It seems like it came and went in the blink of an eye. The float season on the Boise river officially ended on Labor Day.
Sustained high water and fast flows on the river prevented the season from starting as usual in 2017. The 38 day season, July 29 to Sept. 4, was the shortest season on record.
"When we have a short season, we only have a limited amount of time to be open and to generate our income," Connie Zeller, owner of Zeller Recreation Inc. said. "We'll definitely be affected by that."
Zeller Inc. holds the contract with Ada County to run the raft rental and shuttle service.
"I think the hype and the discussion of 'are we even going to be able to open?', that when we finally were able to open, and people were able to comes and float, there was a lot of gratitude," Zeller said.
For those squeezing in a final float on Labor Day, that gratitude was apparent.
"It's a wonderful sense of community," Jessica Tweedie, Boise resident, said. "You get to see Boise from a different viewpoint [on the river]. You get to see the nature part of Boise and the people around you. That's really fun."
Even though tube rental and concessions at Barber Park close Labor Day, the river is still open for use. The county even plans to keep the air stations on for a while longer, weather permitting.
