America’s first national park was the destination for members of Warsaw’s Boy Scout Troop 715 this summer. Three vans with four adults and 13 Scouts headed west for a 10-day trip in July. The first major stop was in the Badlands National Park of South Dakota, where they camped just a few miles south of the park. Here they studied the unusual geological formations and observed some fossils found in the area. Next, they were off to Mount Rushmore for a short stop before heading into Wyoming to camp one night at the foot of Devil’s Tower. In Wyoming, they made their base camp at a KOA near Cody. Working on the Indian Lore Merit Badge, they visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Center which houses Native American artifacts and exhibits. One evening was spent at a Cody Rodeo and one afternoon was spent horseback riding. The horseback trip was a little hair rising when they took a very narrow trail up a mountain. It seems when you look over the side of the horse and only see a hundred foot drop and no trail, one tends to get a little nervous. Finally the group made it into Yellowstone National Park where a lot of road construction was taking place, so the pace was a little slow. As usual, there were many bison to be seen, along with the elk. But there was a noticeable lack of bear. In fact, not one bear was observed on the trip around the park. At one construction site, the group was told that the week before bear could be seen everywhere, but had all but disappeared since then. A complete loop was made around the park with most of the important waterfalls, hot springs and geysers visited. Of course, Old Faithful could not be missed and she sprung to life for a good photo opportunity.
