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Two families from Spokane prepare to take an annual float down Icicle Creek and Wenatchee River on Friday, July 29 at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.
Paddleboarders and tubers drift down Icicle Creek near houses along the East Leavenworth Road on Friday, July 29.
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LEAVENWORTH — At first, tubing down Icicle Creek was peaceful.
After I got used to the frigid water assaulting my shins, I laid back and soaked in the serenity. Birds sung and the sun shone the morning of Friday, July 29. As I drifted down the creek, taking in the green of the plants and the glimmer of the sun’s reflection, all my worries drifted away.
I was lucky enough to experience the water almost completely on my own. Other tubers or rafters would come my way, but most of them left me in their wake. For long stretches of the river, I was alone.
On weekends, especially in the afternoons, most tubers don’t have that luxury. According to a 2020 study commissioned by the Chelan County Natural Resources Department, an average of 1,130 people float down Icicle Creek on a typical weekend day in July, with the number peaking between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
The numbers are even higher on the Wenatchee River, where an average of 1,552 people float on a typical August weekend day, according to the study. About 650 recreationists float the Wenatchee River each August weekday while about a thousand float on typical Fridays in August.
While just a few lone tubers like myself wouldn’t be too much of an issue, the large number of people that flock to Leavenworth in the summer to float down Icicle Creek and the Wenatchee River has been causing problems for residents, the city, and the environment.
Among these issues are a lack of parking and accessible restrooms, public intoxication, trespassing and safety.
Before tubers, rafters, kayakers, or other river recreationists can even enter the water, they have to park their cars. While that may be an obvious observation, parking is one of the most commonly cited concerns among Leavenworth residents, according to a community survey given as part of the 2020 Chelan County study.
When I was dropped off near the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery to get into Icicle Creek, there was public parking available for recreationists, but the amount of available parking differs from site to site. Some sites, like Enchantment Park, provide ample parking, while others, such as the takeout site at the end of County Spur Road, have parking for only a handful of cars.
The lack of parking is most noticeable where the Icicle Road Bridge goes over the Wenatchee River. Tubers park their cars for more than a quarter mile along the shoulder of Icicle Road.
“Pedestrians and bikes are forced into the travel lanes in an area with limited sight distance due to the road curvature,” the study reads. Additionally, one survey respondent wrote that “death on Icicle Road due to parking” was a concern, although there are no records of anyone being struck or killed on Icicle Road because of parking.
Of the nine river launch and takeout sites listed in the study, the most common issue cited at four of them, including the Icicle Road Bridge site, was parking. The lack of restrooms was the most common issue cited at four of the remaining five sites, and the riverbank by the Icicle Road Bridge smells like urine by the end of the summer, according to the study.
Residents and recreationists alike suffer the lack of public restrooms along the river. People floating the river, myself included, may have to choose between holding their bladders for hours — depending on how quickly the river carries them to a takeout site — or publicly relieving themselves.
Garbage and littering are also concerns exacerbated by a lack of trash cans along the riverbank, which can contribute to environmental issues.
Paddleboarders and tubers drift down Icicle Creek near houses along the East Leavenworth Road on Friday, July 29.
In a survey of Leavenworth residents, Chelan County found that the biggest environmental concern about river recreation was its potential impact on the fish habitat, followed by water quality, garbage, and wildlife.
The Wenatchee River is home to multiple varieties of fish, including several species of salmon and trout. Some of these fishes use the lower area of the river, south of where people float it, for spawning and migrate through as well.
Additionally, the lower three miles of Icicle Creek serve as a spawning area for spring Chinook salmon and steelhead trout and as a rearing area for salmon and trout.
Throughout Icicle Creek, the water quality varies. The quality of some stream segments is impaired by issues that cannot be fixed by Environmental Protection Agency-approved plans such as low flow or dams.
“These problems, while not pollutants, require complex solutions to help restore water bodies to more natural conditions,” according to the Chelan County study.
Some waters on the river are in even worse condition. The Washington State Department of Water Quality considers these segments polluted waters that need water quality improvement projects to restore them.
