I used to go tubing in arizona, had to wear a ton of sun screen, one time I got really really burnt. But it sure was fun. You had to be really careful if you got off the raft, ie fell off (a lot of drunks) got in the water to get cool, you had to watch the roots of trees under water. I did get trapped under some roots, the water flowed really fast, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep, luckily not drunk, can swim and worked my way back out.
People did drown in the river some every summer.
Addy,
That is the most dangerous thing - to get entangled in roots or logs underwater and become pinned by the current to the point that you cannot get out. Very scary.
Fortunately most of our local rivers here are generally quite timid and the debris in the river is generally few. As long as you follow a few obvious and common sense rules, you really can't drown.
1] Know how to swim proficiently, better than Mark Spitz! You have to know how to swim in a river, not just a pool.
2] Know the river you are on during all conditions. You must be able to "read" the river channels and be able to determine what is shallow and what is deep. What is slow and what is fast.
3] Don't go out on the river when it is flooding unless it is an emergency and you are extremely fit and you are well prepared.
4] Don't dive down into log jams to noodle for catfish unless you are extremely fit, experienced and well trained and accompanied by many others who are the same.
5] If you are wading, always walk upstream, so that if you step into a hole, you can float right back out to shallow water.
6] Know your river, once you have waded it upstream and determined where the deep holes are, you can avoid them.
7] If you fall into a hole and the current takes you down river, don't panic. Just tread water or swim easy, the channel will shallow up eventually or you will be directed by the current to a shoreline or sandbar. Don't struggle, just enjoy the float.
8] If you drink, don't be drunk!
9] If you are on a boat, be an expert driver or oarsman! Don't get into a log jam or boulders, pay attention at all times to what is up ahead of you. Have lifevests on or right next to you just in case.
10] Don't be stupid and don't let anyone else around you be stupid.
My Dad told me a story about a fella he took fishing with him once. My Dad was on the river bank and the guy was wading in the river and stepped into a hole. The guy started thrashing and yelling like he was going to drown. My Dad just let him fidget that way for a moment or two and then when he got closer, my Dad just simply told him, "I'm not jumping in to save you, you'll have to save yourself! Stand up!" The guy donned a puzzled look, got quiet and then stood up. The water was only 4 feet deep! My Dad knew he was safe all the while, but the guy panicked. So you see the moral to the whole story.
When I was in HS, my friends and I would take weekly tubing trips down the Platte River in the summers. As a crow flys, the distance was about 14 miles, but as the river flows, it was probably closer to 35+ miles. It all depended upon how much water was flowing at the time. Our inner-tube trips would take 8 to 10 hours normally. These trips were such fun! We normally did not see another person or boat or any sign of civilization for the majority of the way. It was sandbars, islands covered with trees and snakegrass, 100 to 120 foot tall clay bluffs with glacial till rocks jagging out here and there and losts of trees and sun and wildlife.
Once, the water was so high and fast that it made a huge swell coming around a bend. The water dipped down four feet then came back up abruptly almost six feet and it launched you and your tube into the air (slightly). It was like a major waterpark ride, for free! We got out and hiked back up river several times just to enjoy it over and over again!
I LOVE the RIVER!
Gordy
