1968 – 1979

We usually put in at the Hollywood Campground, later known as Aspen Park, and now the location of the Wildwood School or down at Alice Scudder’s cabin off Warren Creek Lane.  To get to the river’s edge usually took a 5-mile ride on our bicycles up Highway 82 with our “oversized” truck tubes balanced on the handlebars or over our shoulders.  If a car were to hit us we would have bounced off like a giant super ball.  Although the journey was only about 5 miles back to town, it often took the better part of a day to complete.

Regardless of where we put in, the only real exciting part of the journey was just down past the Smith Ranch Bridge where the river takes a small bend to the right and then a small “rapids” as you past the old Pat B. Heman gravel pit on Stillwater Road.  Often we would stop at the Smith Ranch Bridge to visit with Don Sheeley and his Kayak classes before continuing on our journey.

We would usually end our tubing adventure at Crystal Lake, where the Aspen Club is now.  Although we did at times go for the next set of rapids and pull out at the Anderson Stables just before the bridge at the east end of town where Highway 82 crossed the river.  Below that point there were too many obstacles to safely continue on.

Crystal Lake provided hours of relaxing fun.  We floated around playing games and collecting pollywogs, water snakes and frogs.   

We enjoyed the lazy trips down the river where the only danger we faced was from the long brass valve stems on the tubes.  May father always had an ample supply of these large tubes from his earthmoving business.  Most were made available after they had been patched numerous times and were deemed no longer reliable for his purposes.  There were some tubing adventures where the tubes lost their air long before their needed usefulness.  Luckily, they were large enough to share with others.  The boys reluctantly shared with another boy but the girls were always willing.

Now days that stretch of river is off-limits for tubing as it has been deemed a public land and then too fragile for public access.  In the spring I often remember these adventures as that was the best time of the year to make the journey, except for the ice flows and 33 degree water temperature.  If you could make this journey today the route would be different with all the oxbows along the river’s path revealing its historic journeys over time.

The end of the day presented one of our biggest challenges, getting our bicycles back!  Back then just about every car that drove by was being driven by someone one of us knew and they were always willing to give us a lift.  Leaving the tubes behind, we all piled into the car and headed back out of town.