Above: Southborough Boy Scouts at Denali National Park in Alaska (contributed photo)
A group of Southborough boys enjoyed the trip of a lifetime this summer when Boy Scout Troop 1 traveled to Alaska. One of those scouts, 14-year-old Joe Walsh, sent in this great recap of their trip. Check it out and then tell me you’re not envious:
In July, Southborough Boy Scout Troop 1 embarked on a 12-day trip to Alaska. Our trip, which had been in the works for over a year, consisted of time at both Denali National Park, home to Mt. McKinley, and Seward, a coastal town.
We began our trip by driving down to Seward, a town on the beautiful Kenai Peninsula, adjacent to spectacular Kenai Fjords National Park. While in Seward, we kayaked in Resurrection Bay, went for a hike to the massive Harding Ice Field, saw Exit Glacier, and some of us went fishing. We got the chance to go into the town of Seward and see the Alaska SeaLife Center, a fantastic aquarium. The weather was warm and sunny for most of the time, which was fortunate because most of the time coastal Alaska is rainy and overcast. In addition, the sun stayed up past 10 o’clock, which was a surprise that still seemed unbelievable throughout our stay.
After four days in Seward, we drove north to Denali National Park, which is roughly the size of Massachusetts. Some of our group saw Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. We also saw grizzly bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, and a few other animals, many of which we saw up close. We hiked up Mt. Healy, rafted on the glacier-fed Nenana River, mountain biked outside of the park, and took a bus ride down the long park road to see the fantastic scenery and wildlife that the park has to offer. The day was even longer in Denali, where it never got truly dark. It was still fairly bright even at midnight!
On the ride back to Anchorage after four days in Denali, we drove to Independence Mine, an old gold mine inside a valley with amazing scenery. We departed Anchorage at 1:00 am the next day to head back home.
Thank you to all of the many adults, businesses, and media outlets in our community who helped us get there through donations and fundraising efforts. We will remember the incredible experiences that we had in Alaska for the rest of our lives.
Joe also sent along some breathtaking photos from the trip. Click an image to enlarge.
What a great experience for these kids and a great story with breathtaking pictures as well. Thank you for sharing!
Great story Joseph!
I can’t begin to tell you how much time was put into planning this unbelievable trip by a few of the older scouts and their adult advisors. Airlines, rental SUVs/truck, safety gear, how much food, how many tents, what gear to bring for nearly 50 people!
Since our major fundraiser is the Pancake Breakfast, all the businesses and people who donated and/or attended this event also helped in supporting this trip. We couldn’t have done it without you!
I am so grateful that my 2 sons were able to go on this trip of a lifetime, and there aren’t enough adjectives in the world for the experience they had. Thank you to Troop 1 Southborough, and also to everyone who contributed to making this trip happen.
Joseph–your article is very well-written!
My nephew, Jim Greene and his son Daniel, were on the trip. Jim sent upates and photos via Facebook–so our famiily could see how much fun the scouts were having almost in real time! Kudos to everyone involved in Southborogh for making this trip such a great success for Troop 1!