Have you ever done something and then later looked back on the experience and were grateful to have survived it? Well, that’s exactly what I am doing after my white water tubing adventure on the Dan River in Kibler Valley last week.

My poor knees, arms, legs and back side are still black and blue from tubing down the Dan River last Thursday with a co-worker, but I did have a great time when my head was above water and when I wasn’t fighting for my life.

Many of you know that I have been tubing several times down our newly cleared out Ararat River beside the new greenway that starts at Riverside Park. While tubing in that river is very laid back and a great way to spend a lazy afternoon, the Dan River is the complete opposite.

With the lack of rain lately, tubing on the Ararat hasn’t really been an option. There are several places in it that you have to get up and walk because it’s so shallow — so with the lack of rain, minus what we have had this week, I was looking for other places to tube.

My co-worker Tom Joyce told me about the Dan River and how they turn on the turbines at the city of Danville hydropower plant and how that’s a big draw for kayak and canoe enthusiasts. So a couple of weekends ago, I decided to drive up there to scope things out. I needed to figure out my put-in and take-out points and physically see how fast the river was running.

Another friend mentioned how the water of the Dan River in Kibler Valley was so much colder than the Ararat. So on my trek up there on July 3, the water was running extremely fast and I saw a few kayakers on the river. I got in the water at what I later learned was “Basketball Falls” to see exactly how cold the water was. My personal little joke about that river is that it is two degrees above ice.

So on July 8, Tom and I both had the day off for the July 4 holiday so I talked him into going with me. It is dangerous to go tubing alone and I don’t recommend it and you need a second car so you don’t have to walk the entire distance of the river run, which is about six miles from the put-in point at the power plant down to the take-out point at Danube Presbyterian Church.

So as we got in the river, along with a number of people in kayaks and canoes, I wondered why they were giving me such curious looks. I later learned it was because what we were getting ready to do was not only dangerous, but it was borderline crazy.

About 10 seconds into the river on the first rapid, I went under and stayed under for longer than I felt comfortable. This is when I discovered the chill of the water that will flat knock the breath out of you.

Another thing I should point out is that Tom was on a regular-sized truck tube and I was on a much smaller tube that I’m guessing should be used to carry a cooler and not a person. So while he stayed upright on his tube even through some pretty tough rapids, I came off mine every time. Most of the time I struggled to get out of the swift water and crawl up the bank to get around the rapid that I just learned I wouldn’t survive. But time after time, I would get right back in, only to be knocked off at the next rapid.

The people in kayaks that were sort of keeping pace with us warned us several times about a tree that was in the river that posed a dangerous threat. Did I listen? Oh no. I went straight for the tree, got hung and had to be rescued by the same people. They actually had to throw in a rescue line to get me out of my predicament.

In the end, I lost my tube and walked two miles back to the car. It took me an entire day to get over the exhaustion and dehydration that set in that day. In doing a little research for this column, I found a couple of videos on Youtube.com that show just how fast it is to even kayak down the Dan River. Go ahead and look it up if you don’t believe me.

I will have to say that I’m glad I had the experience of at least giving it a try. But from now on I think I’ll take my tube back down to the good old Ararat River.

One thing you need to know about the Dan River is that you need to call ahead to see when they will be running the turbines because when they are not, it just looks like a shallow creek. That number is (276) 251-5141. The annual Kibler Valley River Run is coming up on July 31. More information on that event is available at www.kiblervalley.zoomshare.com/.

Mondee Tilley is a staff reporter for The Mount Airy News. She can be reached at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.