50 Water Adventures To Do Before You Die by Lia Ditton & Lia Ditton

Author:Lia Ditton & Lia Ditton
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472901156
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2014-06-05T16:00:00+00:00

© Cory Steffen / www.corysteffenphoto.com

Inner tube the Colorado rapids

© Tobi Rohwer / pagosaoutside.com

Location Pagosa Springs, Colorado, USA

Complexity Softcore

Cost

Lasting Sentiment Great fun in the sun

Run white-water rapids in a crazy, fun way. Allow yourself to be swept downstream sitting in a large doughnut inflatable. With next to no manoeuvrability, enjoy the anticipation of plunging over a big drop. Hang on tight as the water carries you over a ledge and use your feet to dodge a massive rock. When the flow winds down and the ride becomes a float, hop out. Catch the bus laid on for tubers and head upriver to rerun the fun.

Join the throng at the ‘put-in’ area and prepare to launch! With your bottom nestled comfortably in the hole in the middle, you and your tube are off. Using your arms as paddles, you try to steer the tube in the direction you would like to go, but your efforts will make very little difference. You will get spat down the narrow shoot regardless, through the gap and out between the boulders. Half out of control, half paddling wildly, expect to be spun around a bend, swirl under a road bridge and tank past the backyards of a nice residential neighbourhood. You know that you’re floating through civilisation, but for the majority of the time you can hardly tell. The lush Weminuche Wilderness, part of the San Juan National Park, meets the banks on both sides. You are riding your way through a water park carved by nature over thousands of years.

Steering your tube as much as feasibly possible into the fastest rip, you choose to bomb down the last section of river. Your next run, you tell yourself, will be more leisurely. You’ll stop along the way to swim and enjoy plenty of river sightseeing. Next, head for the hot springs conveniently located where tubers are encouraged to exit the river. Easing into the naturally warm water, revel in your self-styled spa combination – tube rental and a day pass for the deepest and largest hot springs in the world.

If you enjoy the great outdoors, Pagosa Springs in Colorado makes a good off-the-beaten-path destination in itself. Less of a resort community than other tubing hot spots, there are a variety of places to stay, from bookable campgrounds in the National Forest to vacation rentals, high-star hotels to historic cabins built in the 1900s. Nestled along the San Juan River, a tributary to the Colorado River, the town of Pagosa Springs has utterly embraced tubing. A mile and a half upstream is where the action begins. A special bus runs every 10 minutes to transport tubers back and forth. Expect to see boardshort- and bikini-clad swimmers with inner tubes waiting at pedestrian crossings as well as inner tubes stacked beside delis and outside restaurants at lunchtime.

When it comes to tube rental, one size should fit most. Buoyancy aids are recommended for those who are not comfortable swimmers and are a legal requirement for children under 12 years of age.

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