March 2021 • Nebraskaland 65
the crane roost on his family's land
was something special and wanted
to share it with others. So in 2016, he
started off ering open-air crane tours,
guiding customers to a row of lawn
chairs set up behind a screen of brush
on the riverbank. There, his joy is
watching people's faces light up and
glow as the cranes return to the river in
the evening, fl ying directly overhead
from every direction, sometimes
seeming like the fl ight will never end.
In 2017, the Gideons expanded the
operation, off ering the family's cabin
for rent and adopting the name Crane
Cabin Retreat. Chad added a viewing
blind on the riverbank that he rents
Bundles of grass and cut saplings camoufl age the island blind. A second blind on
the bank can be seen in the background.
A trio of sandhill cranes fl ies toward the photography blind after leaving their roost on the Platte River in Hall County.
