Participants (left to right in the photo above)
• Steve Wierenga (Scouter)
• Tyler Blakney (Venturer Scout)
• Jean-Francois Forget (Scouter)
• Kaelen Sikma (Rover Scout)
• Will Wierenga (Venturer Scout)
• Henning Buch (Scouter)
• Jodon Henselwood (Venturer Scout)
• Joe Knight (Venturer Scout)
Trip Details:
• Windfall Bridge to Klondike Ferry (170km) on the Athabasca River
• Departed Sunday evening (July 10th) and arrived at the Klondike Ferry shortly after lunch on Friday (July 15th)
• 4 Canoes & +/- 100lbs of gear per canoe.
• Due to the unanticipated speed of the river, they arrived in Fort Assiniboine 1/2 a day early so did a side trip to Schuman Lake for some trout fishing on Wednesday and then continued with their trip.
• Thursday night they camped out in the Hudsons Bay Co. museum at Fort Assiniboine and we generously hosted by Dorothy & Clifford Utas (Will’s grandparents) as well as supported by the local area.
• Saw an abundance of wildlife, including deer, moose, bald eagles and an otter by Whitecourt. Will also managed to catch a pike on the river, which they released, but between a few of them they also caught 4 trout at Shuman which was a very tasty snack when baked over coals with a little butter and lemon pepper.
Organizing points:
This was a youth planned and led trip that the Venturer Scouts have been planning and preparing for since January of this year. They have done extensive safety training on their home body of water (Lake Bonavista in Calgary) which they started the 3rd week in April (no ice due to early spring but still darn cold).
The youth worked as a team to develop the plan and presented it to the Group/Parent Committee for approval which then went to Scouts Canada’s Chinook Council office in Calgary when it received it’s official go ahead in May. Once approved they then proceeded to look after the majority of the logistics, including safety plan, equipment list and menu.
This trip will ultimately go towards earning their Queen Venturer’s Award and truly exemplifies the goal of Scouts Canada in having a program that promotes and develops youth lead programming and activities.
PS
Mother nature was kind enough to provide a consistent 2:00pm rain shower (or downpour) every day so we knew what time it was but due to very good prep, everyone stayed mostly dry and in good spirits.
