I did this exact same thing as a teenager when our creek turned into a torrent, but because I had thoroughly explored the forest as a free-range kid, I knew where the creek would take us, so we arranged to have someone meet us at a faraway bridge with a car.
Ours was more spur of the moment and done without our parent's permission. We spent hours on the boats, and none of us had traced this particular creek that far (and the water was moving at a nice clip).
