Cynthia and I decided to join the Rocky Mountain Canoe Club for their annual Memorial Day paddle of the Niobrara River in Nebraska. This is a popular trip, especially in high summer, famous for waterfalls. (Who knew Nebraska had waterfalls?)
On Friday we drove to Smith Falls State Park, which would be our base for the trip. Smith Falls is the highest waterfall in Nebraska, 63 feet tall. We drove through a downpour for much of the trip, but as we got closer to Smith Falls, the rain subsided and then stopped. The weather for the weekend was perfect. Some of our fellow paddlers arrived that evening, some we would not see until Saturday morning. The camping was primitive, but they did have pay showers, so there were some of the comforts of civilization.
On Saturday we put in above Smith Falls, and paddled to Smith Falls. We had more than twenty people paddling sixteen boats. Interestingly, the Niobrara River (pronounced Ni-oh-brer-a), marks the northern boundary of the Sand Hills region. The north side of the Niobrara has different soil, and is a different ecosystem. The trip was punctuated by small waterfalls. The rock underneath the sand is not porous, so the rain that gets into the sand, flows down to the rock, and then flows to the waterfalls next to the river.
Our fellow campers were interesting folk, with stories to tell over snacks in the evenings. We learned about the history of shoes, and admired a camper who went to great lengths to make his camp as comfortable as possible. We also learned about the business of tree trimming, and the story of how one of the ladies on the trip married an Italian. She was a college student traveling through Europe, and he picked her up in Rome; they have been married forty years.
On Sunday we put in at Smith Falls, and paddled further down the river.
One of the most interesting waterfalls was Big Cedar Falls, a series of
steps, kind of like a slippery stairway. Maybe in hindsight it was not
the greatest idea to climb it, but it was cool. The river is
largely spring fed, so has a relatively constant temperature and flow
throughout the year.
On Monday we all drove home. We stopped at Buffalo Bill's house in North Platte, with lots of memorabilia and information. We also stopped at the world's largest train classification yard; Richard had to go up and see it from the tower. There are more than 50 lanes in each direction. The cars roll down a hill, and end up in the correct lane per their destination, so that they can be assembled into a train. The scale of the operation was impressive.
We had a good time. Cynthia had her maiden voyage in a canoe, and slept on the ground for the first time since Girl Scouts.