Toward the end of my tubing experience, I was not having a good time. In contrast with the peaceful beginning, the final 10 minutes I spent on the water were rough. Near one of the final bends before Icicle Creek joins the Wenatchee River, the water picked up speed. Several trees hung over the sides of the creek. Up until then, I had either avoided them or gone under them without trouble.
But one tree was just a little too close.
Suddenly, with only a few seconds to brace, the branches raked over me. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing, thankful for my life vest, and it was over just as suddenly as it started. When I got my wits about me, I realized the tree had capsized my tube. I lost my hat, my water bottle, and my glasses. It was time to get off the water.
I alternated between floating and walking toward the other bank, stepping carefully around the smooth, slippery rocks. I took the first opportunity I could to climb the bank and get to dry land. When I did, the only path forward was through someone’s backyard.
In the Chelan County survey of Leavenworth residents, trespassing ranked the lowest among concerns about recreationists floating down the Wenatchee River and Icicle Creek. But anecdotally, it was a pervasive worry as I tubed.
I had an idea of where I wanted to get out before I started, From very early in my tubing experience, many of the areas where I could have gotten out were marked with private property signs. Combined with a general lack of knowledge about where I actually was — my phone service wasn’t great on the water — I couldn’t tell where I could safely and legally get out from where I might have risked running into a landowner as I crossed their property.
So far this year, three people have drowned in the Wenatchee River, bringing the number of drownings in the river since 2010 to at least 22, according to World archives. Of those people, 18 were recreating on the river and only four wore life jackets. Nine of them drowned in Leavenworth.
Some Icicle Creek entrance sites, like the one near the fish hatchery, have free life jackets available for public use. Life jackets can also be bought at many sportswear stores. Before I went tubing, I purchased one for $20.
Chelan County Commissioner Bob Bugert, who represents the Leavenworth area, said the county is concerned about river safety in light of the recent drownings. “We are working with the Sheriff’s Office and first responders and the fire districts to see what we can do to have better outreach and education,” he said in an interview.
An overlapping issue with safety is that of public intoxication. Some people drink alcohol or take drugs before or while floating. According to the state Department of Health, alcohol is involved in 25% to 50% of adolescent and adult water-recreation deaths.
The issue of safety also overlaps with parking, especially at river entrance sites like the Icicle Road Bridge where people park along the road. This forces pedestrians and bikers to use the main road lane instead of the shoulder, putting them in the paths of drivers who may have low visibility due to the bend in the road.
The 2020 Chelan County study ends with six suggestions for future action to deal with the numerous problems facing Leavenworth, its residents, and recreationists. It includes ideas like landowners improving infrastructure (like restrooms and parking) at launch sites, a permit system to regulate the number of river users, and increased education and outreach.
Bugert said Leavenworth has a citizen work group addressing some of the issues, and that the city is more concerned with safety and managing the number of recreationists than anything else.
“They’ve come up with some solid recommendations to address some of the impacts related to parking, to trespassing, and other issues,” he said. “If anything, it’s the volume of tubers that we need to figure out a way to manage.”
In 2021, Leavenworth initiated its recreation ambassador program, said Mike Kaputa, director of the Chelan County Natural Resources department. Volunteer ambassadors work weekends from June to September to answer questions, provide information, deter unwanted visitor behavior, and collect data about recreationists and river users, which is compiled into an end-of-season report in September.
“We’re trying to see if the river ambassadors can help with education and outreach and trying to address some of the negative behavior,” Kaputa said. The program is currently in its second year.
Kaputa said Leavenworth is also looking into operating a shuttle service for river recreationists. This year, a tubing company is operating a shuttle on its own; if it helps with some of the parking issues, Kaputa said, the city could expand the shuttle program more formally. The Natural Resources department will evaluate how this summer went by early next year, he said.
“We’re just trying to incrementally implement (measures) to see what kind of difference they make,” Kaputa said. “We’ll have to see if these things work.”
Two families from Spokane prepare to take an annual float down Icicle Creek and Wenatchee River on Friday, July 29 at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.
t.brown@wentacheeworld.com or
on Twitter @trent_br0wn
Trent Brown is a summer 2022 World intern covering agriculture, local government, and community. He’s a senior at Northwestern University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of magazine North by Northwestern. Follow Trent on Twitter: @trent_br0wn.
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