale is Blue Sky — “the Cadillac,” according to another outfitter — at $92 per person. Blue Sky’s trip is longer than most, at 21 miles and four hours, and customers also finish their rafting experience with a steak barbecue dinner (or veggie option).