Who is ready for a day-long adventure in Alabama's only National Preserve? Who wants to rappel into a cave then spend the night in there? You do, of course, that's why we are Scouts!
January's outing will be to the Little River Canyon National Preserve and Manitou Cave near Fort Payne, AL. Here are the basics:
WHO: Boy Scout Troop 343
WHAT: Winter Excursion Day Hike + Overnight Camp in a cave!
WHEN: 21-22 Jan 2012 (Sat-Sun)
WHERE: Fort Payne, AL [Little River Canyon and Manitou Cave]
WHY: Because boy scouts need cool stuff to do!
Costs to scouts and parents is $145 per person, which covers the Winter Excursion during the day, Saturday evening meal, and then the overnight caving adventure. Scouts and parents will bring their own breakfast on Saturday, snacks during the day, and cash for breakfast in Fort Payne on Sunday morning (Scoutmaster's option for Cracker Barrel or McDonald's). Our outfitter is True Adventure Sports [same folks we used for the October 2011 climbing trip], their office is located right off Little River Canyon.
WINTER EXCURSION (Day): a mystery trip that includes hiking, boldering, sightseeing, navigation, survival, teambuilding, waterfalls, and just plain fun. Scouts will need to bring a small backpack, compass, flashlight, change of socks, warm clothes, camera, trail mix, water, small first aid kit, emergency blanket and emergency poncho.
EXTREME CAVE TOUR [OVERNIGHT VERSION]: Rappel into the cave, walk/crawl back into camping site. Adventure includes helmet and cave lamps. Scouts will bring in their sleeping bags, along with something to put their bags on (plastic or tarp). Scouts will also want to make sure that each has a change of socks and shirt
Here is the itinerary of our trip:
Saturday, 21 Jan
6:00am. Troop 343 departs Huntsville. Breakfast already eaten, or short stop at McD in Fort Payne.
7:30am. Arrives Little River Canyon/Tue Action Sports
8:00am. Briefings, outfitting
9:00am. Begin Winter Excursion [details on this below]. Eat lunch on the go out of day packs.
4:00pm. [No Later Than] End Winter Excursion. Vehicle movement to nearby Manitou Cave (~20min drive).
5:00pm: Begin cave trip. Hot meal provided by TAS at site. Rappel into cave. Approximate sunset
Remainder of the evening in the cave. Guide tells me about 10:00pm before we get evening activities in the cave wrapped-up.
*No tents needed, no cooking gear needed
Sunday, 22 Jan:
7:00am. Awake and pack up gear
NLT 8:00am. Walk out of the cave and back to nearby vehicles. Limited hygiene, turn over any equipment to TAS, etc.
9:00am: Cracker Barrel breakfast [Fort Payne] enroute back home
12:00pm. Arrive Hampton Cove Publix
2012 Caving Outing Scout Permission Slip
2012 Caving Outing Adult Permission Slip
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|