Let's go tubing!

When the days begin to shorten and the weather begins to plummet beneath room temperature, I like to close my eyes and think of the glory days of summer. I reminisce of t-shirts, sandals and music that makes you happy to be young. I picture road trips, fireworks and everything else that makes summer far better than this cold, pathetic time of the year.

As I daydream of summer time, I am captivated by memories of my favorite warm weather activity in Fort Collins: going tubing down the Cache la Poudre river. The Poudre, as it’s called for short, is a tranquil place with bits of excitement intertwined between sequences of thrilling rapids.

For fun-craving tubers, the best time of year to take advantage of the Poudre’s natural environment is early summer when the temperature is warm enough to ward away the shivers and the water level is still high.

The drive itself makes up half the thrill of going tubing. The Poudre begins high in the peaks of Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park along the Continental Divide. Flowing north and east through Roosevelt National Forest, it tumbles down the slopes of the Front Range and meanders through the city of Fort Collins. Highway 14, which follows much of the river, reveals the rich scenery, history, archeology, flora and fauna of the Poudre River.

So as you shiver through the winter, feel free to share in my warming daydreams of tubing down the Poudre.