The Yellowstone adventure was an wild experience for the Scouts of BSA Troop 565 in Kirkland and was even a little educational. The trip, taken at the end of June, lasted eight days; the drive was long and hot.
We stopped and visited the Lewis and Clark Caves on the way to the park, which were amazing and contained lots of incredible stalactites and stalagmites. It was a shock to go from the hot weather outside into the cold caves deep in the earth. At one point there was 500 feet of rock above our heads.
On the first day at Old Faithful our troop was prepared and used our first aid kits to help a lady who got a serious cut on her leg and was bleeding badly. Our troop looked impressive and scored some points for the Boy Scouts.
At the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Scout dad Rob Collins exhibited SLAWEK (The troop's motto: Scout Law Always With Extra Kindness) and rescued a pair of sunglasses from a cliff with his fishing pole for a nice couple.
Cameron D. was in charge of fighting off the bears and Devin D. was on wolf patrol. In addition to bears and a wolf, we saw many huge bison and mooses (meese) along with lots of other wildlife (including Scouts). It was a perfect situation for the mammals merit badge.
On Tuesday the troop went to the Cowboy Cookout where it was a nice wagon ride to all-you-can eat steaks. Some of the scouts finished off an entire cow.
On Wednesday a few people went on a horse ride where Scout mom Michelle Streiff wanted to show off and jumped off her horse. It was almost like it wasn't planned.
We were able to see many geysers (we called 'em geezers), mud pots, boiling water holes and other amazing geological stuff all week. There was a small river near camp so everyone could cool off after the long, hot days.
On the drive home we stopped at a water park near Spokane. The water at the park did seem to be a different color when we were finished swimming and going through the tubes but the Scouts looked cleaner.
It was challenging to be at an elevation of around 7,000 feet for the week and in very hot weather but the Scouts did a fantastic job. The food was wonderful and overall it was an incredible trip.
Big thanks to all who put in the time and work to make the trip happen. The Scouts will always remember it.
Chris Garton is the Scoutmaster of BSA Troop 565. Shari Dooley is the fundraiser chair for the troop, which is based on Finn Hill in Kirkland.[[In-content Ad]]
