High Adventure on the Wenatchee River
Osprey Rafting has been an anchor of the Leavenworth, WA white water rafting community for 25 years
Averaged statewide, the 2014–15 winter (spanning October to March) in Washington State was the warmest on record, with temperatures 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Despite near-normal precipitation in our region, the warm temperatures caused a disproportionate amount of precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow in the mountains. Lack of snow not only hurt the local ski economy, it also presented a problem for the agricultural and freshwater ecosystems that depend on normal snowmelt runoff in the spring to survive the dry summer. And it especially hurt people like Gary Planagan who, for 25 years had owned and operated Leavenworth-based Osprey Rafting, a company that provides guided white water excursions down the Wenatchee River.
With a lack of snowpack — the source of the Class III and IV white water that arrives in the spring each year once the snow begins to melt — the Wenatchee was at the lowest levels Gary had seen in his career, measured in CFS — cubic-feet-per-second (a river is considered having high water when the CFS is 3,000+, low water is around 200/300 CFS.) “We had no water,” he tells me, “(and I) was debating whether I should have a rafting company or not. I wasn’t feeling good about stuff.”
Then, unexpectedly, a mysterious man appeared at the school library where Janice, Gary’s partner of 32 years, was working at the time, and handed her an envelope. “Give this to Gary,” he told her. “He took me rafting when I was homeless, and I want him to know that it made a difference,” and with that, he disappeared as quickly as he arrived. She brought the envelope home to Gary and when he opened it, he found a significant amount of cash — enough to help float him financially for the rest of that barren season. “Some experiences are meaningful,” Gary says about the man. “Being a raft guide, every once in a while you make a difference. When he showed up, it was like the universe spoke out as, ‘it’s ok, you can continue on. You do make a difference’”.
Gary has been looking for the anonymous man ever since, and “continue on” with the business he did. Since 1991, Osprey, the company he started in his backyard with “one boat and an Aerostar van” has flourished under his watchful eye, and is poised to have one of it’s best years in 2021. That’s not to say things have been easy — 2020 was, by no surprise, a down year in the rafting industry, and for most of the outdoor recreation industry. In Gary’s case, that was due mostly to a loss of income from corporate events and summer camps which accounts for about 25% of the company’s annual revenue.
In an average year, Osprey, one a handful of white-water recreational vendors using Leavenworth and its surrounding communities (including Cashmere to the south) as their base of operations, will shuttle between 3500–6000 people down the Wenatchee, Methow and Tieton rivers in their signature big red rafts, inner tubes, paddle boards, or just about anything else they can get through the water. In particular, inner tubing and paddle boarding have gained in popularity in recent years, and Osprey jumped onto that trend early. A few years ago, Gary negotiated a lease on the riverfront of an apple orchard just outside of town, and set up a rental business on the shores of a popular surf spot known as “Happy Wave”- a popular spot with locals late in the season at “low water”. Here, revelers can rent various watercraft, grab a snack or just hang by the river, watching white water aficionados perfecting their tricks on the wave.
In a busy season, Osprey will see as many as 8000 customers, each paying on average between $65-$75 a head. After expenses, which include staff, fuel, insurance, broken down vans (“raft guides are always wreckin’ em”), “put-in” fees (the City of Leavenworth recently raised theirs to $3/boat, Cashmere charges $2.75), food, rent, advertising, and photography, Gary is lucky to make a 10% profit. In the winter, Osprey rents out ski and snowboard equipment to offset expenses. The economics are not for everyone, and for Gary especially, it was never just about the money.
When he got started, rafters in Leavenworth, Gary tells me, were viewed by locals as “a bunch of hippie river people trespassing anywhere they wanted to, changing out of wetsuits in the open.” Gary, as has become his signature, recognized a growing trend early. “The future of people coming to Leavenworth was (going to be) for the outdoor recreation.” After moving to the area for the logging industry and spending a year guiding trips for the already established outfitters in town, Gary, at the urging of his wife, went into business for himself.
“Gary’s always been a pioneer,” says Kevin Rienke, second generation owner of the popular Hat and Toy Shops in downtown Leavenworth. “He brought mountain culture to Leavenworth. Rafting has become a huge attraction for people seeking adventure and Gary was one of the first. He’s always adapted in my mind.”
