Most people can safely say they've never tossed a tractor tire, a backpack full of homework or a snake inside a jar into a river. But after nine years spent collecting more than 40,000 pounds of trash, organizers of the annual

barely raise an eyebrow at such items.

About 400 volunteers on Sunday floated along 14 miles of the

— from Boring to Oregon City — collecting trash during this year's cleanup, a partnership of the Clackamas River Basin Council and Portland-based

.

Split into three groups, the volunteers traveled downriver in their own kayaks or rafts or rode in rafts led by professionals. Along the way, they collected thousands of pounds of picnic trash and other debris from the river's banks and surface, all of which is sorted by volunteers and collected by Metro for recycling or disposal.

Among the most common items, according to Becki Walker of the

, are bottles, cans and countless flip-flops.

"There are people who just don't do the right thing with their stuff, and all of those little things accumulate," Walker said. Many don't realize the importance of keeping the river clean, she said. "Ecologically, it's a really important river to keep clean."

The Clackamas River provides drinking water to more than 300,000 people, and it's home to one of the last remaining wild runs of endangered coho salmon, she said.

"Plus, it's such a joy to float down the river," she said. "It's nice to get to show it some love in return for all the things we get from it."

For Amitee Swanson of Northeast Portland, it was an opportunity to do just that. The 42-year-old kayaks regularly on the Clackamas River.

"I really care about it," she said, "so it's nice to keep it clean."

Along the way, people who live on the river's edge shouted their thanks.

"It felt really good," Swanson said.

Others found a way to keep giving after Sunday's cleanup was completed.

Rebecca Pilcher, a 31-year-old from Sellwood, is part of a group of artists who picked through the collected debris for items to turn into art. The creations will be sold at an art auction from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 6 at Keen Footwear, 926 N.W. 13th Ave. in Portland.

Within a few minutes of digging, Pilcher had nabbed grates from an abandoned grill, a pair of purple beer cans, a leopard-print flask full of whiskey and part of an old wooden paddle.

"I sort of came into it blindly," she said. "I want to let the things I find mold what I do."

Building a relationship with the river, said Nastassja Pace of We Love Clean Rivers, is one of the major goals of the cleanup and other events like it. All the day's facets — creating art, learning water safety, enjoying a relaxing float down the river and making friends — make the experience meaningful and help people understand the importance of taking care of the river.

"If you fall in love with the water," she said, "you're going to be much more inclined to want to take care of it."

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