Rollin' down the river

MESA — It seems like a recipe for disaster: blazing sun, huge crowds and floating 5.5 miles down a river with no restrooms.

But, boy, it can be fun.

To some, it's a floating picnic located about 15 miles north of U.S. 60 where stunning scenery can make you feel one with nature.

For many of the typical 18- to 24-year-old floaters, it's a day of rowdy antics that include too much sun and too much beer.

Either way, a day of tubing down the Salt River will likely generate stories that will be told years later.

"We come out every year at least once," said Shane Beddington, a 25-year-old Phoenix resident who used to live in Tucson. "It's a super cheap, fun way to spend a day. It can get really crazy."

It's a rare cooler that's not stocked with canned beer and other alcoholic beverages (no glass allowed). While private security and sheriff's deputies keep a firm hand on underage drinking and problems, over- imbibing is par for this river course.

Since Henri Breault opened Salt River Tubing in 1981, the old days of wildcat tubing have been curtailed, making tubing safer and somewhat family-friendly. While some problems with crowds and alcohol remain, it's much better than when tubing was a do-it-yourself adventure.

"They'd put a car on one end and put another car on the other end," said Art Wirtz, a district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service. "The road was just packed with cars.

"(Salt River Tubing) has made it where it's very easy for people to get on the river and get off."

And if there was no Salt River Tubing, Wirtz said, "it would be terrible."

"If you look at what it was 30 years ago, it was really bad," Wirtz said. "People would burn down restrooms just for fun, cut fences down completely and take guardrails down."

Now there are about 20 restrooms around the bridge for pre- or post-float use, along with picnic tables and shade ramadas.

Lynda Breault, Henri's wife, remembers those days.

"I was raised in Arizona, so I was tubing way before Salt River Tubing was there," she said. "We had to load up two trucks and look for a gas station to fill our tubes."

Now you can rent a tube for $14 a day plus tax. You'll need an extra tube for your cooler. Lost tubes will cost another $20. Some hard-core floaters own a tube, but the majority rent them.

"If my mother had known I was tubing at that time, she would have skinned me alive," said Breault, laughing. "It was wild and wooly; there was no law enforcement there."

"Henri really cleaned it up," she said. "People used to just park a truck on the river's edge — it really was damaging the ecosystem."

What to expect

Nowadays you get to the site, located in northeast Mesa, park your car and hand over a driver's license to rent up to five tubes. Then you'll lug your stuff onto a former school bus to make the five-or-so-mile drive to Point 1, where you'll begin your adventure.

It's possible to drive and park at other points if you want a shorter trip, but you'll need to pay a $6 fee to Tonto National Forest. Passes are good for 24 hours and are available at area mini-marts and gas stations — not at Salt River Tubing.

Most people use Salt River Tubing's transportation to get to Point 1. Try to snag a seat on Betty's "party bus," where the 60-something driver plays cheerleader and eggs on people during the ride to Point 1.

"Are you ready to party?!" she yelled through a megaphone.

During the 10-minute ride to the starting point, she donned no fewer than four different costumes of funny glasses, "wigs" and even a fake mustache, yelling good-natured comments to rev up the tubers. Bus riders were packed in like sardines, with the tubes stacked in the wide middle walkway like dozens of doughnuts.

When you arrive, a short walk down a dirt path takes you to the river's edge. That's where many tie their tubes together, which isn't recommended by Salt River Tubing.

For smaller groups, however, it's practical, so people aren't struggling to stay together.

This is about the only "practical" thing that's done while tubing.

"We don't get too many dumb-dumbs on the river," said Lynda Breault, 57.

But they do get a few.

This mid-June day, a 20-something man clambered up the side of a more than 100-foot cliff, planning to jump off into the Salt River.

His friend stood in the river below. After testing the depth of the water where he would land and realizing it was maybe 4 feet deep, his friend worriedly yelled, "Don't do it, man!"

Fueled by liquid courage, the man almost threw caution to the wind and leaped, which would have made this story an entirely different one.

Luckily, the chorus of "Stops!" from the people floating on their tubes, watching the drama unfold, eventually dissuaded him from jumping.

Breault said cliff jumping's not a good idea, because the river's deepest parts are about 30 feet. Much of the river is about 6, maybe 8 feet deep.

That's just one example of where beer and the river don't mix.

Scenery abounds In the water

While you're floating, you'll be in a more verdant Arizona. Trees, reeds and plant life surround you on the river's banks. Towering cliffs sometimes give the river a canyon feel. The not-so-pretty parts of nature include occasional rocks that catch your tube and scrape against you.

