Niobrara Canoe Trip - Valentine Nebraska
Preliminary Questionnaire
www.grahamoutfitters.com/index.htm
This is an exciting adventure for both scouts and parents!
Facts and information:
Blue swimming ability is a minimum requirement for scouts and is recommended for adults too.
Date: August 4th through the 6th.
Travel time and distance to Valentine - 6.5 hours / 325 miles
Leave Council Bluffs Friday at 12:00 1st group to set camp up at Graham's Camp Grounds and at 4:00 the second group which will arrive around 10 pm. We will start the canoe trip Saturday morning setting in at Cornell Bridge at 10:30 and completing the canoe float around 6:30. We will return to camp for dinner and camp over night and leave approximately 9:00 am Sunday to return to Council Bluffs. This should put us in CB about 3:30.
Group 1 leaving at 12:00 Friday -
Tentative car and seating plan;
| Adult Driver | Leave Time | Boy seats | Tot Avl Seats | ||||
| Mike | Aft | 2 | 3 | Zach | |||
| Norm | Aft | 4 | 5 | Seth | Joey | Kurt | |
| Tarry | Morn | 6 | 7 | Tyler | Mikael | Trevor | |
| Suzette | Morn | 4 | 5 | Robert | James | Dalton | |
| Mary | Morn | 3 | 3 | Kyle | Dustin | Dan |
Here is a tentative canoe buddy list;
| Canoe 1 | Mike | Lang |
| Zach | Lang | |
| Canoe 2 | Tarry | Hempel |
| Tyler | Hempel | |
| Joey | Thomas | |
| Canoe 3 | Suzette | Juel |
| James | Muschenheim | |
| Canoe 4 | Norm | Lee |
| Kurt | Lee | |
| Canoe 5 | Robert | Berding |
| Dustin | Bellows | |
| Dalton | Messersmith | |
| Canoe 6 | Mary | McGlade |
| Kyle | McGlade | |
| Mikael | Scheffel | |
| Canoe 7 | Dan | Wolf |
| Trevor | Stephens | |
| Seth | Schlemmer |
Cost: Canoe 1 day rental $35 each (seats 2) - Camp- $5 per person per night.
Food: Suzette has done a fantastic job planning all food for the trip while at camp. Omelets in a bag both Saturday morning and Sunday. Sloppy Joes Saturday night.
Each boy will need to bring approximately $20 for food for the travel to Valentine for lunch and dinner on Friday as well as lunch on Sunday during the return trip home.
Each boy needs to also bring a sack lunch to eat while on the float on Saturday. Place lunch in a zip lock freezer bag and the into a plastic bag which can be tied to the canoe.
We will not be taking the trailer, but will bring tents, 1 kitchen and a stove.
Each boy should also bring the following personal items;
Click here to see the river map and canoe travel times.
Niobrara Float Plan
Date – 8/4-6 2006
Location – Niobrara River, Valentine Nebraska
This scheduled event is an 8 hour canoe trip down the Niobrara River near Valentine Nebraska. Graham Outfitters out of Valentine will provide canoes and PFDs.
All scouts will have been through a minimum of three hours of training in the use of a canoe. All boys except for one scout are blue swimmers and have also earned their Swimming Merit badge. The only scout who is not a blue swimmer will join as a third person in a canoe with a certified life guard.
The troop will leave Council Bluffs on August 4th and arrive at Graham Camp southeast of Valentine to setup camp. The troop will meet Graham outfitters Saturday morning at 9:00 am and begin canoeing at 10:30 am setting in at Cornell Bridge and exiting late Saturday afternoon at Sunny Brook camp and return to the Graham Campsite.
Direct supervision will be performed by Tarry Hempel SM and Suzette Juel ASM who are both Certified BSA Life Guards, Certified CPR as well as Safety Afloat and Safe Swim Defense trained. Six additional adult leaders will also participate in the canoe float and assist with supervision.
Parents have been informed of the training plan and the plan will be postponed in the event of bad weather.