NOTE: The Portneuf River is a tributary of the Snake River. This river runs thru the town of Lava Hot Springs. There are several places in town to rent tubes ($3-$10) or you may bring your own. You may rent by the hour or the day. There are one, two, three and four man tubes. It's about 2.5 miles at the longest point but you can do shorter. In some sections, the river is only about 2 feet deep and people will "drag bottom" in a few spots. The tube rental places will let you have a free life jacket with your rental. Be sure to wear tie-up shoes, not flip flops or slip-ons or you will lose at least one of them on the way down. |
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Below: The steep, rocky path to get down to the Portneuf River. No matter where the two RV Gypsies tried to enter the river, it was a steep path down and very slippery near the rivers edge. |
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Since the two RV Gypsies were notable to photograph themselves from this angle, they took pictures of other people and this area, where the first two mini waterfalls are located. Many people put their tube in after the falls, but of course the two RV Gypsies wanted the experience of tubing over these two falls. As the two RV Gypsies watched, most tubers made it over the falls okay, but a few people flipped over. One lady cut her arm in this area, but not seriously. |
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Below: These two photos were taken by the two RV Gypsies after going over this waterfall themselves. Notice the big rock right in the middle of the waterfall at the top.
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There were several mini waterfalls throughout this journey. At one point, Karen Duquette ended up completely covered with water, although she did not fall out of the tube. On the second time through that area, Lee Duquette got the water because whoever was in front of the double tube got completely soaked. (The tube twisted and turned as they went down the river, alternating who was in the front). Everyone on the single tubes laughed each time Karen or Lee got soaked. After a bit, it was easier to tolerate the cold water. The water was cold, but not freezing icy cold. Below are photos of other people going over the area that soaked the two RV Gypsies. People sat on the wall to watch this area and laughed as the tubers got soaked or thrown out of their tubes. |
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Whenever the two RV Gypsies got to a calm part of the Portneuf River, they took a quick photo. There were several mini waterfalls in the area. The water was very shallow, and several times the two RV Gypsies got their tube stuck on the rocks and had trouble getting the tube to flow down the river. One time when they were stuck, Karen just reached out and grabbed the arm of a man on another tube and hung onto his arm until they were able to float on their own again. He must have been taken by surprised, but all he said was, "quick thinking." Of course during these times, the two RV Gypsies could not photograph themselves. They were tubing together on a double tube because that's how Lee wanted to experience this. |
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When the two RV Gypsies exited the Portneuf River at the designated spot, they had to walk across the bridge shown in the photo above, and that's when they took the three photos below. |
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Lee Duquette carried the tube through the town back to the place where they started their tubing trip. Once he accidently had the tube bump a guy passing by and the person just laughed. There is a shuttle bus that will pick the tubers up and drive them to the beginning again, but they charge $2 a person each trip and the two RV Gypsies did not mind the walk. The two RV Gypsies got a lot of wonderful comments on their "Kool-Aid shirts" that they were wearing. |
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Now the two RV Gypsies decided to take a second turn tubing down the Portneuf River. Here's photos of them as they first entered the river. See how shallow the river was at that point.
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Karen Duquette relaxed on the tube, while Lee Duquette took a few photos before getting on the tube too. |
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Karen Duquette got in the front of the tube first, then Lee Duquette found it a bit difficult to get into the back of the tube. They finally figured out that if they each sit sideways, with legs on opposite sides of the tube, they could balance their weight better when tubing over the falls. They also had to lift their butts when the river got super shallow or they got stuck on the rocks. |
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