An Important Warning For People Tubing Down A Minnesota River

It’s looking like Southeast Minnesota could be hitting the 90s this weekend; if that’s the case, being around water sounds like a great idea. You could hit up a local pool, but one of my favorite summer activities is just floating down the river on a tube while drinking a tasty, cold brew. There are plenty of Minnesota rivers to choose from, too. It’s one of the best ways to be lazy and work on that farmer’s tan!

But I do have one personal experience from tubing that I wanted to share with you. Actually, it’s more like a warning. For anyone planning on going river tubing during the summer, I have just four words for you:

Keep your butt up.

You might know where this is going. Years ago, I was tubing with my brother down the Otter Tail River near Detroit Lakes. At one point, I remember my butt scraping up against a rock while going down a tiny slope. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But when I got back to the cabin an hour later, I started feeling slightly itchy riiiiight around that area. That’s when my brother pointed at my swimming trunks and said something to me that I’ll never forget:

“Um, dude. Your butt is bleeding.”

At that moment, I discovered the horrifying truth. My butt had been invaded by five tiny river leeches. They were probably on that rock, just waiting for some unsuspecting human's butt to pass by. GAHHHH. So yeah, keep your butts up the next time you're on an inner tube. It can happen to you. I'm still traumatized.

Have fun tubing this summer, everyone!

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