Sometimes people will pass by on mini floating islands with boom boxes playing music. Some floaters are in costume, like the gang of "pirates" who drifted by in their makeshift raft with the words "The Bleedin' Heart" painted in red.

At the end of the float, you'll see fiery sunburns, a bunch of exhausted- or dazed-looking people, or even a few getting "seasick," if that's what you want to call it.

Few people emerge unscathed.

"That was too fun," said Jeff Beel, a 23-year-old Scottsdale resident, during a phone call after his day of tubing. "I lost a shoe and my sunglasses, and my friend puked, but we're planning to do it again in a few weeks."

Beel fits the primary demographic of floaters — 18-to-24-year-olds, Breault said.

"We track visitors very well," she said, noting that 30 percent of tubers are from Tucson.

Ashley Barber was another one of many in that age group on a recent Thursday. An average of 750-1,000 people go tubing on a weekday; a non-holiday weekend day attracts 3,000.

"I've never done this before," said the 20-year-old Tempe resident. "I want to see some rapids. I'm having fun."

By "rapids," Barber means the four or five places along the river that have a stronger current so you can get a bit of speed going. Don't worry: These aren't Class 5 whitewater rapids. It never gets too rough.

On this Thursday, the water was flowing at about 600 cubic feet per second, making for an easy and fairly slow float — about five hours total.

Conditions on the Salt River

Optimum conditions are about 800-1,000 cubic feet per second. The higher the water flow, the faster the move.

"Over 1,000, we're pushing life vests," Breault said.

You'll float from points 1 to 4, or a total of about 5.5 miles. The float used to extend to point 5, but the beach is too eroded, Breault said.

From 2002 to 2005, the drought made the water flow — and therefore the float — slower going, often around 500 cubic feet per second. They've floated as low as 150 cubic feet per second, but signs are posted warning of low water flow.

Now it's usually a different story.

"We have had fabulous water," Breault said. The average water flow this year has been about 750 cubic feet per second, said supervisor Peter Hill. He predicts that number will go up in the next week and last for the rest of the summer.

The Salt River's water temperature hovers around 68 degrees all year long.

"It comes off the bottom of the Saguaro Lake Dam area," Breault said. "It's always very refreshing. It's refreshing all summer long."

That initial "refreshment" will make you gasp a bit, but once you get situated on your tube, the water makes the 100-degree-and-higher Phoenix heat almost comfortable.

In fact, if it's not blistering hot, then tubing becomes, well, almost chilly. A 55-degree morning and 68-degree water made this year's Saturday before Memorial Day sparse, getting only about 500 tubers.

It seems obvious, but not everyone realizes that there are no stores or kiosks along the river. There's no floating bar. The river is the restroom. It's just you and your tube for up to 5 1/2 hours, depending on the water flow and how far you decide to float.

You'll find a few shallow areas and small areas to pull off to the side, but most don't make many stops.

"I'm glad we bought all the beer and waters before we got there," said first-timer Brenna Mathis, a 21-year-old from Tucson. "Tell people to bring real food, because you get hungry out there."

As Marcie Miller waited in line to rent a tube on a recent sunny morning, the Tucson resident commented that this was her first time tubing.

When later contacted by phone, Miller said she was glad she did it, but she probably wouldn't go again.

"I fell into the water and almost drowned," said the 59-year-old Miller. "It was at the first rapids. The current was so strong — I just kind of flew through the water. I grabbed onto a branch and held on. It was scary."

10 things not to forget

• Sunscreen.

• Driver's license. Tube renters must leave one at the rental area for every five tubes rented.

• Water.

• Towel.

• Food.

• Ziploc bags.

• Sunglasses.

• Shoes must be worn while tubing. Most wear Tevas or other athletic sandals, although some wear flip-flops and tennis shoes.

• Change of clothes.

• Cash. Salt River Tubing accepts cash and traveler's checks only.

Other nice things to have

• A fitted sheet to put over your tube. The black rental tubes get very hot.

• Hat. Put sunscreen on your scalp if you don't have one.

• Life vests for inexperienced or non-swimmers. Salt River Tubing sells vests for $6 and sells about 30 a weekend.

• Twine or thin rope to tie your tubes together. Salt River Tubing doesn't recommend this, but it's easy to go at different speeds. Constantly paddling to catch up gets old fast. Also, it's practical to be attached to the tube containing supplies. If your group is more than five people, the floating "island" of tubes becomes too cumbersome.

• An underwater camera.