It’s having the ability to be flexible and adapt that has kept the business going for 29 years. That, and a not-so-subtle reminder of why he started Osprey in the first place. “I’ve seen people in this business where I don’t know why they’re doing it, they don’t even like people… I did it because I wanted to raft every day, I love sharing (the river) with people who’ve never been on it before.”
Gary’s current and former employees agree that he’s in it for the right reasons. “Once you meet Gary, you probably won’t forget him for a long time,” says Jarrid Johnson, a Leavenworth local who started guiding with Osprey in 2006 and now helps with the rookie training program that Osprey runs every May. “Rafting’s intense. It’s in the moment and demands competence. Working with Gary is challenging at times, he’s got his finger in every little thing sometimes,” he says, “but that’s what has made Osprey successful.”
Gary laughs when I mention this to him. “I agree with him 100%.” he says. “I know what good guiding is and what bad guiding is. I’d see mistakes made, kind of like a person that has a good ear for music. When you hear something wrong, it irritates you. I became an excellent guide fast because I was motivated for the welfare of my children,” he continues. “By the first year I was professionally guiding, I had a good understanding of what I was doing. I passed that on through my training to the new people, and now we have a reputation of having excellent guides. My guides are top notch on the river.”
He didn’t initially set out to make it a business. When he first started, he “enjoyed white water rafting, but it was a pain to get friends together,” he says. “You had to do the shuttle, make the food, logistics, and it turned out to be easier to go work for a company, since they paid you to go rafting.” As soon as Gary realized he could earn a profit from his passion, Osprey was born.
In the beginning, when Gary and Janice were renting wetsuits out of a big motorhome they kept parked in front of their house on one of Leavenworth’s residential streets, “the city was lenient, they thought what we were doing as a family was pretty cool,” he says. Osprey’s reputation grew as a dependable outfitter with a folksy charm. After rafting, customers would be treated to Janice’s ‘river sandwiches’ (tortilla wraps before they were a thing), spanakopita, fruit, and her famous ‘cowboy cookies’. Gary’s guides in the early days were mostly ski patrol friends of his from Stevens Pass who were looking for work during the off-season.
Now, Gary pulls in kids from all over the state who want to spend a summer rafting for the “gold standard” outfitter in town, like Jarrid, who grew up in the shadow of Osprey. “I went to school in Cashmere, and you’d see Osprey going up and down the highway all the time. They were the hometown company, with their office right on the edge of town.” Until now, Osprey’s office, the “Hawk’s Nest”, has been a hard-to-miss house on the corner of Highway 2 and Icicle Road in the shadow of what locals have affectionately dubbed “Osprey Mountain”. This season, Gary has been forced to relocate operations to make way for a planned alpine coaster and Adventure Park on the site. Fortunately, he already had the perfect place — “Huck’s Landing” — a beautiful riverfront site on the edge of a pear orchard in Cashmere, where customers can park, check in, get geared up, and grab a burger and mingle with the crew at the end of their trip. It’s just one of the many hallmarks of a company that, according to Jarrid, “does things other raft companies don’t do.”
When I ask Gary about having to uproot and move permanently to Huck’s Landing, he turns philosophical. “We’re finally creating the experience I’ve always wanted to give people,” he says, wide-eyed and enthusiastic. “The river is a pretty amazing thing. It’s the lifeblood of the planet, just a timeless, ageless thing. Now, being able to see the river, ride, and swim, and still see it as you drive off is pretty cool.”
A quick scan of the company’s Facebook page leaves no doubt that customers agree. Osprey enjoys a 5-star rating, with many commenting on the company’s ability to balance safety with adventure. “The guides were terrific,” says Debbie Morton, who took a trip with Osprey in June of 2020. “They gave a great safety briefing, which turned out to be useful for my partner who had never been white water rafting. I love that he wants to do it again, and I have the guys from this company to thank.”
Despite his modest success, Gary remains humble and optimistic about the future of the company he started 29 years ago. “Osprey will continue to grow, get better and offer more services to people,” he tells me. “We’re looking at doing Class II paddle board trips from Cashmere to the (Columbia and Wenatchee River) confluence, which would be pretty epic. We want to work with the museums and share the local history of the area with the people, and continue to be an outdoor recreation and river community for all.”
Lofty goals for a former logger who originally rejected his wife’s push to start his own rafting company. “I would have been happy just recreating on the river in my spare time,” he says.
Lucky for all of us, he listened to his wife.
