(Colter Bay at Jackson Lake, Grand Teton NP as the girls got ready to head out to Hermitage Point. Janine Neprud, Megan Roy, Autumn Brown, Lauren Roy and Maddy Buchanan)

Last month, members of Cadette/Senior Troop 80331 headed for Logan Airport as they began a nine-day trip to the Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The girls had worked for two years to raise the funds to pay for the trip and excitement ran high. Perfect weather further enhanced the entire experience: the 10 mile Hermitage Trail along Jackson Lake in the Teton National Park, knowing that you were staying within a volcanic caldera, exploring the West Thumb and Norris Geyser Basins and the mud pots in Hayden Valley, seeing the abundant wildlife with many baby elk, bears and bison, and spending an early morning in Lamar Valley with Rick McIntyre who heads up the wolf study. His stories of wolves were fascinating.

Hiking around the Upper Geyser Basin, the girls completed the Junior Scientist program and were presented patches by the National Park ranger. Certainly watching Old Faithful erupt with a bright blue sky in the background was one of the highlights of the trip, as was the visit by a bear as the girls finished eating during their horseback chuck wagon dinner ride.

The trip ended with a float/whitewater raft trip down the beautiful Snake River with the Tetons as their companion. All in all, the girls returned home with many wonderful memories to treasure, a new appreciation of the National Park system and especially of Yellowstone, the first National Park. They are very grateful to all who supported their fundraising activities to make this trip a reality.