My wife and daughter just went tubing down the river and ran into some major problems. They launched behind the Gallagher Lake Village and ran into trouble about 2 minutes into it. They lost their tubes and scrambled up through the undergrowth to the highway near the industrial park turn-off.

I had returned home but decided to wait for them at the bridge (just south of the gas station). I found them on the highway, walking home. At that time, a young fellow pulled up and explained that he and his 2 sons had problems in the exact spot and had climbed out , letting the river take their tubes just 5 minutes before.

In a nutshell, don’t launch above the bridge (yet?) and make sure someone knows what you’re doing. That water looks safe and fun but 5 people were lucky only to lose their tubes today.

Dan Atkinson