Snow Bowl Hut

On November 9th to November 10th, 9 scouts including myself loaded into a car and drove to the Tahoma trails system to start our journey. The ascent took about 3 hours, as some were falling behind during the climb. When we got there, there was some snow, and the Snow Bowl Hut looked very nice since it was rebuilt in 2012. We played lots of games, made dinner, and then went to sleep not too long after. Overall it was a nice trip, and everyone there enjoyed it.

Pumpkin Carving

On October 15, 2013, scouts attended a troop meeting solely for pumpkin carving. Scouts carved many designs, including scary faces, happy faces, and many others. After that, they had a competition for the scariest and coolest pumpkins. Overall, it was a great experience for everyone to be creative in their pumpkin designs.
 
  

Jason Pyke
Historian

Labor Day Weekend Biking Outing

This Labor Day Weekend, some scouts went to a bike trip. On Friday night, the scouts arrived at the Tinkham Campground, and the next morning, they went to the Summit East Parking Lot. With their bikes, they traveled more than 16 miles through the John Wayne Trail, arriving back at the campground. During this, they got to ride through the Snoqualmie Tunnel, about 2.3 miles long. After they finished the bike ride, they went back to the campsite, cooked their dinner, and went home on Sunday.

Jason Pyke - Historian


Camp Parsons

Summer camp was a great time to advance in merit badges. Most people in our troop earned 2-4 merit badges from the classes, plus extra merit badges such as fingerprinting and art. Besides advancement, we had a lot of fun jumping of the pier, rifle shooting, and playing games at night. The best food that we had all week, was the tomato soup and sandwiches for lunch on Wednesday or Thursday. Overall, it was a great experience, and I would like to go again.

Jason Pike - Historian

Philmont 2013

A couple weeks ago I have adventured to Philmont Scout Ranch arguably one of scouting’s greatest challenges. I spent 10 days out in the backcountry with just me and my crew and now looking back in retrospect I can say it was a great experience.

Now don’t get me wrong, hiking Philmont was not easy. In fact it was the complete opposite. Blisters, sunburn, dry camps and buckets of rain being dumped on my head. Days without showers, dirty clothing and packing down and leaving camp every single morning. It definitely wasn’t easy, but nevertheless an amazing experience that I would love to go through again.

Tip for the future though try pick up a rain jacket that is actually waterproof and not “water resistant”. Trust me, you’ll need it.

Dmytro Banin
Not at all a Historian

www.Troop626.org

Evan McFarlan's Eagle Project

On Saturday July 13 we had Evan McFarlan's Eagle Project.
The goal of the project was to reorganize the trail so as to keep it in good condition. We basically removed the top soil, plants and roots that were growing on the trail and placed rocks and logs on the sides of the trail to make it more defined.

Overall I was really surprised by the amount of people who came to the project: over 20 scouts and adults!

Thank you to everyone who came and congratulations to  Evan for finishing his Eagle Scout project.

Dmytro Banin

Not at all a Historian

www.Troop626.org

Mt. St. Helens Hike

On July 3rd Troop 626 went to Mt. St. Helens. This was a 10 mile long scramble up boulders and snowy mountainsides and definitely not what one would expect when they hear the word hike.

Before the hike we camped down at the base of the trailhead.

After a long night in tents we were ready to go hiking. In the beginning the scenery looked like that of an average hike: forest all around. However as we climbed higher up the mountain we encountered boulders that we had to scramble up. The higher up we got the more snow fields we saw and the harder the wind blew. By the time we got to the top we were absolutely exhausted.

And then, the amazing idea to glissade down the mountain came to mind. For those of you who don’t know, glissading is basically sliding down the mountain on your butt. It’s cold, freezing, and wet. It’s also hard to decide what’s worse, trudging down the mountain on your tired legs or earning yourself a major case of frostbite.

One thing you need to have for sure is an ice axe, because if you’re tumbling down the mountain you better have a way to stop yourself. Overall this was a great hike and I would definitely go on it again.

Dmytro Banin
Not at all a Historian

www.Troop626.org