Frequent flying down the Upper Iowa with veteran river tubers: 'I love to be on the water as much as I can'

Jill O'Hollearn, left, and Kayla Smith check out the river level from a log on the Upper Iowa River.

River tube renter Jay Hageman calls serious river tubers, "frequent flyers." Longtime friends and local river tubers Jill O'Hollearn and Kayla Smith have been floating down stretches of the Upper Iowa River for more than a decade. Although Smith's 10-month-old daughter, Sage, wasn't born yet, her mom carried her in pregnancy over riffles and pools last season. O'Hollearn figures she's made well over 100 float trips herself. Smith says she's made, "many, many, many." They've tubed in water levels as deep as 13 feet, and water so shallow there'd be a call for "bottoms up," raising the seat of your shorts "so you don't get drug," says O'Hollearn.

The primary local rental and shuttle service for river tubing for more than a dozen years has been Decorah RiverTubing, 701 Winneshiek Ave., located in the "flats" part of town, but not far from the river. Hageman and O'Hollearn are its owners and operators. They can rent as many as 225 tubes plus another 25 tubes equipped with coolers. Cost is $8 per tube and includes a life jacket and shuttle. If you have your own tube, cost of the shuttle is $6. Coolers fitted into a tube with rope rent for $8.

They agree the most scenic trip for campers is north of Decorah, like from Jewell's bridge off Pole Line Rd. to Pulpit Rock Park. Or, put in at Jewell's bridge or Chattahoochie County Park and float down to Bruening Bridge.

What to wear while tubing: "Shoes for sure — you never know what's in the Upper Iowa River," O'Hollearn says. And probably swimwear and sunscreen.

Weirdest scene on the river while tubing: Barrels fastened to an old couch creating a float vessel. The July 4th holiday can get pretty hectic at Decorah RiverTubes, the owners say. "It can seem like a bar late in the day."

Jay Hageman, an owner of Decorah RiverTubes, loads a trailer with tubes.

Jill O'Hollearn hauls a tube back to the storage garage.

Kayla Smith with young daughter Sage, possibly part of a next generation of river tubers.