Rafting on the Southe Platte

Ray and I made plans to soak in the cool waters of the South Platte on Saturday -
(The metro area is headed for not only the hottest year in the record book but also the driest. The temperature at Denver International Airport on Saturday afternoon climbed to 103, the hottest Aug. 2 since 1878, when the National Weather Service started keeping records. And Friday’s 104 degrees was the hottest day of any August since 1878, when the all-time high of 105 was recorded. We’re also on track for the driest year in recorded history (since 1878) and by a substantial amount.
The driest year on record was 2002, when 5.34 inches of precipitation fell at DIA between Jan. 1 and July 31. This year, only 3.28 inches have fallen at DIA, just 60 percent of 2002’s precipitation.
“I don’t think we’re going to get out of this for a while,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Frank Benton. “We’re more than 2 inches behind the driest year ever. This will be hard to make up.”
As if to throw dust on our wounds, Benton said the last month with above-average precipitation was October 2007.
Denver has now withered through 21 consecutive days of 90-degree weather or hotter, breaking the record of 18 consecutive days set in 1878 and tied in 1901. The forecast calls for at least two more days of 90 degrees today and Monday. Tuesday’s high is forecast in the mid-80s, with a 20 percent chance of rain.
So far this year, we’ve sweltered through 38 days of 90-degree-or-hotter weather.) - so we drove to the park, inflated his tubes and set off for a 4 mile run down the lazy river. We did hit several rapids which were fun to float through and nothing to worry about. Nice way to kill an afternoon! We're trying to figure out if we could take the river all the way downtown (about a 15 mile trip). I'll let you know how that works out!