Butts Up, Baby! Butts Up!

by Chris 9/24/2000

Throughout this trip, Tolin repeatedly mentioned that when bringing a group tubing, "the hardest thing is getting people to come the first time." On this trip, there were four veterans and only two rookies. We won't tell you who the two rookies were, but here's a hint: Rebecca organized the trip, Anne is married to Tolin, Tolin drove, Mike brought an inflatable canoe, Sharon brought Diet Coke, and Chris thought a motorboat would be involved.


Setting up the tubes.

We met up at the hardy hour of 8:30am and examined our provisions. Mike had brought a personal supply of margarita, Rebecca had an Italian drink she called Campari, Anne and Tolin brought precisely 11 cans of Natural Ice, and Sharon and Chris showed up with 4 cans of Diet Coke and 2 bottles of water. As for food, there were more sandwiches and bags of chips than were worth counting. Nonetheless, upon our departure we stopped at Safeway for a few more sandwiches, as well as the obligatory waterproof camera (up to 10 feet). In no time at all we were on the Beeline Highway and by 10:30 we were at the river.


	Rebecca and Sharon share a laugh at Anne's home landscaping techniques.

Mike and Chris were dropped off at the starting point to inflate the Dannon-sponsored canoe. Mike would be navigating the canoe from the front half while the cooler commandeered from the rear. Meanwhile, the remaining four were off to the main office where they rented tubes and were granted all-day bus passes for just $10 each. The bus driver happily awaited them to complete the transaction, as there wasn't really much else to do considering that business was at about 1/100th of its usual rate. Sadly today was the last day of the season for tubing, and only the first half of the river was even open. The Salt River Tubing website had warned us in advance that the water was only at 1/4 its usual flow, and the going would be slow.


Anne and Tolin were the first to initiate "tube sharing".

By the time they got back to Chris and Mike, the canoe was almost completely inflated. From there it was a slightly longer-than-usual trek to the water's edge, given that it had receded about 50 feet. Of the two competing styles of tying tubes together, we chose the "chain" style. The chain style involves tying everyone in a line to one another. Other groups sometimes opt for the "wagonwheel" style, in which every tube is tied directly to the cooler, but Tolin advised that this meant being stranded with the same neighbor for the duration of trip. Knowing we didn't have that kind of stamina, we chose flexibility over accessibility.


	Chris pulls the crew through a slow section.

The other primary pre-launch preparation was to wrap bedsheets around the tubes. This step is taken because the tubes are black and therefore are prone to becoming quite hot. A group of women next to us actually tied their bedsheets around their tubes, and Chris later wished he had too, as he began periodically slipping through his tube, but overall the sheets helped keep the ride quite comfortable. Once everything was in place, the men relieved themselves (Sharon waited until she was in her tube to do so), and we were off.


Mike outpaced Sharon 6:1 in alcohol consumption.

The ride started off somewhat slow as this part of the river was very shallow. Again, this is a seasonal issue, and during most of the summer the river has about three times more water. But we found ourselves scraping and bumping up against rocks and other assorted objects for the first few hundred feet, inspiring our war cry "Butts Up!". Stretching ourselves horizontally helped us to glide over those shallow stretches and before long we were in a deeper, faster moving stretch.


	The effects of gallon-sized margaritas.

With Four Peaks looming behind us, the open river before us, and beautiful low-lying mountains all around, we were able to sit back and enjoy the ride. The weather was outstanding: a very comfortable 90 degrees, blue skies, and a gentle breeze. The water was cool and perfect. The mountains we passed were covered with tall, arching saguaros and various forms of wildlife. We shared drinks and food, and our formerly unquantifiable supply of chips rapidly diminished. Mike did a superb job of rationing our supplies, and dutifully maintained our garbage in the front of the canoe. Tolin navigated the thinner stretches of river, keeping us from accidentally marooning ourselves on its rocky edges.


By the end of the day, Chris noticed things were really sinking in.

There were a few more shallow stretches, some so depleted of water that we stood up and dragged our belongings through them. All in all, we had a fabulous time. After five hours we had come only to Checkpoint 2 of 5, but because of the speed of the river this was all the further we could go. There was a hint of the usual crowds picnicking along the beaches, so we joined them to pack up our belongings. We then met two empty, idling buses at the edge of the road, whose drivers helped us load our belongings and took our one group photo. For having spent five hours lying around, we were thouroughly exhausted, but not so much to delay planning our next tubing trip, Opening Day 2001.

Getting There: Salt River Recreation is located in northeast Mesa, 15 miles north of U.S. 60 on Power Road. Click here for directions from their website.

Related Links:
Official Site - Salt River Tubing
Salt River Tubing - AZCentral.com
Tubing the Salt River - TrailBlazers
Maria's Tubing the Salt River Homepage