Margaret and I were looking for something exciting to do this weekend, so we decided to try tubing down the Potomac. We have previously done tubing on the Delaware (when we both lived in Philadelphia) and had a bunch of fun. From what we remember, it was a leisurely ride down the Delaware, over some small rocks that bump your butt, and maybe some sunburn.

So I did some quick research on tubing outfits in the DC area and decided to go with Butts Tubes (BTI) in Harper’s Ferry, VA, about 45 minutes from our house (I would expect it to be about 90 minutes from downtown). There were a few other companies that offered tubing in that area, but Butts was the only one that offered whitewater tubing. Being (moderately) daring people, that is what we wanted to do.

Not being in any kind of hurry on Sunday, we got up (without an alarm) and went. Turned out that the time we left was an idea time, as we got to Harper’s Ferry at about 10:30. There was no line, so we went right up and paid our fee. Turns out that BTI has a deal that makes it cheaper before 11, so we were able to take advantage of that as well.

We then went and waited for a whitewater bus to take us out to the river. Didn’t take long, maybe 10 minutes (it wasn’t very crowded). We were lucky enough to already own REALLY nice PFD’s, so we brought ours. It was nice as ours have a bit more room in the arm area to move your arm around and also has a nice collection of pockets to stow things in. If you don’t have a PFD, BTI is more than happy to provide one. On our way to the drop-off point, the bus driver pointed out the pick-up point, about 2 minutes away from BTI’s HQ. After 10 minutes, we arrived at the drop-off point where we were met my a National Park Service Ranger (Hello Mister Park Ranger!). He was basically there to explain to us where we are allowed to go in, make sure we all had on PFD’s, and had no alcohol. After the 60 second spiel, we were off to the river.

The water was warm, as was the air so it was actually pretty nice to get into the water. This is when I started having problems. Turns out I have a big butt, and it wouldn’t fit into the tube all that well. Basically, I had to hold myself upright the entire time, or else lie down flat across the tube. When we were paying for our adventure, we splurged on the nicer tubes with handles. In retrospect, we may have been better off with the simple back tubes, as they seemed to provide more butt room. All in all not the most comfortable ride (but if you have a smaller butt, this may not be a problem), but we made do with it.

The ride is described as class I, II, and III rapids. I wasn’t that impressed with the rapids as first, as they just seemed to be little bumps. But there were some big ones, and I promise you that about 90 minutes in there are at least 2 class III rapids that were pretty awesome!

We had paid our dues to BTI (and through them, to the NPS), but I hadn’t yet paid my dues to the river gods. While trying to paddle over to help Margaret (who got knocked off her tube on one of the rapids), I cut my had on one of the rocks in the water. It hurt quite a bit, but not enough to take me off the water. So I ended up making a blood sacrifice to the river gods, and they seemed appeased. Margaret’s sacrifice was a little different than mine, as she sacrificed a hat to the river gods and they weren’t as happy with her sacrifice so they kept knocking her off her tube. But we both made it through.

Once we made it back to BTI, we realized how lucky we were to get there early. The line for Credit Cards was about 10 people deep, and the cash lines was at least 20. Mental note for next time: arrive early, preferable before 11. BTI has a nice deal, you pay your fee and you can ride all day. They even recommend taking one trip, coming back to BTI and having a little lunch, and then heading back to the water. We could have done that option, but we were tired and didn’t want to make any more sacrifices.

Even with the difficulties we encountered, I would probably do it again. Or maybe we’ll do whitewater rafting next time…