I love the gentle rolling rivers in the mid-west. But I spent the majority of my life near wild, unpredictable, and dangerous rivers. In the west, the speed and volume of water that flows off towering mountains is truly awesome, but those rivers also kill innocents and professionals alike.

When I was a kid, a heavy bout of rain, turned our stream into a river that threw whole houses around like toothpicks. The entire canyon flooded, roads were washed away and we were trapped for 14 days without electricity, food or water. Water rushing down the mountains turned into massive mudslides. When the waters finally receded, human infrastructure was gone, huge swaths of timber were gone and the stream had a new bed.

Every summer, my kids and I camped beside the river known as the most dangerous in America. We waded in the river, but never swam. Even our dogs stayed out of that river. At night, we hiked up the mountain and soaked in natural hot springs underneath the stars. And every year, people keep on dying in the Kern.

Since most Americans live in cities, its a good idea to remind people that they are not Walter Rhein. City people playing in some country river is not always a magical experience.

Sorry to be a downer, but seeing people go down in a river and not come back up stays with you.