Submitted by Judy Moisey Asay, Troop Leader 548
Colorado Girl Scouts participated in a 50 mile canoe trip to the Buffalo National River in Arkansas this summer. The Buffalo National River is the only river in the US that is a national river, meaning there are no dams from the start of this 132 mile long river to its end. Three Senior scouts and six adults put in at Mt. Hershey on June 1 and canoed for 5 days down the river, taking out at Dillard’s Ferry. The group also participated in a special service project for the Buffalo National River Park Service station. They collected trash and broke up 27 unauthorized fire circles along the 50 mile stretch of river. The weather was great for the most part and the group saw a lot of wildlife along the way. The closest encounter with wildlife was when 2 raccoons managed to break into one of the coolers, making off with three leftover bagels and some gorp. The group managed to scare them off with no further loss of food, but the raccoons definitely wanted to stay for dinner! The girls were able to do some rock climbing and swimming along the way, as well as some training on running rapids. At the end of the trip, Ranger Mike Simpson presented the group with the Buffalo National River Special Scout Project patch. They were the first Girl Scout group in a number of years to complete the Service Project. Next year’s trip will be in Canada on the Boundary Water Canoe Area in August 2015.